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guerra12's review against another edition
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
5.0
zhoujj's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
After reading Blindness, I was looking for another novel by Saramago. Skylight was the only one available in the library, so I went with it. To my surprise, it was equally enjoyable to read, although it was a very different experience from Blindness. You can sense that he has yet to fine-tune his writing style here – he was only 31 when he sent this to the publisher (and then they misplaced it, lol); he had four entire decades to build up to his mastery as seen in Blindness. I suppose it's a good starting point to his work, his sentences aren't as long here, the setting much more casual.
Plot-wise, there isn't much going on; the whole book is pretty much about the trivial matters and daily conversations of different characters living under the same building. But the prose kept me hooked, his writing style makes it an effortless read. The drama builds up and gets pretty exciting after chapter 20.And damn, the makeup sex scene in chapter 29 was actually kinda hot HAHA. Overall a fun and light read, with a touch of humour and some armchair philosophy thrown into the mix with housewife gossip.
Plot-wise, there isn't much going on; the whole book is pretty much about the trivial matters and daily conversations of different characters living under the same building. But the prose kept me hooked, his writing style makes it an effortless read. The drama builds up and gets pretty exciting after chapter 20.
paulabulka's review
4.0
Meu primeiro romance do Saramago, e que surpresa. Se o medo antes me impedia de abrir a primeira página, hoje me apaixonei por sua escrita. Aos 11 anos de idade, ouvia meu professor de português da escola esboçar os mais esplêndidos elogios ao repertório do escritor: seus parágrafos sem respiro, suas histórias de fôlego, tão duras quanto a própria vida (ou morte). Claraboia não tem nada de terrível, a não ser a terrível arte de conviver entre os Homens, com “H” maiúsculo, como bem pontua o personagem Silvestre. Nesse pequeno edifício da baixa classe de Lisboa, histórias de porta a porta se condensam umas com as outras, a ligação intrínseca de viver parede com parede, teto com teto com outros anônimos. Aqueles que lhe proferem um “bom dia”, ou até mesmo compartilham toda a vida, mas não custam a julgar sob a mesma medida. Nesses contos do cotidiano, o núcleo que guardarei um carinho especial são os capítulos do velho filósofo sapateiro e seu jovem inquilino, uma amizade improvável e repleta de diálogos interessantíssimos sobre o propósito de viver.
joreasonable's review against another edition
3.0
My Review.
I think the most interesting part of this novel is the story behind it´s publication. José Saramago submitted the manuscript of Skylight to a Lisbon publisher in 1953. Receiving no response, and apparently never seeking one, he was plunged, says his wife Pilar del Rio in her introduction, "into a painful, indelible silence that lasted decades". He did, however, make a reputation as a journalist and editor before he returned to writing fiction in 1977. In 1989, having published three novels, he was at work on a fourth when the publisher to which he had sent Skylight wrote to say that they had rediscovered the manuscript and it would be an honour to print it. Saramago went at once and brought it home. His wife tells us that he never read it and said only that "it would not be published in his lifetime". We must assume that he said nothing about what was to be done with it after his death.
If you want a secret view into people lives, around the 1940´s in Lisbon, this is it, these people are not wealthy, they are often struggling with many things in life, and the reader moves from apartment to apartment getting to know each family and their circumstances and all the action or lack thereof that happens in the apartment building with the many, many different, often depressing characters, which in the beginning can seem confusing, There is actually no plot here, rather it is character driven. Nothing actually happens, just day to day life.
Jose Saramago has a dark mind writing this, there are some uncomfortable moments, there are very good in depth character development with deep inner thoughts, there are not many descriptions, just thoughts, some sad, some kind, some sexual.
This is a good example of how gossip can spread without any truth behind it.
I do feel that this book was published because of Saramago´s other books, and also his Nobel Prize in Literature.
I was wondering how it would finish, as this is one of those books that could be eternal, a bit like a soap opera, but the ending is done very well indeed as it actually has an ending.
I give this book 3 stars, the next country we are visiting in our journey around the world is Laos.
I think the most interesting part of this novel is the story behind it´s publication. José Saramago submitted the manuscript of Skylight to a Lisbon publisher in 1953. Receiving no response, and apparently never seeking one, he was plunged, says his wife Pilar del Rio in her introduction, "into a painful, indelible silence that lasted decades". He did, however, make a reputation as a journalist and editor before he returned to writing fiction in 1977. In 1989, having published three novels, he was at work on a fourth when the publisher to which he had sent Skylight wrote to say that they had rediscovered the manuscript and it would be an honour to print it. Saramago went at once and brought it home. His wife tells us that he never read it and said only that "it would not be published in his lifetime". We must assume that he said nothing about what was to be done with it after his death.
If you want a secret view into people lives, around the 1940´s in Lisbon, this is it, these people are not wealthy, they are often struggling with many things in life, and the reader moves from apartment to apartment getting to know each family and their circumstances and all the action or lack thereof that happens in the apartment building with the many, many different, often depressing characters, which in the beginning can seem confusing, There is actually no plot here, rather it is character driven. Nothing actually happens, just day to day life.
Jose Saramago has a dark mind writing this, there are some uncomfortable moments, there are very good in depth character development with deep inner thoughts, there are not many descriptions, just thoughts, some sad, some kind, some sexual.
This is a good example of how gossip can spread without any truth behind it.
I do feel that this book was published because of Saramago´s other books, and also his Nobel Prize in Literature.
I was wondering how it would finish, as this is one of those books that could be eternal, a bit like a soap opera, but the ending is done very well indeed as it actually has an ending.
I give this book 3 stars, the next country we are visiting in our journey around the world is Laos.
fatimaria's review
4.0
Comecei a leitura completamente no escuro, e revelou-se uma surpresa tão agradável! Saramago, com sua simplicidade e elegância, descreve o quotidiano de um conjunto de dinâmicas familiares, onde expõe realidades distintas, mundos próprios, estados de alma e de desassossego que nos são familiares.
4 estrelas pois 5 irá, inevitavelmente, pertencer ao Memorial do Convento.
"Há palavras que se retraem, que se recusam -porque significam demais para os nossos ouvidos cansados de palavras"
4 estrelas pois 5 irá, inevitavelmente, pertencer ao Memorial do Convento.
"Há palavras que se retraem, que se recusam -porque significam demais para os nossos ouvidos cansados de palavras"
almalng's review against another edition
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
2.0
flaviawarner's review
4.0
Não consigo deixar de admirar Saramago. Sempre que releio, é uma lufada de ar fresco.
orlyxauhqui's review
1.0
Es una novela sin historia, con personajes planos y predecibles. Hay demasiados clichés. Se entiende por qué no la publicaron cuando Saramago la entregó por primera vez a una editorial: es terrible. Se aprovecharon de la fama del autor ya después de muerto para sacar este libro y hacer unos cuantos pesos, pero en serio, no se gasten los ojos.
stella37's review against another edition
2.0
Don't review my library record to see how many times I had to renew this book to finish it ... at least I made it through by the maximum allowance. I was really hopeful that I would enjoy this early work of a maestro, and alas, found the skylight to be less like a shiny, beautiful prism and more like jagged shards of glass. Love lost?