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![All the Names by [José Saramago, Margaret Jull Costa]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51D4XyoDqrL._SY346_.jpg)
All the Names Kindle Edition
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A Washington Post Book World Favorite Book of the Year
Senhor José is a low-grade clerk in the city’s Central Registry, where the living and the dead share the same shelf space. A middle-aged bachelor, he has no interest in anything beyond the certificates of birth, marriage, divorce, and death that are his daily routine. But one day, when he comes across the records of an anonymous young woman, something happens to him. Obsessed, Senhor José sets off to follow the thread that may lead him to the woman—but as he gets closer, he discovers more about her, and about himself, than he would ever have wished. The loneliness of people’s lives, the effects of chance, the discovery of love—all coalesce in this extraordinary novel that displays the power and art of José Saramago in brilliant form.
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherMariner Books
- Publication dateOctober 5, 2001
- File size1078 KB
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Editorial Reviews
Review
“A novel that reminds readers how much loneliness can be like death . . . Saramago is one of the best.” —Susan Salter Reynolds, Los Angeles Times
“Within the first few pages, Saramago establishes a tension that sings on the page, rises, produces stunning revelations and culminates when the final paragraph twists expectations once again.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review
“From the beginning, Saramago is in perfect control of the narrative, and the result is a tour de force.” —The Denver Post
Praise for Blindness
“Blindness is a shattering work by a literary master.” —The Boston Globe
“This is an important book, one that is unafraid to face all the horrors of the century.” —The Washington Post
“Extraordinarily nuanced and evocative . . . This year’s most propulsive, and profound, thriller.” —The Village Voice
About the Author
Amazon.com Review
A recurring theme in many of Saramago's novels is the very human struggle between withdrawal and connection. Whether it is the Iberian peninsula literally breaking off from the rest of Europe in The Stone Raft or an entire country afflicted by a devastating malady in Blindness, he is fascinated by the effects of isolation on the human soul and, correspondingly, the redemptive power of compassion. All the Names continues to mine this rich vein as the repressed clerk follows his unknown Ariadne's thread out of the labyrinth of his own strangled psyche and into life. Readers will find here Saramago's trademark love of the absurd, his brilliant imagery and idiosyncratic punctuation, as well as the unflinching yet tender honesty with which he chronicles the human condition. --Alix Wilber
--This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.Book Description
--This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.
From Booklist
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.
From Publishers Weekly
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.
From Library Journal
-DJack Shreve, Allegany Coll. of Maryland, Cumberland
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.
Product details
- ASIN : B003T0GBPG
- Publisher : Mariner Books; First edition (October 5, 2001)
- Publication date : October 5, 2001
- Language : English
- File size : 1078 KB
- Text-to-Speech : Enabled
- Screen Reader : Supported
- Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
- X-Ray : Not Enabled
- Word Wise : Enabled
- Sticky notes : On Kindle Scribe
- Print length : 262 pages
- Best Sellers Rank: #414,010 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #860 in Metaphysical & Visionary Fiction (Books)
- #1,562 in Romance Literary Fiction
- #3,290 in Contemporary Literary Fiction
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

JOSE SARAMAGO is one of the most acclaimed writers in the world today. He is the author of numerous novels, including All the Names, Blindness, and The Cave. In 1998 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature.
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Reviewed in the United States on September 28, 2019
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Yet Senhor Jose (ironically the only person with a name in "All the Names") tries to instill life into the routine inhumanity of his profession. When we initially meet him, he is keeping a scrapbook of the 100 most famous people in his country, and he supplements his hobby by illicitly (and in violation of official policy) sneaking into the Registry at night to collect the records for these celebrities.
Then, one day, he accidentally picks up a card of an anonymous, random woman--someone whose life and happiness are foreign to tabloids and magazines. His inexorable obsession (who is she? where does she live? what is she like?) snaps him out of his meaningless existence and propels him, like a modern-day Don Quixote, on a bizarre, increasingly absurd journey to find out what he can about her. His regulation-breaking pursuit motivates him to fabricate credentials, to burglarize a school, to sleep in a cemetery that mirrors the Registry (except that it houses only the dead), and eventually to invite the attention of his superiors.
Dense and ponderous, Saramago's unpunctuated prose is, remarkably, seldom dull; what's extraordinary about this book is the suspense, the tension, the humor, and the sarcasm that keeps his narrative moving. There is almost a noir atmosphere behind this story, as the reader nervously follows a man who, drowning in a sea of daily tedium, can't resist the impulse to find the humanity behind "all the names" he files away in the registry. In the end, his rebellion restores integrity to his own life as well.
All The Names is another incredible work from one who is deserving of the Nobel Prize honor. Saramago once again challenges the reader to examine their feelings and revise their assumptions about life. Yet, it is done in a way that allows the reader to sympathize with the main character and be moved by the story. It is a rare talent that possesses the ability to masterfully handle so many aspects of writing. When that talent creates a book as multi-layered and fascinating as All The Names, it deserves to be read by as wide an audience as possible.
Harcourt, 1999
Years ago, I used to carry around a copy of the later stories of Chekhov which I referred to as "my artificial heart" because the book seemed to me so radiant with human understanding that it might well restart my heart if I should falter.
I have found a new heart. Like Chekhov, Saramago uses the novel to investigate and invoke compassion. Or, as the shepherd declares, "I don't believe one can show greater respect than to weep for a stranger."
Previously obsessed with celebrity, a government clerk finds himself following the trail of a random name. He seeks to know her, and fails, as we all fail each time we open a newspaper or a phone directory or go for a walk in the street. Yet the clerk arrives nonetheless at compassion and love. So can we.
This book reminds me of the long and convoluted guided meditations Tibetan Buddhists use to awaken compassion in the heart, meditations which aim to arouse love even for those who are distant and unknown.
It is possible that literature could have some higher purpose than this. But I have no idea what it could be.
Top reviews from other countries

'All the names' is a clever book that draws you into the monotonous and mundane world of a middle-aged civil servant and then gives you an extraordinary story within the framework of a well thought-out philosophy about life, love and death. This novel explores the consequences of sustained loneliness, personal development and how how the living of our modern world rub shoulders with the dead. We are caught up with Senor Jose's quest to learn more about the 'unknown woman.' We tremble with him as he braves his fear of heights and roots around like a stalker in someone's else's life. We worry about the lows he experiences, the effect of his obsession on his mental health and how he risks everything to fulfill his quest to the bitter end. Finally, we applaud his bravery and obvious strength of character in the face of exposure.
An uplifting book, where 'every man' triumphs. Highly recommended for the thoughtful.



