Blindness by José Saramago- Paperback: 352 pages
- Publisher: Harvest Books; 1 edition (October 4, 1999)
- ISBN-13: 978-0156007757
Back-of-the-book blurb: 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. A magnificent parable of loss and disorientation and a vivid evocation of the horrors of the twentieth century, Blindness has swept the reading public with its powerful portrayal of man’s worst appetites and weaknesses-and man’s ultimately exhilarating spirit. The stunningly powerful novel of man’s will to survive against all odds, by the winner of the 1998 Nobel Prize for Literature.
She Is Too Fond of Books’ review: If you’ve read this blog for even a few months you know that I don’t “do” dystopian fiction. I shy away from tales of horror and thrillers with graphic descriptions. I’m no Pollyanna (“ooh, rainbows! unicorns! :) 
”), I like emotional reads, but I’m a biblio-wimp when it comes to the real dark stuff. So, how did I come to read Blindness, which is clearly dark? Sandy from You’ve GOTTA Read This pressed it into my hands in sunny Florida last week, saying “you’ve gotta read this!” So, I did!
Saramago’s novel is, as I noted in yesterday’s Sunday Salon, both brilliantly horrible and horribly brilliant. He imagines a world in which man is reduced to … to what? I can’t say “to animals,” because we see animals behaving more civilly than some of the humans.
The prose are dense, claustrophobic, with paragraphs that run for pages, and no quotation marks around lines of dialogue (which themselves are separated only by commas, not line breaks). Despite the density of the text, I got into the rhythm of reading it without any problem – I could differentiate who was speaking, even without conventional punctuation.
And who was speaking? Saramago shares seven main characters, all unnamed, they are:
- the first blind man
- the wife of the first blind man
- the doctor (an opthamologist, ironically)
- the doctor’s wife
- the old man with the black eyepatch
- the girl with dark glasses
- the boy with the squint
and added later in the novel:
- the dog of tears
See how he plays with the characters and the reader, defining them around terms of vision, sight, etc.? They are anonymous, yet he allows us to know them.
I’ll share a few quotes that struck me. This first one is a conversation, so watch out for the switches between speakers. It’s found on page 144 of the paperback I read, almost halfway through the novel. The thoughts of the first blind man and the doctor mirrored my own at this point:
We’re in an impossible situation, It has been impossible ever since we came into this place, yet we go on putting up with it, You’re an optimist, doctor, No, I’m not an optimist, but I cannot imagine anything worse than our present existence. Well, I’m not entirely convinced that there are limits to misfortune and evil, You may be right, said the doctor, and then, as if he were talking to himself, Something has to happen here, a conclusion that contains a certain contradiction, either there is something worse than this, after all, or, from now on, things are going to get better, although all the indications suggest otherwise.
As I noted with the way Saramago refers to the characters, he doesn’t hold back with his references to vision. Here a character notes what she has always taken for granted:
In her nervous haste, the girl with the dark glasses stumbled twice, but laughed it off, Just imagine, stairs that I used to be able to go up and down with my eyes closed, clichés are like that, they are insensitive to the thousand subtleties of meaning, this one, for example, does not know the difference between closing one’s eyes and being blind.
Perhaps he shares a bit of philosophy, or a lesson for us:
… the doctor simply said, If I ever regain my sight, I shall look carefully at the eyes of others, as if I were looking into their souls, Their souls, asked the old man with the eyepatch, Or their minds, the name does not matter, it was then that, surprisingly, if we consider that we are dealing with a person without much education, the girl with the dark glasses said, Inside us there is something that has no name, that something is what we are.
Are you taking deep breaths as you read those quotes? That’s what I found myself doing as I read Saramago’s Nobel Prize-winning novel. The last few pages had me scratching my head … then going to other online sources to help me understand what I just read. The societal parable was completely lost on me, but with a little help from Google I had a better understanding. Blindness would be a great choice for a discussion group (with strong stomachs).
Am I glad I read it? Yes, it is so well-written that I was compelled to read it, as uncomfortable as it made me.
Will I watch the film adaptation? Unlikely, as I’m even more wimpy when it comes to darkness on the big screen – my imagination can do enough damage, I don’t need someone else’s visuals to push me over the top! If you’ve seen the film, check out the online conversation about the film adaption of Blindness that Sandy and James had during Book Blogger Appreciation Week 2009.
