helenamcferreira's review against another edition
5.0
Quando conhecemos Tertuliano Máximo Afonso, professor de História no ensino secundário, este encontra-se numa daquelas fases da vida em que esteve casado, mas não se lembra do que o levou ao matrimónio e em que, agora que está divorciado, não se quer lembrar dos motivos que levaram à separação.
Numa tentativa de se distrair e de encontrar novos interesses, Máximo Afonso decide alugar um filme por sugestão do seu colega, professor de Matemática e quando, eventualmente, se resigna a vê-lo, não consegue acreditar no que está a ver. Um simples ator secundário, que quase passa despercebido mas que o obrigada a voltar atrás e a observar melhor por ser exatamente igual a ele próprio.
Desprovido de sentido e inquieto com tamanha semelhança, Máximo Afonso dedica-se a uma procura incessante deste seu “gémeo”. É esta busca que acompanhamos ao longo do livro e cujos episódios Saramago escreveu tão bem. Sem me alongar muito mais para não estragar o livro a ninguém, vou apenas dizer que este livro marcou o meu reencontro com o Saramago que me conquistou e que me surpreendeu ao longo de toda a leitura, não tendo conseguido largá-lo nos capítulos finais.
Repleto de aventuras e desventuras, mistério, acontecimentos inesperados e das passagens repletas de significado a que o autor já nos habituou, desconfio que este conquistou o segundo lugar no meu top de livros de José Saramago.
“A questão, a dolorosa e sempiterna questão, é saber quanto tempo irá isto durar, se será realmente o reacender de um afeto que algumas vezes terá sido confundido com amor, com paixão, até, ou se só nos encontramos, e mais uma vez, perante o arquiconhecido fenómeno da vela que ao extinguir-se levanta uma luz mais alta e insuportavelmente brilhante, insuportável por ser a derradeira, não porque a rejeitassem os nossos olhos, que bem quereriam continuar absortos nela.”
//
When we meet Tertuliano Máximo Afonso, a secondary school history teacher, he is at one of those stages in his life when he has been married but cannot remember what led to the marriage and in which, now that he is divorced, he does not want to remember the reasons that led to the separation.
In an attempt to distract himself and find new interests, Máximo Afonso decides to rent a film at the suggestion of his colleague, a maths teacher, and when he eventually resigns himself to watching it, he cannot believe what he is seeing. A simple secondary actor, who almost goes unnoticed but who forces him to go back and watch it more closely because he looks exactly like himself.
Bereft of meaning and uneasy at such a similarity, Máximo Afonso dedicates himself to an incessant search for his "twin". It is this search that we follow throughout the book and whose episodes Saramago has written so well. Without going on much longer so as not to spoil the book for anyone, I will just say that this book marked my reunion with the Saramago who conquered me and surprised me throughout the reading, and I was unable to let go of him in the final chapters.
Filled with adventure and misadventure, mystery, unexpected events and the meaningful passages that the author has accustomed us to, I suspect this has earned second place in my top José Saramago books.
Numa tentativa de se distrair e de encontrar novos interesses, Máximo Afonso decide alugar um filme por sugestão do seu colega, professor de Matemática e quando, eventualmente, se resigna a vê-lo, não consegue acreditar no que está a ver. Um simples ator secundário, que quase passa despercebido mas que o obrigada a voltar atrás e a observar melhor por ser exatamente igual a ele próprio.
Desprovido de sentido e inquieto com tamanha semelhança, Máximo Afonso dedica-se a uma procura incessante deste seu “gémeo”. É esta busca que acompanhamos ao longo do livro e cujos episódios Saramago escreveu tão bem. Sem me alongar muito mais para não estragar o livro a ninguém, vou apenas dizer que este livro marcou o meu reencontro com o Saramago que me conquistou e que me surpreendeu ao longo de toda a leitura, não tendo conseguido largá-lo nos capítulos finais.
Repleto de aventuras e desventuras, mistério, acontecimentos inesperados e das passagens repletas de significado a que o autor já nos habituou, desconfio que este conquistou o segundo lugar no meu top de livros de José Saramago.
“A questão, a dolorosa e sempiterna questão, é saber quanto tempo irá isto durar, se será realmente o reacender de um afeto que algumas vezes terá sido confundido com amor, com paixão, até, ou se só nos encontramos, e mais uma vez, perante o arquiconhecido fenómeno da vela que ao extinguir-se levanta uma luz mais alta e insuportavelmente brilhante, insuportável por ser a derradeira, não porque a rejeitassem os nossos olhos, que bem quereriam continuar absortos nela.”
