Genre Fiction
![Jose Saramago - [object Object] author](https://res.cloudinary.com/readsomnia/image/upload/authors/a_B000APB7VQ.jpg)
Blindness
A stunningly powerful novel of humanity's will to survive against all odds during an epidemic by a winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature.
An International Bestseller • "This is a shattering work by a literary master."-Boston Globe
A city is hit by an epidemic of "white blindness" which spares no one. Authorities confine the blind to an empty mental hospital, but there the criminal element holds everyone captive, stealing food rations and raping women. There is one eyewitness to this nightmare who guides seven strangers-among them a boy with no mother, a girl with dark glasses, a dog of tears-through the barren streets, and the procession becomes as uncanny as the surroundings are harrowing. A magnificent parable of loss and disorientation, Blindness has swept the reading public with its powerful portrayal of our worst appetites and weaknesses-and humanity's ultimately exhilarating spirit.
"This is a an important book, one that is unafraid to face all of the horror of the century."-Washington Post
A New York Times Notable Book of the Year
A Los Angeles Times Best Book of the Year
An International Bestseller • "This is a shattering work by a literary master."-Boston Globe
A city is hit by an epidemic of "white blindness" which spares no one. Authorities confine the blind to an empty mental hospital, but there the criminal element holds everyone captive, stealing food rations and raping women. There is one eyewitness to this nightmare who guides seven strangers-among them a boy with no mother, a girl with dark glasses, a dog of tears-through the barren streets, and the procession becomes as uncanny as the surroundings are harrowing. A magnificent parable of loss and disorientation, Blindness has swept the reading public with its powerful portrayal of our worst appetites and weaknesses-and humanity's ultimately exhilarating spirit.
"This is a an important book, one that is unafraid to face all of the horror of the century."-Washington Post
A New York Times Notable Book of the Year
A Los Angeles Times Best Book of the Year
Editorial Reviews
"This is a shattering work by a literary master."-The Boston Globe
"This is an important book, one that is unafraid to face all of the horrors of the century."-The Washington Post
"Symphonic . . . [There is] a clear-eyed and compassionate acknowledgment of things as they are, a quality that can only honestly be termed wisdom. We should be grateful when it is handed to us in such generous measure."-The New York Times Book Review
"Saramago's surreal allegory explores the ability of the human spirit to prevail in even the most absurdly unjust of conditions, yet he reinvents this familiar struggle with the stylistic eccentricity of a master."-The New Yorker
"Extraordinarily nuanced and evocative . . . This year's most propulsive, and most profound, thriller."-The Village Voice
"Like Jonathan Swift, Saramago uses airily matter-of-fact detail to frame a bitter parable; unlike Swift he pierces the parable with a dart of steely tenderness . . . out of leisurely prose, the ferocity and tenderness shoot suddenly: arrows set alight. . . . Enchanting, sinuous dialogue."-The Los Angeles Times
"Blindness may be as revolutionary in its own way and time as were, say, The Trial and The Plague in theirs. Another masterpiece."-Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"This is an important book, one that is unafraid to face all of the horrors of the century."-The Washington Post
"Symphonic . . . [There is] a clear-eyed and compassionate acknowledgment of things as they are, a quality that can only honestly be termed wisdom. We should be grateful when it is handed to us in such generous measure."-The New York Times Book Review
"Saramago's surreal allegory explores the ability of the human spirit to prevail in even the most absurdly unjust of conditions, yet he reinvents this familiar struggle with the stylistic eccentricity of a master."-The New Yorker
"Extraordinarily nuanced and evocative . . . This year's most propulsive, and most profound, thriller."-The Village Voice
"Like Jonathan Swift, Saramago uses airily matter-of-fact detail to frame a bitter parable; unlike Swift he pierces the parable with a dart of steely tenderness . . . out of leisurely prose, the ferocity and tenderness shoot suddenly: arrows set alight. . . . Enchanting, sinuous dialogue."-The Los Angeles Times
"Blindness may be as revolutionary in its own way and time as were, say, The Trial and The Plague in theirs. Another masterpiece."-Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
Readers Top Reviews
RujuLizM
Blindness is a great idea for a story, an epidemic with a difference. Imprisoning the afflicted in a disused mental hospital and treating them the way the authorities do is genius. Unfortunately, the way it is written is terrible. The entire novel is composed of long sentences and long paragraphs without proper dialogue. There are conversations of a sort, but it is all contained in the narrative without speech marks or line breaks. It soon becomes very tedious. The way the group in the hospital interact initially is fascinating, but the monotony of the writing style soon wore me down. Blindness very nearly got a 1 star rating, but I've begrudgingly given it an extra star because of the great idea.
