Name: Paul Elsasser's review of Blindness by José Saramago
Item: Blindness
Rating: 3.5
Author: Paul Elsasser

José Saramago

Saramago guides readers through an immersive experience of a terrifying predicament. A driver waiting at the traffic lights goes blind. An opthamologist tries to diagnose his distinctive white blindness, but is affected before he can read the textbooks. It becomes a contagion, spreading throughout the city. Trying to stem the epidemic, the authorities herd the afflicted into a mental asylum where the wards are terrorised by blind thugs. And when fire destroys the asylum, the inmates burst forth and the last links with a supposedly civilised society are snapped. No food, no water, no government, no obligation, no order. This is not anarchy, this is blindness.

Blindness

Ghee

the habit of falling hardens the body, reaching the ground is, in itself, a relief

the idea that the sacred images were blind, that their compassionate or pitying eyes only stared out at their own blindness, became all of a súdden unbearable, it was tantamount to having told them that they were surrounded by the living dead, one scream was enough, then another and another, then fear made all the people rise up

A government, said the wife, An organisation, the human body is also an organised system, it lives as long as it keeps organised, and death is only the effect of a disorganisation

the serious error on the part of the blind accountant was to have thought that it was enough to take possession of the gun in order to usurp power, but the result was exactly the opposite, each time he fires, the shot backfires, in other words, with each shot fired, he loses a little more authority, so let's see what happens when he runs out of ammunition. Just as the habit does not make the monk, the sceptre does not make the king, this is a fact.

if your ammunition runs out, there are others here who would like to be leader too.

We have a colonel here who believes the solution would be to shoot the blind as soon as they they appear, Corpses instead of blind men would scarcely improve the situation, To be blind is not the same as being dead, Yes, but to be dead is to be blind, That same day, in the late afternoon, the Ministry of Defence contacted the Ministry of Health, Would you like to hear the latest news, that colonel we mentioned earlier has gone blind, It’ll be interesting to see what he thinks of that bright idea of his now, He already thought, he shot himself in the head, Now that's what I call a consistent attitude, The army is always ready to set an example.

A city is hit by an epidemic of sudden blindness. The authorities segregate the newly-blind and all who have come into contact with them. It is not long before the criminal element take over, the compound is set on fire and the blind escape - only to find a deserted, looted city.

cedar winslow

the human body is also an organised system, it lives as long as it keeps organised, and death is only the effect of a disorganisation

like everything else in life, let time take its course and it will find a solution

Paul Elsasser

Ensayo sobre la ceguera

Santiago Alejandro Crime

simple premise but incredible execution. the entire book from beginning to end was practically one run-on sentence with no chapter numbers or dialogue punctuation. a remarkably effective stylistic choice to forces us to read blindness 

my politics-poisoned brain might be reading too much into it but i see this story as a supplementary parable for the rawlsian veil of ignorance. what kind of society will we create for those that are not like ourselves? other themes he explores are also that of defection/cooperation in iterative games, religion’s role, a stateless social contract, foucauldian governmentality, utilitarianism taken to its logical conclusion, social organisation, the fragility of authoritarianism, the burden of power, and above all, empathy. quite a lot to pack into 350 pages.

saramago urges us to imagine what a more empathetic society may look like by laying bare to us what one that doesn’t, looks like

simple premise but incredible execution. the entire book from beginning to end was practically one run-on sentence with no chapter numbers or dialogue punctuation. a remarkably effective stylistic choice to forces us to read blindness 

my politics-poisoned brain might be reading too much into it but i see this story as a supplementary parable for the rawlsian veil of ignorance. what kind of society will we create for those that are not like ourselves? other themes he explores are also that of defection/cooperation in iterative games, religion’s role, a stateless social contract, foucauldian governmentality, utilitarianism taken to its logical conclusion, social organisation, the fragility of authoritarianism, the burden of power, and above all, empathy. quite a lot to pack into 350 pages.

saramago urges us to imagine what a more empathetic society may look like by laying bare to us what one that doesn’t, looks like

Patrick Book

Gelaine Trinidad

3.5/5 

It took me awhile to get used to the writing. There are many run-on sentences, no quotation marks, and long paragraphs. However, the themes discussed in this book accompanied with unforgettable visualizations kept me going. The writer also likes to include clichés and old sayings throughout the book. These added humour and a different perspective to what the characters are experiencing. This book definitely allowed me to think of humankind and what we are capable of doing in grave circumstances.