//
When we meet Tertuliano Máximo Afonso, a secondary school history teacher, he is at one of those stages in his life when he has been married but cannot remember what led to the marriage and in which, now that he is divorced, he does not want to remember the reasons that led to the separation.
In an attempt to distract himself and find new interests, Máximo Afonso decides to rent a film at the suggestion of his colleague, a maths teacher, and when he eventually resigns himself to watching it, he cannot believe what he is seeing. A simple secondary actor, who almost goes unnoticed but who forces him to go back and watch it more closely because he looks exactly like himself.
Bereft of meaning and uneasy at such a similarity, Máximo Afonso dedicates himself to an incessant search for his "twin". It is this search that we follow throughout the book and whose episodes Saramago has written so well. Without going on much longer so as not to spoil the book for anyone, I will just say that this book marked my reunion with the Saramago who conquered me and surprised me throughout the reading, and I was unable to let go of him in the final chapters.
Filled with adventure and misadventure, mystery, unexpected events and the meaningful passages that the author has accustomed us to, I suspect this has earned second place in my top José Saramago books.
appolinaria's review
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
kikacd's review against another edition
5.0
Q livro Lindinho
Ate as 200 e poucas paginas e preciso ter paciência para ler pq e mt slow paced, mas depois a ação fica tao intensa que so me apetecia ler e saber como acabava
Não esperava nada o final, incrível, mt bem escrito! ! !
Topzaum
Demorei pa P tho
Ate as 200 e poucas paginas e preciso ter paciência para ler pq e mt slow paced, mas depois a ação fica tao intensa que so me apetecia ler e saber como acabava
Não esperava nada o final, incrível, mt bem escrito! ! !
Topzaum
Demorei pa P tho
ineslibrary's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
mschlat's review
5.0
I picked this up as a suggested read-alike to [a:China Miéville|33918|China Miéville|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1243988363p2/33918.jpg], and I was immediately concerned when I saw a solid block of text on the first page, and the page after that, and the page after that... I am normally pretty leery of books that don't provide regular breaks (and thus abhor stream of consciousness tales). However, I have gained some appreciation of long sentences thanks to the book [b:First You Write a Sentence.|38470061|First You Write a Sentence. The Elements of Reading, Writing … and Life|Joe Moran|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1528708582l/38470061._SY75_.jpg|60098936], and Saramago writes great sentences. They're long, often meandering, and sometimes include full dialogues (with no quotation marks), but they are also illuminating and quite funny. Indeed, in this book you regularly get the (mostly) omniscient narrator's take on the situation (often at odds with the characters) and a running debate between the main character and his common sense.
In terms of prose style, this might be close to Miéville, but it is much more subdued than his weird fiction. Our protagonist (the curiously named Tertuliano Máximo Afonso, a history teacher) discovers by watching a videotape of a movie the existence of an actor who is his exact duplicate. The rest of the book follows the consequences of that discovery, often at a slow, densely detailed pace (I regularly thought of this work as [a:Nicholson Baker|15882|Nicholson Baker|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1580973983p2/15882.jpg]'s [b:The Mezzanine|247000|The Mezzanine|Nicholson Baker|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1307064718l/247000._SY75_.jpg|2340174] with a plot.) Still, when the climax of the work hit, I almost threw my iPad across the room. It is a Twilight Zone story elevated to literary fiction almost solely through the strength of Saramago's sentences. Highly recommended.
In terms of prose style, this might be close to Miéville, but it is much more subdued than his weird fiction. Our protagonist (the curiously named Tertuliano Máximo Afonso, a history teacher) discovers by watching a videotape of a movie the existence of an actor who is his exact duplicate. The rest of the book follows the consequences of that discovery, often at a slow, densely detailed pace (I regularly thought of this work as [a:Nicholson Baker|15882|Nicholson Baker|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1580973983p2/15882.jpg]'s [b:The Mezzanine|247000|The Mezzanine|Nicholson Baker|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1307064718l/247000._SY75_.jpg|2340174] with a plot.) Still, when the climax of the work hit, I almost threw my iPad across the room. It is a Twilight Zone story elevated to literary fiction almost solely through the strength of Saramago's sentences. Highly recommended.
socama's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
idalh's review against another edition
challenging
funny
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
4.75
rmsugarcandy's review against another edition
I might pick this back up another time. Too challenging right now.
gianouts's review against another edition
3.0
I found this to be a strange book to read, particularly due to the lack of paragraphs, commas or quotation marks. It was however interesting enough that it kept pulling me back into it. I'm still in mixed minds whether I really enjoyed this book or not, but I think I did. An interesting look into identities in our current age.