What about Saramago’s follow-up novel, Seeing? The jury is still out on whether or not I’ll read that … I need a bit of time to recover from Blindness.
I don’t usually do dystopian fiction either – and I avoid dark movies, too. But I read Blindness for a world lit course in college, and found it truly powerful (if disturbing). We all joked that the class was more like group therapy for those few weeks – we had to talk through our impressions of this horrific world. There is a lift at the end, but what horrors you have to go through to get there! It’s a book I never would have chosen to read, but it certainly is compelling and thought-provoking.
My daughter was just mentioning this book the other day and how unsettled it made her feel. I’m going to have to give this a read.
This review was wonderful, and now I am sure that this is my kind of book. I have another book by Saramago on my shelves that I need to read as well. He is known to have a powerful way with words and ideas, and I am glad that although it made you uncomfortable at times, it was a good read!
Well, it is because I say that all the time that I named my blog that way! I am so glad you braved this one and liked it (sort of). I don’t know that I would recommend the movie. It was OK, and the director did the best he could with a movie where only one person can see, but it wasn’t anything to write home about. For the other side of the conversation between James and I, about the book, and our discussion about what stuff meant, here is the link:
http://readywhenyouarecb.blogspot.com/2009/09/bbaw-two-visions-of-blindness-by-jose.html
Yay you finished it! And you’re still intact! XOXOX That’s how I felt when I finished it too
I’m not sure. It sounds like an amazing book, but just based on those excerpts I’m not sure if I could make it through.
If you struggled with the ending of this one, imagine what I’d do if I tried to read it. I have a feeling this isn’t for me.
Katie – I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall in that class! I imagine it was a fascinating discussion.
Martha – “unsettled” is an apt description. Saramago’s style echos the claustrophobia/confusion the characters meet.
zibilee – I can arrange for this book to travel back to sunny Florida
Sandy – thanks for posting the link … I didn’t think to look for the rest of the conversation.
Rebecca – LOL! That “still intact” is up for debate … the novel is truly haunting.
Carol – it might be more tolerable if you had a reading partner or reading group to discuss it with. I’m still reading online analysis of BLINDNESS. I’m curious about Saramago’s other books, but I need some time to pass before I can handle more.
Kathy – it was tough, no doubt about it. A very talented author (it wasn’t just random gore and destruction; he did have a pattern/method to the plot)
I loved the book and the movie, I found to be just okay.
I like dystopian…and I like dark…but this might be a bit too dense for me. I admit it, I am a bit of a lazy reader and this sounds too much like work, not pleasure.
Very interesting review! I haven’t read Blindness but my husband did – he really hated the way the characters didn’t have names and found the writing style difficult to follow. From your description, I can see why!
We did watch the movie. You’re right – it’s pretty grim! The author has a pretty dismal view of human nature, doesn’t he?
Sue
I won this one from a blog, but haven’t read it yet. I probably need to do it when I’m not taking care of Gage 14/7, which will be…when does pre-school start?
This book blew me away when I read it even though it was a very had book to read. I had to put it down at times because it was so dark but even then it was such an amazing read as well. It has stuck with me for such a long time now. Great review!
I love dystopian, post-apocalypse stories. This one will definitely be on my TBR list.
Diane – I heard the same from Sandy. I’ve VERY unlikely to watch the film (I think I’d get nightmares). I may read SEEING … one day when my TBR is under control (ha ha ha!)
caite – the prose weren’t hard to read (not complicated or cryptic), but, dense? yes.
Sue – I’ve read quite a few analyses since I finished the book. Many commented that not naming the characters was too in-your-face with the darkness/confusion.
Stacy – (should I tell you that it doesn’t end with preschool? They take *more* time as they get older). Enjoy that little sweetie!
Samantha – it’s definitely sticking with me (and I took those reading breaks, too)
Lisa – and isn’t it funny that I stay away from them (I refused to read THE PASSAGE despite all the raves). The power of book bloggers, Sandy made me read it!
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Gören kadında toplumdaki aydını simgeler,belkide kendisini yada tanrıyı her şeyi görür çünkü. tecrit edilmeleride farklı bir görüşleren insanların cüzzam gibi kaçması.
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