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joanabrookfernandes's review against another edition
I am familiar with Saramago’s writing bur I just lost complete interest in the theme.
faintgirl's review against another edition
3.0
Ohhh maaaan, this was so disappointing. After the first Saramago I read off the list, I zipped off list to read a couple of his others. I have been excited about reaching this one for weeks. But it just couldn't hold my attention. Raimundo Silva, a comfortably middled aged proof reader, mischievously changes a word in a historical text, leaving the fate of the City of Lisbon open to interpretation. Fully expecting to lose his job from a moment of madness, his world, and Lisbon are turned upside down.
It's a great premise, so I'm not sure why I couldn't get into it. Every time I tried, my attention got pulled elsewhere. Lonely Raimundo was not enough of a captivating character, and the arcane language around the history of the city left me cold. It did pick up at the end, which brought it from a 2 star read to a 3, but I've read much better books by this fascinating author.
It's a great premise, so I'm not sure why I couldn't get into it. Every time I tried, my attention got pulled elsewhere. Lonely Raimundo was not enough of a captivating character, and the arcane language around the history of the city left me cold. It did pick up at the end, which brought it from a 2 star read to a 3, but I've read much better books by this fascinating author.
blueyorkie's review against another edition
4.0
This work is a pocket of 342 pages but is paved by the density of the text. Saramago is stingy with paragraphs; if there are many dialogues, they are never presented with hyphens, always in a single section, the interventions of successive speakers best separated by periods and capitals.
A challenge for the reader? Less than it initially appears. The difficulty is only getting used to a different presentation—rather than a way of practicing your cognitive flexibility.
The novel's starting point is an experienced proofreader who has always acted with outstanding professionalism but decides to change a word in the historical story he is editing. And one word can change history.
We will have plenty of reflection on the work of the proofreader and the writer, on historical documentation, within additional touches of humor that make you smile, and even the poetry of a love story. And, of course, there is Lisbon, when it falls into the hands of those Lusitanians who will become the Portuguese.
An exciting and informative read!
A challenge for the reader? Less than it initially appears. The difficulty is only getting used to a different presentation—rather than a way of practicing your cognitive flexibility.
The novel's starting point is an experienced proofreader who has always acted with outstanding professionalism but decides to change a word in the historical story he is editing. And one word can change history.
We will have plenty of reflection on the work of the proofreader and the writer, on historical documentation, within additional touches of humor that make you smile, and even the poetry of a love story. And, of course, there is Lisbon, when it falls into the hands of those Lusitanians who will become the Portuguese.
An exciting and informative read!
alebuu's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
jess_mango's review against another edition
3.0
This is somewhere around 3.5 stars. Saramago is one of my favorite authors but this isn't one of my favorite books by him. Once again, this novel features a lead character who is a bit of a fade-into-the-background, sad sack, everyman who finds himself in a unique situation. I just didn't find this book's unique situation quite as compelling as some of those in Saramago's other works.
robertlashley's review against another edition
5.0
I first thought the style got in the way of the book. Saramago is often associated with the boom writers, and you can glaringly see it in the writers he's channeling with the maximalist-beyond-all convention prose. In the 2 to 3 page sentences, one can hear much-more-than-faint-echoes of Faulkner's The Bear, and Garcia Marquez's The General And His Labyrinth. What perturbed me is how form met function in the aforementioned two novels, and-upon my first reading of it- did't seem to to meet function in Lisbon. The Bear had the the tension of Lucas's symbol laden hunt for the animal and the kinetic outburst of moral decay from General Compson. In Labyrinth Garcia Marquez had created his own general Compson, an ur dictator-and the prose from start to finish encapsulated the claustrophobic violence that could create such a tyrant, and does so in nuanced and complicate ways.
My first impression was that the tense yet grandiose style didn't work here. The story- of a historian who changes a sentence of a pre-eminent part in Portuguese history, almost loses his job gets' supported by a new boss who he falls in love with-and proceeds to go all crazy in writing a new history-is rich and dynamic in it's own right, and the El0000n-gaaaaaaa-teeeeed sentences brought too much attention to themselves.
