Death with Interruptions

This one was odd.

Saramago's writing style was a little strange, to say the least: a sentence could go on for five or more lines, a paragraph could go on for two pages, and dialogue wasn't marked with quotation marks or even new paragraphs. But the story. As of the last stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve, no one died. In the entire country. That's not to say everyone became healthy. If you were on the verge of death at 11:59 New Year's Eve, you were on the verge of death two weeks later. You just cannot die. The government starts to try and deal with the immediate and foreseeable problems involved in running a country that will age, but won't die. And then, months later, death sends a letter to the head of the television bureau that starting at the last stroke of midnight, everyone who should have dies in the previous months will die and now, to be polite, death will send out letters one week prior to dying so people can get their affairs in order. Oh yeah, this one's strange.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

death with a wink and a smile

The premise and treatment are original and the insights tickle rather than provoke. What would happen if, in one particular country, no one could die? Saramago treats it as an organizational problem for the government, the health care system, for families, the Church.... with wonderful insights about all. Smiles and chuckles everywhere. But a sense of immediacy is missing. The story-telling is at some distance from the story. The ending chapters, although dealing with an extension of the core theme, seem like part of a different book. For me, Saramago really found the heart of his story here -- with all the immediacy of warm breath on a cheek. I would have loved to have seen the end story form the basis of a whole book.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Loved it!

This book is great! The writing may be a little tricky but it's only because the book was first published in spanish so if it were read in spanish it will all make sense but even so it still made sense. I enjoy how Saramago takes the notion of death and applies it to society-what will happen if no one died in a country and how it will affect society and the conflicts it would bring. I love how death is personified as a woman. Towards the end I felt like I was taken on journey in death's shoes. The ending left me wanting to read more about what happened next. Fantastic book!

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Disappointing!!!

His earlier work, "Blindness", was the most incredible book I had ever read. So I was excited to try more of his work. This book was a huge disappointment. I'll admit that I only read the first 80 pages, but that was more than enough. While the ideas in the book are interesting and original, his writing never pulled you into the story. Also, as another reviewer mentioned, his writing style is very different and very off-putting. He runs several sentences together. One of these "sentences" was more than two pages long.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Love Affair

This excellent book takes a look at death from multiple points of view. Many ruminations on death can be found, none get closer than Saramago.

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