After reading Blindness (which I enjoyed but thought was a tad too religiously infused) I had the impression Jose Saramago was also religiously inclined. So it was a refreshing surprise to read this cleverly conncocted story which serves to examine the tenets of Christianity through one of its principle characters (Cain) in a humourous, satirical and ironic way - I'm not a believer, you see. I do believe however, that everyone has the right to believe what they want but blind and ignorant faith gets my goat, therefore I liked how this book brought to light the far-fetchedness, hypocrisy and somewhat tyrannical nature of the religion and god. Think 'The Bible' meets 'A Christmas Carol' meets 'Zeitgeist' and you have 'Cain' - who, incidentally, despite the murder of his brother, is an extremely likeable fellow under the pen of Saramago.

For the most part it is incredibly well written, funny and clinical in its highlighting of the bible's flaws. Sometimes however it seems to tail off a little, whether this was to do with Saramago being near to the end of his life, I dont know. All in all though this doesnt detract from a clever story by a literary great (it's also quite short if you find Saramago's unique punctuationstyle a tough slog) I strongly recommend, a very good read! ( )

I gave this book 5 stars to partly counter the reviews that deduct stars on account of Saramago's grammatical style. All his books, that I have read, use a similar style. I can't say I love the run-on sentences without capitalization, punctuation, format or informative terminations such as question marks, etc, but I will say that Saramago is bursting with things to get on to paper and I think the style makes me aware of his energy. With Saramago, it is not about the grammar, it is about the forcefulness and confidence of the prose. Think of a person opposite you ranting nonstop - and yet you are engaged.

Spoiler: Be warned that Saramago might make you question your faith or belief in god. He seems to deal with every question I had reading the old testament as a child, starting with How did Adam and Eve start the human race if they only had two sons and one killed the other? Nothing, nothing is sacred to Saramago.

Another spoiler: I did not appreciate the abrupt ending. For me, it did not tie up the book in any way and I even wonder if he actually finished writing it before he died. Did someone just say "ok, everyone dies and lets pretend he wrote it like that" ? ( )

It's been some time since I read this, and I don't recall any details but still have a positive feeling about the book. ( )

Dezembro de 2022.
Se anteriormente fiz algumas releituras de que me arrependi, reler Caim foi uma experiência de leitura muito superior à primeira.
Adorei como Saramago, em cerca de 180 páginas, reconta várias histórias do antigo testamento, com uma visão acutilante, irónica, sarcástica e humorística.
Saramago era, sem dúvida, um génio da escrita.
No entanto, penso que este livro será melhor apreciado por pessoas que conheçam as histórias contadas na biblia, caso contrário poderão não compreender tudo o que aqui está escrito. ( )

Duke përmbysur vlerësimin tradicional, Saramagoja na e jep Kainin si një qenie njerëzore as më i mirë dhe as më i keq se të tjerët. Përkundrazi, Zoti është një Zot i lig, i padrejtë dhe smirëzi, që nuk e di çfarë do dhe, mbi të gjitha, nuk i do njerëzit. Është një Zot që nuk pranon, vetëm nga trilli dhe mospërfillja, mblatën e Kainit, duke shkaktuar kështu vrasjen e Abelit.