Journey to Portugal: In Pursuit of Portugal's History and Culture

This is Jose Saramago's spiritual journey through (primarily rural) Portugal. It's not a light-reading travel narrative. The feeling of this book is something of a cross between Henry Adams and James Michener. It's a book to read slowly and savor, in order to appreciate Saramago's tremendous metaphorical skill. He paints the picture slowly, with deliberate brush-strokes that reveal the masterpiece when viewed from a distance. Yes, his descriptions of churches, winding roads, rain and his seemingly unconscious cultural insecurity (his came from a poor family and was not a university graduate) can become tedious, but that's only if you don't grasp the larger picture: Portugal is a settled land with hundreds of years of historic layers. Saramago wants to peel those layers back for you to expose the core. Only the reader can decide if he's been successful.

Understandably, this book will be difficult reading for many American readers. It is not filled with action, sex, violence, or touristic visions. It is neither efficient nor pragmatic. Nevertheless, Jose Saramago is a Nobel Prize Winner for good reason. He writes with a depth of feeling and intense love that cannot be missed. The translation loses, as most translations do, the poetic passions of the author. However, if one can accept a very different style of writing, one that is decidedly not British nor American, this work will indeed be a journey.

A meditation on the subtle mysteries of a rugged landscape occupied for thousands of years. A subjective and cerebral travelogue to be taken in and digested slowly. The traveller visits the tiniest villages and melencholy ruins; discribing encounters with the inhabitants and recording his moods and dreams. A treat!