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A review by diannastarr
Blindness by José Saramago
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Everyone knows the age old question: "what separates humanity from mammals?" We ask ourselves if it a difference in cognitive abilities, a tangible sense of morality and empathy that we unanimously follow, or a ramification of the social contract that we are all conditioned to abide by. Plenty of novels have dissected this, but no one has explored this premise quite like Saramago.
I stumbled upon Blindness at the public library while on the hunt for a different book. Upon reading the synopsis I found the premise interesting enough. To the strangers out there who are actually reading my bookish babbles: I love a good apocalyptic tale.
What can I say? I was raised Catholic.
But beyond the horrors that riddle the Book of Revelations, media that explores apocalypse fascinates me. We all are well aware of how people act in times of crisis, in periods of war and natural disaster, but apocalypse is unique in that while crisis has aid, war has a ceasefire, and natural disasters eventually stop - apocalypse is something that doesn't possess a discernable end. Apocalypse and the fragmentation of the societal status is a means of looking at humanity and asking ourselves what makes us just that.
Told from the perspective of an optometrist's wife, Blindness uses a virus that turns its infected blind as the basis of the plot. Taking place in a matter of days, the novel follows the quarantine protocol, the state's inability to properly protect and care for the infected, the fear of infection and the terror of those infected of being left behind, and the total societal breakdown.
While the graphic details of bodily fluids and poor sanitation were rather appalling, it certainly did its job in conveying the discord. Blindness is a novel with a heavy focus on how much we see in shaping the world around us and, in turn: how much we know that other people see shaping our behavior and the way we navigate greater society. In my eyes (no pun intended), Saramago did this job well.
Although this might be a bit debatable, the writing style was by far the greatest "strength" in making this piece memorable. My friend took one look at the pages and shook her head, and I understand why. Saramago choose not to break his paragraphs, instead choosing to make them large chunks of text. The sentences were long, there were no quotation marks to break the dialogue, but this wall of text helped narrate and convey the chaos, the confusion, and the almost endless sense of this limbo.
I bought this as my "travel book" and, unlike The Dutch House, it did not disappoint. I certainly plan to keep this on my shelf and I cannot wait to divulge in his other works.
I stumbled upon Blindness at the public library while on the hunt for a different book. Upon reading the synopsis I found the premise interesting enough. To the strangers out there who are actually reading my bookish babbles: I love a good apocalyptic tale.
What can I say? I was raised Catholic.
But beyond the horrors that riddle the Book of Revelations, media that explores apocalypse fascinates me. We all are well aware of how people act in times of crisis, in periods of war and natural disaster, but apocalypse is unique in that while crisis has aid, war has a ceasefire, and natural disasters eventually stop - apocalypse is something that doesn't possess a discernable end. Apocalypse and the fragmentation of the societal status is a means of looking at humanity and asking ourselves what makes us just that.
Told from the perspective of an optometrist's wife, Blindness uses a virus that turns its infected blind as the basis of the plot. Taking place in a matter of days, the novel follows the quarantine protocol, the state's inability to properly protect and care for the infected, the fear of infection and the terror of those infected of being left behind, and the total societal breakdown.
While the graphic details of bodily fluids and poor sanitation were rather appalling, it certainly did its job in conveying the discord. Blindness is a novel with a heavy focus on how much we see in shaping the world around us and, in turn: how much we know that other people see shaping our behavior and the way we navigate greater society. In my eyes (no pun intended), Saramago did this job well.
Although this might be a bit debatable, the writing style was by far the greatest "strength" in making this piece memorable. My friend took one look at the pages and shook her head, and I understand why. Saramago choose not to break his paragraphs, instead choosing to make them large chunks of text. The sentences were long, there were no quotation marks to break the dialogue, but this wall of text helped narrate and convey the chaos, the confusion, and the almost endless sense of this limbo.
I bought this as my "travel book" and, unlike The Dutch House, it did not disappoint. I certainly plan to keep this on my shelf and I cannot wait to divulge in his other works.