leilatre's review against another edition
5.0
I started reading Jose Saramego’s non-fiction book about Portugal in advance of a trip there this summer and I found his writings style, with its offbeat ideas and interesting tangents, so interesting that I decided that I needed to read some of his fiction. Then I was in Livaria Lello in Porto and I came across this little book about an odd quiet civil servant everyman and the adventuresthat he created for himself and I knew I needed to read it. The style can be tiring to follow, with never-ending paragraphs and long, rambling sentences, but the way he captured the overall frailty of life and the abject loneliness that everyone has felt from time to time was masterful. Parts had me laughing aloud at the absurdity and parts had me rereading the same sentence many times trying to parse his thoughts, but it was never boring. I’ll definitely read more Saramego.
sonboninsc's review against another edition
3.0
I'm so confused by the ending! Was the registrar a metaphor for something?? Or just another bored bureaucrat who was interested in strangers? I really wanted to know what was going on and it was an intriguing book. 2/3 in I did start skimming. The run on sentence monolithic dialogue paragraphs and inner monologue were confusing to me. I also found the inner monologue somewhat irritating... likely because I don't have one and I don't speak to myself in my head. Now I'm on the hunt for what the heck really happened in the book to make sure I didn't miss something.
sakinah's review against another edition
2.0
بداية هذا الكتاب كانت ماتعة، فالقصة وأحداثها وغرابة راويها تشد القاريء. لكن! التطويل الشديد (بالنسبة إلي) والسرد اللامنتهي قتل حقيقةً هذه المتعة. أعطي الكتاب نجمتان ونصف، هذا النصف الإضافي للصفحات الأخيرة فقط. لا أدري مالذي يجعلني عاطفية تجاه نهاية أي كتاب أقرؤه مهما كان شعوري خلال قراءته -وهو في هذه الحالة كان شعوراً حانقاً على السرد الممل-، وبس.
vanesa1221's review against another edition
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
annaavian's review against another edition
1.0
The never-ending sentences filled with pointless details gave me a headache.
monster_maven's review against another edition
3.0
I guess I'm gonna have to talk to the ceiling to figure out what this was all about. I enjoyed his systematic ramblings with himself. Saramago definitely could lay down a string of thought.
jmiae's review against another edition
3.0
Slightly bummed that the review I thought I wrote for this on my mobile phone ended up not saving properly. But rather than trying to recreate that review here, I'm just going to jot down a couple of impressions that I can recall from this reading.
1) This felt like the written version of a silent animated film, like The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore or The House of Small Cubes. All about single men in their later(ish) years who lead quiet, unassuming lives until one day they go on a quiet but life-changing adventures.
2) This book was very melancoly, despite having some fairly whimsical moments - or at least it felt quite whimsical (i.e. when Senor Jose is having a conversation with his ceiling)
1) This felt like the written version of a silent animated film, like The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore or The House of Small Cubes. All about single men in their later(ish) years who lead quiet, unassuming lives until one day they go on a quiet but life-changing adventures.
2) This book was very melancoly, despite having some fairly whimsical moments - or at least it felt quite whimsical (i.e. when Senor Jose is having a conversation with his ceiling)
cheryl1213's review against another edition
4.0
i enjoyed this, though it was a challenge to get used to the writing style (entire conversations become paragraphs going on for pages with only commas and capitals to separate).
btkeyes's review against another edition
challenging
slow-paced
4.5
Strange book. I loved the conversations Senhor Jose has with the ceiling. Obscure