José Saramago: Seeing

[Sofia]

Because Heteronym insisted

From the Publisher
On election day in the capital, it is raining so hard that no one has bothered to come out to vote. The politicians are growing jittery. What's going on? Should they reschedule the elections for another day? Around three o'clock, the rain finally stops. Promptly at four, voters rush to the polling stations, as if they had been ordered to appear.

But when the ballots are counted, more than 70 percent are blank. The citizens are rebellious. A state of emergency is declared. The president proposes that a wall be built around the city to contain the revolution. But are the authorities acting too precipitously? Or even blindly? The word evokes terrible memories of the plague of blindness that had hit the city four years before, and of the one woman who kept her sight. Could she be behind the blank ballots? Is she the organizer of a conspiracy against the state? A police superintendent is put on the case.

What begins as a satire on governments and the sometimes dubious efficacy of the democratic system turns into something far more sinister. A singular novel from the author of Blindness.



A lot of people really seemed to enjoy this book. While I can't say it was one of my favorites written by him, it wasn't the worst either. It started out promising enough, but started really getting complicated and dragging thru the middle. (sorry Heteronym ) Or maybe I'm just not much into the politic stuff I will admit though, once I got to the end, it was worth it...I wouldn't of expected it.

 

[Dogmatix]

By next weekend I promise.

 

[Sofia]

I won't hold you to it

 

[Dogmatix]

Come on now I'm a woman of my word. Beside Nabokov is going much faster than I anticipated. (and I'm loving it)

 

[Sofia]

Come on now I'm a woman of my word. Beside Nabokov is going much faster than I anticipated. (and I'm loving it)

never doubted it for a minute

 

[Heteronym]

Seeing

Thanks, Sofia. Didn't you just love the two only moments with the Dog of Tears?

Seeing is a novel of ideas, far more so than Blindness. Saramago practically eschews plot and character to develop the premise in all directions. In an age when democracies seem less democratic, casting a blank vote, rejecting opposing political parties with their burned-out ideas, is an act of rebellion. (staying home and not voting is just laziness, though ) And I relish in the idea that a blank majority would scare a government enough to turn it dictatorial. The fact is, no one really knows what would happen with a blank majority, no legislation has probably ever considered such possibility, so wouldn't it be fun just to try it once?

According to Saramago, no, it wouldn't. The government would panic, have the secret police spying innocent people, there would be illegal arrests, secret interrogations, torture, and scapegoats. The government would punish the voters for exercising a constitutional right. I’m young and an idealist, and I distrust politics in general. So Seeing spoke to me on a very personal level.

 

[Sofia]

Thanks, Sofia. Didn't you just love the two only moments with the Dog of Tears?

Seeing is a novel of ideas, far more so than Blindness. Saramago practically eschews plot and character to develop the premise in all directions. In an age when democracies seem less democratic, casting a blank vote, rejecting opposing political parties with their burned-out ideas, is an act of rebellion. (staying home and not voting is just laziness, though ) And I relish in the idea that a blank majority would scare a government enough to turn it dictatorial. The fact is, no one really knows what would happen with a blank majority, no legislation has probably ever considered such possibility, so wouldn't it be fun just to try it once?

According to Saramago, no, it wouldn't. The government would panic, have the secret police spying innocent people, there would be illegal arrests, secret interrogations, torture, and scapegoats. The government would punish the voters for exercising a constitutional right. I’m young and an idealist, and I distrust politics in general. So Seeing spoke to me on a very personal level.

you wrote it much better than I ever could!

 

[Heteronym]

Ah, thanks, Sofia

You read Blindness: How do you feel about the bits where both novels cross? I liked to see the Doctor's Wife one more time. She always struck me as one of Saramago's best creations.

And when you read The Stone Raft, see if you find any similarities with Seeing. That novel foreshadowed many of the stylistic elements Saramago uses in his recent novels.

 

[Sofia]

Ah, thanks, Sofia

You read Blindness: How do you feel about the bits where both novels cross? I liked to see the Doctor's Wife one more time. She always struck me as one of Saramago's best creations.

And when you read The Stone Raft, see if you find any similarities with Seeing. That novel foreshadowed many of the stylistic elements Saramago uses in his recent novels.

I though Seeing was going to be more of a sequel type, but it really wasn't. It was it's own story really. But it was good to revisit a few of the characters form Blindness....and I am still trying to get over that ending!!!

It will be a little while before I get to The Stone Raft but I will be sure to look for that foreshadowing!