José Saramago became a full-time author in his fifties. Before that he worked
as a car mechanic and a journalist, among other things.
His international breakthrough came with the novel Baltasar and Blimunda,
published in 1982. Saramago was an atheist and politically involved in the
Communist Party in Portugal, which is reflected in his literary output.
His writings were controversial in his native country, and consequently Saramago
came to settle on Lanzarote later in life.
His best known novel, Memorial do convent, released in 1982 is the story of a
handicapped war veteran and his lover who use a flying machine powered by
human will to flee their difficult state of affairs set against the 18th century
backdrop of Portugal. (famousauthors.org)
José Saramago frequently makes use of allegory in his writing, and fantastic
elements are interspersed with a detailed and critical look at society.
A characteristic of Saramago’s style is the blending of dialog and narration,
with sparse punctuation and long sentences that can extend for several pages.
There is a lot of people, who will tell you, that Blindness (1995) is the greatest
novel by Saramago. That it is the perfect allegoric novel.
For me, the perfect allegory by Saramago, or just a plain and simple novel, is
The Stone Raft (1990).
In this insane novel the Iberic peninsula breaks loose from Europe and floats
towards the Azores.
It is a novel about the fears of not being a part of Europe, not wanting to
be a part of Europe. And on another level, it’s a novel on how to be a person,
a human, among other humans.
And it is very Saramagoian: funny, strange, philosophical, but at the same time
very human, optimistic.
(First published 30.11.2022)