Pamela Scott
The only other book I’ve read by the author is, The Gospel According to Jesus Christ so I really didn’t know what to expect with Blindness. The two books are very different. I like different. Blindness reminded me a lot of the works of John Wyndham especially his disturbing novel, The Day of the Triffids. I really enjoyed it. I can’t think of anything more terrifying than suddenly, inexplicably losing my sight. Saramago does an amazing job of conveying the terror of those who have lost their sight and describing the gradual decline of society as more and more people lose their sight and chaos descends. Blindness is a dark and intense book at times. I thought it was great. I want to read more of Saramago’swork.
Roman Clodia
Part dystopia, part abstract philosophising, with thrillerish elements and an existential overlay. At times it is brutal almost to the point of unbearable but we need to remember that it draws on the events of twentieth century history (and beyond). I like the fact that the white blindness is not easily or simplistically pinned down - at various times, it shifts between being a kind of existential hopelessness, at others a deliberate turning away from looking, yet again it can be turned inward, or even reversed so that loss of self is caused by and equated with other people's lack of seeing. Saramago's life-long communism briefly appears in the centralised distribution of the food which is more effective and equitable than the free-for-all struggles of individuals but this isn't mere political allegory, and deals with more fundamental issues. The not-blind doctor's wife is the closest thing to a main character, selflessly confining herself in the hospital in order not to be separated from her husband, and her quiet heroism is subsumed beneath his more overt authority. She is the one who makes some of the hardest decisions which take an emotional toll on her, and it's she who bonds with the dog of tears, an image of compassion and empathy that is, significantly?, not human. The prose is compulsive, dispensing with punctuation which might slow it down, and also eroding grammatical barriers between voices, allowing individuals to be submerged within a single cacophonous utterance of humanity in all its terror, division, violence and love. There is cruelty here, exploitation and the abuse of power; we see hierarchies form and be toppled; but there are also images of connection, of charity, and of strength coming from community. And, ultimately, the dog (god?) of tears.
porchlightPaul Phill
I rarely leave a negative review but I dislike this book so much that I’m going to do just that. I gave it 2 stars on account of 3 people in my book club liked it and I tend to respect their opinions. So, I’m giving two more stars than what I’m feeling to allow for human error- mine. My experience was reading one awful thing happening after another w nothing in between. While reading I started talking out loud, saying “Uh-huh, yeah, great, uh-huh thanks, thanks a lot, thanks,” until it just devolved in “yeah, THANKS.” I did not feel grateful. And I’m not going to tell you what I said when I finished the last page and looked at the author‘s tiny picture. My favorite book is Blood Meridian, so my problem w this book is not based on a general aversion to unpleasantness. Reading this book was as close as I ever want to get to irredeemable punishment.
D. A. FisherDisneyDe
The premise of a plague of blindness is interesting. Seven characters none of whom are interesting with the exception of an opthalmologist also afflicted and helpless to help the six others so afflicted. The the writing style made a tortuous read with sentences running on and paragraphs up to two pages long. Being of an obsessive character I rarely do not finish reading a book. I called it quit at page 70. This dystopian novel does not have even so much as a smile. I don't need such a depressing experience; I can get depressed on my own, Compare this to the rightfully acclaimed dystopian novel about a plague, read Camus "The Plague." A root canal would be much less painful than reading "Blindness."
