Post by wheelspinner on Jan 31, 2009 2:24:06 GMT -5
My first read of a novel by Nobel Prize winner Jose Saramago.
I can't recall having read a Portuguese novel before, although I may have. I fondly remember a couple set in Portugal, notably Zafon's Shadow of the Wind. I'm a big fan of some Spanish authors, notably Perez-Reverte, so I was optimistic.
Death at Intervals (aka Death With Interruptions) is a fantasy set in a country where, one New Year's Day, everyone simply stops dying. At first this seems Utopian, the denizens of the country have achieved immortality. Then the awful truth starts to sink in.
First to panic is the Catholic Church, who realise that people who don't fear death have no reason to listen to them any more. The philosophers also feel threatened - what use are life and death questions when there is no death? Undertakers, staring ruin in the face, have to lower their standards to burying family pets and farm animals.
After a while some people start to tire of life and see immortality as a trap and a burden. Some feel that death is preferable to an endless period at death's door. But they cannot suicide or get people to kill them - death does not work in their country.
And that leads some clever people to work out a way around this dilemma. Emigrate. Soon an entire industry springs up around taking those tired of life over the border for disposal. The Church and the King are even more horrified. The Treasury soon realises that immortality will eventually bankrupt the nation as they struggle to meet infinite pension claims with a dwindling tax base.
Then, all of a sudden, death is back with a vengeance. Only this time, she (death is female) decrees that she will give everyone who is to die a week's notice in writing, so that they can set their affairs in order. This proves far less popular than merely dying without warning, and people come to dread the daily post.
Then death sends a letter that comes back. How can somebody refuse to die? The letter keeps coming back unopened no matter how hard she tries to deliver it. How can a mere mortal defy death? She is intrigued and sets out to track down this person and solve the mystery.
This is a great concept for a book, highly original and intriguing. The book is a bit under 200 pages, but has to be read quite attentively. In part this is because of Saramago's punctuation. The dialogue, of which there is a lot, is rendered merely with capitals and no quote marks. This makes it sometimes hard to follow conversations in the book, which tend to be quickfire and back and forth, so one can get confused. However, that's a mere quibble for a book that is pacy and relatively easy to read.
I'll definitely be adding Saramago to my list of authors to read after this one.
I can't recall having read a Portuguese novel before, although I may have. I fondly remember a couple set in Portugal, notably Zafon's Shadow of the Wind. I'm a big fan of some Spanish authors, notably Perez-Reverte, so I was optimistic.
Death at Intervals (aka Death With Interruptions) is a fantasy set in a country where, one New Year's Day, everyone simply stops dying. At first this seems Utopian, the denizens of the country have achieved immortality. Then the awful truth starts to sink in.
First to panic is the Catholic Church, who realise that people who don't fear death have no reason to listen to them any more. The philosophers also feel threatened - what use are life and death questions when there is no death? Undertakers, staring ruin in the face, have to lower their standards to burying family pets and farm animals.
After a while some people start to tire of life and see immortality as a trap and a burden. Some feel that death is preferable to an endless period at death's door. But they cannot suicide or get people to kill them - death does not work in their country.
And that leads some clever people to work out a way around this dilemma. Emigrate. Soon an entire industry springs up around taking those tired of life over the border for disposal. The Church and the King are even more horrified. The Treasury soon realises that immortality will eventually bankrupt the nation as they struggle to meet infinite pension claims with a dwindling tax base.
Then, all of a sudden, death is back with a vengeance. Only this time, she (death is female) decrees that she will give everyone who is to die a week's notice in writing, so that they can set their affairs in order. This proves far less popular than merely dying without warning, and people come to dread the daily post.
Then death sends a letter that comes back. How can somebody refuse to die? The letter keeps coming back unopened no matter how hard she tries to deliver it. How can a mere mortal defy death? She is intrigued and sets out to track down this person and solve the mystery.
This is a great concept for a book, highly original and intriguing. The book is a bit under 200 pages, but has to be read quite attentively. In part this is because of Saramago's punctuation. The dialogue, of which there is a lot, is rendered merely with capitals and no quote marks. This makes it sometimes hard to follow conversations in the book, which tend to be quickfire and back and forth, so one can get confused. However, that's a mere quibble for a book that is pacy and relatively easy to read.
I'll definitely be adding Saramago to my list of authors to read after this one.
