Customer Reviews

The Tale of the Unknown Island

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Jose Saramago's book, The Tale of the Unknown Island is a little book that presents a little story. Both a love story and a fable, The Tale of the Unknown Island presents an elegant and exquisite premise that is disappointingly flawed in its execution.

The book begins beguilingly enough, when a man with a quest knocks at the door of a king and begs for a boat to make an expedition to an unknown island. The king is not immediately agreeable but our hero finds an unlikely ally in the king's cleaning woman and, after receiving the ship he has asked for, he and the woman join forces.

There is one problem. There are no unknown islands. All that exist have already been mapped and claimed by the king. When the harbormaster attempts to dissuade the man from his dream, and no one signs on board as crew members, the hero of this little tale finds that only the cleaning woman will help him pursue his seemingly impossible dream.

The island is discovered, but unfortunately, the journey taken is literally one of which the stuff of dreams are made. REM sleep and narcoleptic love play a big part in this story. It is here, in the land of dreams, where the story really falls apart and our suspension of disbelief grows harder and harder to suspend.

Nobel Prize winner, Jose Saramago, is the author of breathtakingly beautiful books such as Baltasar and Blimunda and The Gospel According to Jesus Christ, and works of stunning originality like Blindness, so I expected far more from The Tale of the Unknown Island. Perhaps these high expectations were a part of the problem.

The book is written in Saramago's signature style: a breathless, barely punctuated, almost stream-of-consciousness manner that is, as always, flawless, and that captures the innocence and high spirits of the protagonist perfectly. The metaphors created, however, are highly overstated and, at times, highly irritating.

Thematically, The Tale of the Unknown Island should have worked so beautifully. There is a lazy and wicked antagonist in the guise of the king, there is the pure and innocent hero, there is the classic quest necessary for the hero to prove himself and become whole and there is the requisite healing power of true love. The key to the ending is faith and the key to that faith is love.

With all of the required elements of fairy tales and fables, why, then did this book fail to hit the mark?

Fairy tales and fables are, by their very nature, simple little tales. The Tale of the Unknown Island is quite complex but told in a simplified manner. And, as we all know, "simplified" does not quite equal the beauty inherent in "simple." Saramago's abrupt switch from satire to allegory was jarring, to say the least, and definitely detracted from the book's could-have-been charms.

The gemlike playfulness and grace embodied in a tale such as The Princess Bride or The Last Unicorn is sorely lacking in The Tale of the Unknown Island.

The illustrated edition, however, is still well worth the time and money. Peter Sis' drawings, composed of clean lines and classical beauty have a fey air of antiquity about them and achieve all that the story set out to do but did not.

Saramago is a world class writer. That cannot be denied. The fact that The Tale of the Unknown Island failed to make the grade is a flaw as tiny and insignificant as is the book itself.

This short fable is a wonderful metaphor for courage and seeking the impossible dream, for searching for the unknown islands in our lives even if we are certain we have discovered them all. The man in this simple, yet philisophical story inspires bold courage to dream inspite of obstacles, to remain determined in spite of skeptism and ultimately to find one true love. A very sweet ending. Truly an exceptional short read. I'll read it aloud to my family and friends over and over and like it more each time.

This delightful tale is an excellent example of Saramago's fiction. The plot is deceptively simple (a man about to set for a trip to search for an unknown island), but what the characters say and think give depth to the tale. It is, indeed, a tale of a quest--a deep quest, not any quest--, and it can be summarized by what the man himself says at one point (I translate from the original Portuguese): "Liking something is possibly the best way of having it, having something is possibly the worst way of liking it." As "Todos os nomes", the tale is highly symbolic, particulary towards the end; however, in this case, the meanings of the symbols are more evident. A tale that can be read at many levels, I thoroughly recommend it to those already familiarized with Saramago and to those that are just being introduced to his wonderful world.

