All the Names

José Saramago is a genius wordsmith. To the novice opening a first book by this Nobel Prize winning Portuguese novelist, Saramago may seem a bit mad, if not just frustratingly bizarre. Pages without paragraph indentations, with conversations unpunctuated or without speaker identified, no use of quotation maeks, abrupt changes of time and place within one ongoing endless sentence. These impediments to reading a novel often tend to make the reader begin to simply scan the way through the book, hoping to find the end to this strange means. BUT! It is precisely the "means" that places Saramago in the category of Greatest Living Writers. (More than a little praise is due his able translator!!) "All the Names" is a journey of obsession by a Kafaesque little nobody who works in a metaphorical General Registry that houses all the names of those born, married, and died in an unknown land/place. Saramago pulls us like a powerful magnet into this meticulously ordered conundrum and we are walking beside (and sharing the inner side of the skull of) a little clerk determined to place an identity of one unknown woman. This is at once a journey through Existentialism, through the anonymity of living in the world today, a study of the depersonalization of society. Yet out of this microscopic examination of details we come to understand the significance of maintaining individualism, of finding connection, of fighting against a meaningless passage on this earth. Though no one is named in this novel, save the main character, Saramago paints the peripheral characters with such clarity that names are the least important designators. This is not an easy read: many great books are not easy reads. But the work required to stay with the author to the end is compensated by luxuriating in a wordbath that is found only in strolling through the process. I think this is a brilliant book by a unique writer who has descovered a style of writing that only enhances his uncommonly interesting tales. Spend time here. You'll be rewared in countless ways.

Jose Saramago is a genius wordsmith. To the novice opening a first book by this Pulitzer Prize winning Portuguese novelist, Saramago may seem a bit mad, if not just frustratingly bizarre. Pages without paragraph indentations, with conversations unpunctuated or without speaker identified, no use of quotation maeks, abrupt changes of time and place within one ongoing endless sentence. These impediments to reading a novel often tend to make the reader begin to simply scan the way through the book, hoping to find the end to this strange means. BUT! It is precisely the "means" that places Saramago in the category of Greatest Living Writers. (More than a little praise is due his able translator!!) "All the Names" is a journey of obsession by a Kafaesque little nobody who works in a metaphorical General Registry that houses all the names of those born, married, and died in an unknown land/place. Saramago pulls us like a powerful magnet into this meticulously ordered conundrum and we are walking beside (and sharing the inner side of the skull of) a little clerk determined to place an identity of one unknown woman. This is at once a journey through Existentialism, through the anonymity of living in the world today, a study of the depersonalization of society. Yet out of this microscopic examination of details we come to understand the significance of maintaining individualism, of finding connection, of fighting against a meaningless passage on this earth. Though no one is named in this novel, save the main character, Saragmago paints the peripheral characters with such clarity that names are the least important designators. This is not an easy read: many great books are not easy reads. But the work required to stay with the author to the end is compensated by luxuriating in a wordbath that is found only in strolling through the process. I think this is a brilliant book by a unique writer who has descovered a style of writing that only enhances his uncommonly interesting tales. Spend time here. You'll be rewared in countless ways.

Saramago's in depth, tender and frequently humorous exploration of the life of a simple, timid clerk (Senhor Jose) unfolds into a story of a man's quest to overcome the fears that have all but smothered him. "Senhor Jose both wants and doesn't want, he both desires and fears what he desires, that is what his whole life has been like," Saramago tells us. Other than his "hobby," collecting information about famous people, Senhor Jose's life is mostly about being as uninvolved as possible. In contrast to the main character in Saramago's earlier "The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis," who is dead but doesn't know it, Senhor Jose is alive but doesn't know it. And unlike his earlier works in which fate seems to hold all the cards, in "All the Names" Saramago lets chance (serendipity) guide the story. It begins, almost as a reward for a tiny bit of daring, when Senhor Jose sneaks into his work place to get some more information about famous people for his collection and discovers, stuck to one of the records he was looking for, a misfiled record for a woman (another un-famous, unknown). Unbeknownst to him at the time, it will be the question posed by this simple piece of paper (Who is she?) that brings Senhor Jose "back from the dead." Skillfully, Saramago uses the same question to draw in his readers, and it is some time before he begins to let on that maybe this "unknown woman" is more important as a metaphor for what has become of Senhor Jose's spirit - his willingness to engage in life - than as some real woman he will eventually find. In the end, it is the search itself that eventually leads Senhor Jose to discover that what makes life worth living is never so dead that it can't be resurrected.There is a shift in "quality" (character) between this book and Saramago's earlier ones. "All the Names" is not about politics, history or culture; it is focused on the psychology and spirit of the human experience. Saramago is such a brilliant observer of the inner life. His ability to write from within his characters (as opposed to about them), while clear in his earlier works, is taken to a new level in "All the Names." The many occasions in which Saramago lets us know what Senhor Jose is thinking (be it silly or sublime, ridiculous or profound) are written so well that it is hard not to feel that you know this character as well as you know yourself.It is significant that Saramago never says where the story takes place and he gives no one but the main character a name -- and it could be Mr. Smith or John Doe for all it matters. Although Saramago has written this book as if it were about "someone in some place," what he has created is in fact a story for anyone in any place, even you in your place. There is a more than a little Senhor Jose in all of us.(A note for those who are new to Saramago's writing): Saramago's writing style is, I think, an acquired taste. He has little regard for punctuation and slips easily into "stream of conscious" wanderings (mor

This was my first encounter with Jose Saramago, and what a meeting this proved to be ! The book is fascinating, from first to last page. It leads you in the direction you absolutely don't expect and therefore you can't guess what is going to happen next - one of the reasons this book is so captivating. I could not help to imagine that Senhor Jose is Saramago himself, realizing on pages of this book his hidden longings and desires. The strange longings and desires many of us hide deep in our minds, another reason the plot was believable, even thought it seems absurd. Saramago's style is not difficult to read at all, you get used to it after several pages and then you just flow with the book. I could not put this one down. The translation is very good, and I am already recommending this book to my friends

This book is a wonder. Saramago once again takes us into an incredible world. This time the life of Sr. Jose, a low level employee at the National Registry. We should assume that the location is Lisbon, however, it is not clear. Nevertheless, his descriptions of the city are wonderful, and reminds us of the same descriptions from "The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis." At times you feel that one is walking the streets of the city with Sr. Jose.The most fascinating aspect of this book is the in-depth psychological descriptions of Sr. Jose's thinking. It felt like I actually could read is mind. It is exquisite writing, which makes for incredible reading.The book can also be read as an incredible and fanstastic mystery. Additionally, and like most of Saramago's books, the political criticism is also present. One could read the book as a criticism to oppressive governments. Sr. Jose, representing the oppressed people and the Chief of the National Registry representing the dictator.This book makes for a salivating and delicious reading. I highly recommend it. Enjoy!