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Loading... As Intermitências da Morte (original 2005; edition 2009)by José Saramago, Editor: Leya (Editor)
Work InformationDeath with Interruptions by José Saramago (Author) (2005)
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. The beginning of the book was rather dull considered it was written by Nobelprize winner Jose Saramago. It was mostly a very extensive description of the setting. Of course, the setting is absurd and humorous, and Saramago writes awesome satire, but it was a bit too dry to my taste. However at the end of the book, the plot transformed into a beautiful but twisted love story. In my humble opinion the book is worth four stars because of the last 50 pages. ( ) There are some books that defy description, that have to be experienced. Saramago’s Death with Interruptions is one such book. The thesis is intriguing. One day, people stop dying. At this time of pandemic gyrations, the convulsions of the government and churches forced to deal with the fallout from this lack of dying are both wickedly wise and so funny I laughed out loud. The Church is sent for a spin- if no eternity, then what do they have to use to persuade people to follow them? The government has no idea what to do with all the undying, including the Queen Mother- because, though people don’t die, they don’t exactly live, either. They hang, fixed in time, unable to do either. There are those who immediately find ways to make money out of such a situation- undertakers plead financial ruin and are reduced to government-insisted buryings of pets; organized crime dips in in a variety of ways; governments cut deals; and one family figures out a solution that destabilizes life even more. It’s odd to read this at the same time that some States in the US are hinting that old people should get Covid-19 and just die, take one for the team as it were. The context seems so parallel... Saramago’s prose is written in tremendously long twisting sentences, but each is like a garden path, with pleasing asides popping up throughout. Every phrase is a gem. Many sentences turn around and snap a funny vision at the end that took me by enough surprise I burst out laughing. How does the situation work itself out? Ah, that I can’t reveal, except to warn you to avoid and lavender coloured envelopes in the mail. Un gran libro, lleno de filosofía y guiños del autor que nos provocan sonrisas; dos historias en una y un final que cautiva y, al mismo tiempo, deja con muchas interrogantes. No es fácil leer a Saramago y como siempre he insistido, debemos llegar a él con buena disposición para poder disfrutarlo y entenderlo, en mi caso, me tomó varios años para poder volver a sus historias plagadas de su habitual rebuscamiento y filosofía, y sí, disfrutar mucho este libro que no puedo más que recomendar.
Elke roman van José Saramago opent met een paukenslag.Op de eerste bladzijden introduceert hij een hoogst ongewone toestand, die vaak door een even abrupte als absurde ingreep van hogerhand wordt geforceerd. Zo'n openingszet, die alles op scherp zet en de lezer elektrocuteert, is een geraffineerde variant op het 'er was eens' van het sprookje. Dan is de moraal vaak niet ver weg meer. Dat is soms even slikken, juist bij zo'n geharnast moralist als Saramago. Hier is het dat niet: daarvoor is het verhaal te goed verteld, te geestig ook - en het verlangen dat erdoor gefileerd wordt, het anti-doodsverlangen, te vitaal. Is contained inAwardsDistinctions
"On the first day of the new year, no one dies. This, understandably, causes consternation among politicians, religious leaders, funeral directors, and doctors. Among the general public, on the other hand, there is initially celebration - flags are hung out on balconies, people dance in the streets. They have achieved the great goal of humanity: eternal life. Then reality hits home - families are left to care for the permanently dying, life-insurance policies become meaningless, and funeral directors are reduced to arranging burials for pet dogs, cats, hamsters, and parrots. Death sits in her chilly apartment, where she lives alone with scythe and filing cabinets, and contemplates her experiment: What if no one ever died again? What if she, death with a small d, became human and were to fall in love?"--jacket blurb. No library descriptions found.
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)869.342Literature Spanish and Portuguese Portuguese Portuguese fiction 20th Century 1945-1999LC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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