I read this book in maybe 20 minutes, but it was the most enjoyable 20 minutes that I have ever spent reading a book. Now, I'm not going to write a long, flourishing review that the people before me have done, because I'm a teenage girl that really isnt into writting reveiws, but I am going to tell you that it is one of the most beautiful books I have ever read. Jose Saramago has a way of writting that just captures you. There are no quotation marks, and few periods. None of the characters have birth names, but I felt that things like "The king, the cleaning lady, and the man" where perfect enough. I even read it outloud, and gave everyone a voice, imagining that I was there with them. It was really quite a marvelous read, and I encourage anyone to read it. Do it for yourself - you and your mind deserve it :)

Jose Saramago's wisdom wrapped in a small book reveals far more than a simple tale. His writing in The Tale of the Unknown Island, like in his bold Blindness, is a paradox addressing issues that confront us all. In this short story are provocative truths filling the pages and surrounding the unknown until the isand becomes familiar...or at least worth visiting. It's a quick read, but an unforgetable story.

This short book is a good exercise for one imagination. It can make one ask himself what is the unknown island he is in search for. And whether he is ready to begin the search. It takes some courage to follow one's dream, or one can postpone it. Perhaps just as Ulysses (Odysseus) postponed his return home to Ithaka, an island he used to know well in the past. There is a poem with the same name, Ithaka, by Constantine Cavafys, illustrating a myth similar to what I believe is the central motive of "The tale of the Unknown island". I highly recommend reading the poem and comparing it to the book.

This book reminds me of the little prince not only in size but in the depth of its story. Beautiful, Concise, and wide open to many levels of interpretation. A most excellent adventure..

...And the dream, the Dream!
For something that you can read in twenty minutes or so, this wee fable packs a lot of story into itself. It is not a children's story, really, I think it is a grown-up's story. For one thing, it is written in J.S.'s inimitable run-on style. It's easy to follow, but not exactly a textbook study in conventional punctuation!
And to mention too much about the actual story itself, well, I wouldn't want to ruin even one minute of the new reader's twenty. It is wonderful, and wonderfully done. The quest. The dreamer's quest.
What I find remarkable about the book is that in these few short pages, the author (and really, is there anyone quite like J.S.?) shows us that the Dreamer's confidence and assurance can quickly inspire the same sort of quest in the heart of someone who has been living their life in the mundane (dreamless?) state. And not only this. But this newly inspired (transferred) dream, which causes the second person to leave their comfort zone and embrace the dream with their own very being can quickly become the principal motivating force behind the FULFILLMENT of the dream. The first dreamer now finds that they NEED their new companion, their new dream-partner.
To say more is to say too much. It is really a wonderful little story.
Light a candle, and read. And before the candle really gets going, you will be done the reading.
J.S. is the wizard of storytelling.

As with all good stories, this one satisfies on many different levels; for my five year old and seven year old, an introduction to dreaming, asking for what you want, and another spin on the classic boy meets girl story that little ones find so enchanting (and big ones, too!); for the literary sophisticate, metaphor, allegory and wonderful imagery; for the philosopher, little tidbits along the lines of "If you don't step outside yourself, you'll never discover who you are..."; for the lover of a good story that comes in a small package, a good story, one that slips up and down inside you with the tides.

I'll leave my review at that. From experience, I have learned that fairy tales and fables are best left untouched, underanalyzed, and simply breathed in.

Don't expect one of Saramago's heavy books like Blindness or The Stone Raft. This is a short novella that takes about 10 minutes to read. It's a fairy tale that works on several levels, as do just about all of his works. The opening sequence hooks the reader with the proverbial peasant knocking on the king's door asking for a boat. Finally, after 3 days, the king does not know how to put off his request anymore and grants him a modest boat. The king's cleaning lady flees the castle to accompany the dreamer on his quest to discover an unknown island. Up to this point, I was with him. Then the narrative becomes somewhat dragged into a surreal sleeping/dreaming scene that ends in a somewhat ambiguous way (and I wouldn't dream of spoiling the ending). The first half was considerably better than the second half although I always enjoy Saramago's writing style. It reminds me at times of Faulkner, at least in terms of his flowing sentences and stream of consciousness. But, considering this will only take 10-20 minutes of your day, I recommend it as a good introduction to Saramago's longer works. I've only read Blindess and The Stone Raft so far, but I'm trying to get to his others.