What changed my mind in re-reading was the Protagonists view of history. Upon rewriting the Siege Of Lisbon, Raimundo Silva sees and analyzes history and sees it not as a triumph but as a bloodbath, a showcase of un-relenting cruelties and it shakes his mindset set to the core. In that sense, Silva is Saramago's own Lucas Mccaslin, the protagonist of the Bear( and Go Down Moses, where the story was published in), a human being who has a slow, nuanced, and complex climb to reason and kinship with his fellow human beings.There is also how he weaves that narrative into his relationship with his editor, Maria Bello, and the complex push and pull they have. Not only does she both champion and challenge him in complex ways, she establishes her own boundaries when he gets all conventionally gushy about their love affair( which Silva-in response-is cool with).
A great, complex novel that is worth it.
My first impression was that the tense yet grandiose style didn't work here. The story- of a historian who changes a sentence of a pre-eminent part in Portuguese history, almost loses his job gets' supported by a new boss who he falls in love with-and proceeds to go all crazy in writing a new history-is rich and dynamic in it's own right, and the El0000n-gaaaaaaa-teeeeed sentences brought too much attention to themselves.
What changed my mind in re-reading was the Protagonists view of history. Upon rewriting the Siege Of Lisbon, Raimundo Silva sees and analyzes history and sees it not as a triumph but as a bloodbath, a showcase of un-relenting cruelties and it shakes his mindset set to the core. In that sense, Silva is Saramago's own Lucas Mccaslin, the protagonist of the Bear( and Go Down Moses, where the story was published in), a human being who has a slow, nuanced, and complex climb to reason and kinship with his fellow human beings.There is also how he weaves that narrative into his relationship with his editor, Maria Bello, and the complex push and pull they have. Not only does she both champion and challenge him in complex ways, she establishes her own boundaries when he gets all conventionally gushy about their love affair( which Silva-in response-is cool with).
A great, complex novel that is worth it.
anagorgulho's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
Não desassossegou.
uhambe_nami's review against another edition
5.0
Did the crusaders help the Portuguese to take Lisbon back from the Moors, or did they not help them? A little word makes all the difference, and when Raimundo Silva adds that little word, on an impulse, to the draft of a book that he is proofreading, he finds himself confronted with the task to rewrite the History of the Siege of Lisbon, which is really the history of how Portugal became Portugal.
The facts of the past become interwoven with the present as we follow Raimundo strolling along the streets of Lisbon and the Moorish castle of São Jorge, planning the attack of the Portuguese to oust the Moors. Whether or not the crusaders helped the Portuguese in the siege soon becomes less important than the impact that the rewriting of the history of the Siege of Lisbon has on Raimundo's own life.
The lyrical prose, the history, and the Lisbon backdrop made this novel, at least for me, a very enjoyable read. This is Saramago at his best!
The facts of the past become interwoven with the present as we follow Raimundo strolling along the streets of Lisbon and the Moorish castle of São Jorge, planning the attack of the Portuguese to oust the Moors. Whether or not the crusaders helped the Portuguese in the siege soon becomes less important than the impact that the rewriting of the history of the Siege of Lisbon has on Raimundo's own life.
The lyrical prose, the history, and the Lisbon backdrop made this novel, at least for me, a very enjoyable read. This is Saramago at his best!
uhambe_nami's review against another edition
5.0
Did the crusaders help the Portuguese to take Lisbon back from the Moors, or did they not help them? A little word makes all the difference, and when Raimundo Silva adds that little word, on an impulse, to the draft of a book that he is proofreading, he finds himself confronted with the task to rewrite the History of the Siege of Lisbon, which is really the history of how Portugal became Portugal.
The facts of the past become interwoven with the present as we follow Raimundo strolling along the streets of Lisbon and the Moorish castle of São Jorge, planning the attack of the Portuguese to oust the Moors. Whether or not the crusaders helped the Portuguese in the siege soon becomes less important than the impact that the rewriting of the history of the Siege of Lisbon has on Raimundo's own life.
The lyrical prose, the history, and the Lisbon backdrop made this novel, at least for me, a very enjoyable read. This is Saramago at his best!
The facts of the past become interwoven with the present as we follow Raimundo strolling along the streets of Lisbon and the Moorish castle of São Jorge, planning the attack of the Portuguese to oust the Moors. Whether or not the crusaders helped the Portuguese in the siege soon becomes less important than the impact that the rewriting of the history of the Siege of Lisbon has on Raimundo's own life.
The lyrical prose, the history, and the Lisbon backdrop made this novel, at least for me, a very enjoyable read. This is Saramago at his best!