Describe About Books The History of the Siege of Lisbon
| Title | : | The History of the Siege of Lisbon |
| Author | : | José Saramago |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | Anniversary Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 314 pages |
| Published | : | 2000 by Harvill Press (first published 1989) |
| Categories | : | Fiction. Cultural. Portugal. Historical. Historical Fiction. European Literature. Portuguese Literature. Literature |
José Saramago
Paperback | Pages: 314 pages Rating: 3.81 | 4399 Users | 396 Reviews
Chronicle Toward Books The History of the Siege of Lisbon
"If proofreaders were given their freedom and did not have their hands and feet tied by a mass of prohibitions more binding than the penal code, they would soon transform the face of the world, establish the kingdom of universal happiness, giving drink to the thirsty, food to the famished, peace to those who live in turmoil, joy to the sorrowful ... for they would be able to do all these things simply by changing the words ..." The power of the word is evident in Portuguese author José Saramago's novel, The History of the Siege of Lisbon. His protagonist, a proofreader named Raimundo Silva, adds a key word to a history of Portugal and thus rewrites not only the past, but also his own life.Brilliantly translated from the Portuguese by Giovanni Pontiero, The History of the Siege of Lisbon is a meditation on the differences between historiography, historical fiction, and "stories inserted into history." The novel is really two stories in one: the reimagined history of the 1147 siege of Lisbon that Raimundo feels compelled to write and the story of Raimundo's life, including his unexpected love affair with the editor, Maria Sara. In Saramago's masterful hands, the strands of this complex tale weave together to create a satisfying whole.
Present Books In Favor Of The History of the Siege of Lisbon
| Original Title: | História do Cerco de Lisboa |
| ISBN: | 1860467229 (ISBN13: 9781860467226) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Characters: | Raimundo Silva, Dom Afonso Henriques |
| Setting: | Lisbon(Portugal) |
| Literary Awards: | Jarl Hellemann -palkinto (2015) |
Rating About Books The History of the Siege of Lisbon
Ratings: 3.81 From 4399 Users | 396 ReviewsColumn About Books The History of the Siege of Lisbon
I can't do it. I put this book down for two months because I couldn't read more than two or three pages at a time without falling asleep and wanted to throw it away. So I picked it back up again with the belief that I would read one chapter at a time while allowing myself to read a different book in between. But I can't. I went back to the book today and realized I can't subject myself to even ten pages at a time with this.I know this book is supposed to be amazing. And I applaud those that canIf at first a little tiring, this book certainly makes up for its somewhat unconventional style. As fiction, the story is engaging, but it's the places the text goes in the direction of challenging the orthodoxy of historical writing that is truly memorable. The sacredness of print, the linearity of time (to say nothing of the sentence), and even the value of proofreading (in more ways than one) are all thrown out the window. This is historical fiction at its best.
dnf-ed at 39%Couldn't get through this one. I'm not used to the writing style, and this isn't the type of book I want to read right now.
If not for the overabundance of digressions, an almost perfect take on the problem of writing history, the task of the author, the publishing industry, and the overlapping of history and fiction.
This book took more time than usual for me to read. The problem with Saramago's book, at least for me, is that it requires good stretches of uninterrupted attention, something which has been a sparse thing these days. But I finally finished it today.Saramago is up to his typical mischievousness here, lobbing another "what if"? The man's imagination is as boundless as his knowledge and wonder. The plot of this story hinges on a moment of whimsy on the part of a very ordinary, unwhimsical,
I'd previously read his excellent novel Blindness, but this was even better, both more human and more high-concept. It's a deceptively simple novel, centering around Raimundo Silva, a middle-aged proofreader in modern-day Lisbon who, when given a book called The History of the Siege of Lisbon to proof, impulsively inserts the single word "not" into a crucial sentence about the decision of a Crusader army to come to the aid of an army of Galicians besieging the city of Lisbon during the
This is one of those books where asking "what's it about" doesn't quite work. The story itself is extremely simple. (view spoiler)[A proofreader adds a "no" to a history book he's reading, gets caught with the lie and, instead of being fired, is asked to imagine the consequences of this alternate history. He does, and in the process falls in love with his boss. (hide spoiler)] But it's the style that makes the book, Saramago's trademark flow-of-consciousness, commas-instead-of-full-stops,
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