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Las intermitencias de la muerte (Spanish Edition)

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Saramago may be regarded as one the most invenctive authors of these days. He is a true fable maker; his febrile imagination and the fascinating issues he carves in relief in each one of his works, become an invitation to undertake his lectures as if we undertake a prodigious journey.

Imagine there is a country in which the people just don't die. At first glance, it might sound seductor and even desirable, but when the number of members of the third age's population increases notably, it raises a set of unexpected dramatic situations.

The main problem is to deal with the old Faustian myth; to live forever, but Saramago goes far beyond and makes a sharp inflection about the dilema this means.

The happy ending should not to turn our attention about the remarkable fact the death is part of the life, and all the efforts made by our post modernist society in order to guarantee us a major longevity, invites us to think the question be put on this way: To live more or to live better?

I rather live a short and productive life instead of a large and improductive existence, signed by the triviality and frivolity.

"We are what we do" Johann Wolfgang Goethe

*** Warning: May Contain Spoilers ***

Death takes a holiday in Saramago's latest venture into magical realism. For obvious reasons, as one gets older death looms larger in one's consciousness, and I think Saramago, who is 83 as of this writing, may have intended "As Intermitencias da Morte" (which I read in Portuguese, so I'm using the Portuguese title, sans circumflex on one "e," as accents tend to cause problems on these pages) to be a meditation on the subject. It falls a bit short of the elegiac or profound, however; this is not John Donne's "Devotions Upon Emergent Occasions, Meditation 17" ("No Man is an Iland, intire of it selfe . . ."). The first part of the novel is largely a description of the institutional disruptions in a small European country as people stop dying one day. It's funny at times, and at other times mordant (in other words, typical Saramago). In the second part (and I don't want to give away too much here), death is further personified, and there's a very light character study of one of death's intended victims. The plot is thin throughout the novel, but because Saramago writes so well, it still makes for enjoyable reading. Unfortunately, the character Saramago introduces in the second part has a dog. I regret this, because when Saramago introduces a dog into his writing, he usually waxes sentimental over the creature, distracting the reader and generally subtracting from the acuity and clarity of his observations of the state of the world. He is obviously a dog enthusiast, but I would urge him to keep his writing free of canines in the future.

Sea cual sea el tema que desarrolle en sus libros hace de ellos lo que le pega en gana y con un fiel apego a la realidad que tal parece que "cada pais o ciudad sin nombre" donde suelen suceder las historias son nuestras ciudades o nuestro pais.

En este ha sacado a flote el sentimiento humano hacia la muerte en todo su esplendor pero no conforme con esto aun hace que la propia muerte nos demuestre su lado humano,

El final...... para variar..... Estoy esperando el Siguiente!!!!

In Saramago's story, all of a sudden, people stop dying. Of course, at the beggining everybody is happy... But, how about later on? What are the many, so many problems a "no-death" world would bring? Exchanging funny and profoundly serious moments, Saramago walk us through some of the consecuences of such a situation. It is an essay about life, death, eternity, and more, here on earth, nontheless...

Fue la primera novela que leí de José Saramago. Al principio fue un poco difícil de leer por su estilo particular de escribir. Cuando lo entendí quedé fascinado por todo y con cada palabra. La historia... Un mal necesario...

This is an amazing story in which Saramago shows his incredible imagination and his ability to question a lot of the values in our society. If you like good storytelling and profound criticism of the values ''and society, I recommend it. This book is certainly good literature!

Soy seguidor/admirador de este gran escritor. Sin dudas que sus libros traen una mezcla de excelente literatura y de filosofia. Me parece que los temas que escoge para sus obras son en gran parte la razon de su exito. En esta obra, su mas reciente, toma el tema de la muerte y la desmitifica, la personifica y hace con ella lo que quiere. Es una jugada maestra de Saramago y desde ya un clasico pues luego de su lectura no pensaras en la muerte como lo hacias antes, seguro que no.

SARAMAGO SHOWS HIS MASTERY WITH LITERACY OF A PLOT
THAT BREAKS ALL THE RULES. BEAUTIFULLY PRESENTED, A MIND BLOWING EXPERIENCE ! IF YOU LIKE SARAMAGO, DO NOT MISS THIS ONE ... BOTH HANDS UP !