A review by zhoujj
Blindness by José Saramago

dark hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I learnt a new word from this novel – scatological. This book is scatological. And that's awesome.

I can't believe this sat on our shelf for a decade before I finally decided to challenge myself to finish it between Christmas and New Years. I had just finished Jon Fosse's Septology prior to this and wanted to read something written in similar long meandering sentences, and Blindness exactly fit the bill.

To me the first part of the story
before they fled the compound
was more gripping and shocking – some moments left my jaw dropping. It mellows out towards the end. None of the characters had a name, which I thought was a simple but clever touch – it further emphasised that their identities did not matter when everyone was blind. I loved the book overall, especially the ending. Makes me want to read more dystopian novels.