As per Washington Post's book review, "It is a dark, appalling world, and by the way it is written, in the details that Saramago uses to such good effect, almost all the horrors of the 20th century are addressed: We are continually reminded of concentration camps, of the excesses of capitalism without the least restraint, of the miseries of bureaucratic aloofness, of militarism and, of course, the endless darkness of the human heart."

Arihant Verma

I was repulsed by the fact that when I opened the book, I could only see a big blob of text that started and then ended at the last page, without separate dialogue attributions, paragraph breaks, quotes or italics for dialogues, sentences as long as three quarters of the page. Soon that obvious fear subsided.

Very surprisingly, all these anti patterns, that no writer of today might try to use in their writing, made the story's flow and pace fast, while not making the reader lose where they are while reading a sentence ( given the sentences are long ).

A simple idea — that blindness goes contagious — explored really well. Saramago made the story real, when he made evident, that some people, despite being blind, didn't change in how they acted when they had a chance to dominate others, essentially for nothing significant, at least not something that would help them live a life of blindness better. The conflict scenes, the seasons of inexplicable open harassment, made me cringe, frown in anticipation and fear and disgust. It was not difficult to realise that, if this were to actually happen, that the world would slowly start going blind, there's a possibility that all of this might actually happen. This thought sent shudders as I read.

The choice of characters not having names, addressing the protagonists of the story as The first blind man, the first blind man's wife, the doctor, the doctor's wife, The kid with a squint eye, The old man with a black patch on his eye, the woman with her sun glasses on, was a very interesting choice. Though I think, a significant proportion of the book could be attributed to have been filled just by the repetition of these words used to address the protagonists. It might seem that that would have been exhausting to read, but strangely it wasn't.

In the middle of descriptions, scenes, dialogues and narration, there were some bits and pieces that felt like, Saramago, as a writer, had paused the story and bypassed the flow of events to put in something he felt about everything at that point of time. I don't know if that is what he actually did. Sometimes it was annoying, because he just wouldn't stop, but sometimes he'd say something which would demand a raise of head up, staring in a daze nothing in particular, letting sink what has just been read.

This book could have been much longer, with breathtaking, picturesque, catchy, but unwanted details, but it wasn't. The pace was just write to want to keep turning the page.

This book is indeed a masterpiece. If you stumble upon this book, read it.

Molly M

Jason Lo

While overall I really enjoyed the storytelling and some of the poignancy, Saramago never quite figures out if he wants to write literary or write fiction, and Blindness teeters uncomfortably back and forth throughout as a result.

One of the most brutal depictions of the theme. I sighed a lot as I read. But it was a page turner as much as it was heavy, and it flowed so flawlessly you don't get to question the rapid escalation. Writing's top-notch, every character felt so real, and I could almost smell the ever plaguing filth on the background. The story's hella memorable too, the chill stays with me even now.

Ned Summers 

Felt ill like 90% of the time reading this. Incredible and difficult.

"... Tanpa mata, hati akan jadi sesuatu yang lain." (Blindness, Halaman 371)

Sekali tilik, jelas bahwa topik utama dalam cerita ini sangat vital. Pada awalnya mungkin terkesan seperti novel horor—namun tidak. Sisi psikologi dipadu genre apocalyptic membawa alur cerita menuju chaos dan distopia. Eksekusi topiknya pun apik dan (cukup) matang. Tidak heran kalau novel ini memenangkan nobel dan menjadi best seller internasional serta dijual di 42 negara.

⚠ TRIGGER WARNINGS: sexual violence, murder, starvation, corpses, and plenty of human excrement.

Berangkat dari wabah kebutaan yang tiba-tiba, dunia menjadi kacau hanya dalam satu jentik jari. Dunia menjadi serba putih atau yang disebut white-sickness. Tidak ada otoritas politik, orang-orang terinfeksi dikarantina di rumah sakit jiwa dan diperlakukan layaknya binatang yang berujung membuat kerapuhan sosial. Sejak dari bagian pertama pembaca telah disuguhi sebuah teror mental yang menakutkan. Tak ada ruang hibur. Segalanya suram.

Secara metaforis, Blindness menggambarkan kekacauan manusia bukan karena buta “mata fisik” tetapi buta “mata hati”. Elemen kriminal manusia atas insting naluriah bertahan hidupnya perlahan terkuak, mulai dari pencurian hak-hak hingga menuju pada assaulting women. Mirisnya, dalam situasi seperti ini, wanita selalu berada dalam posisi yang paling dirugikan.

Tidak ada satupun nama yang disebutkan dalam novel ini. Nama orang, tempat, jalan, hingga kotanya memakai kata ganti dan tidak dijelaskan. Contohnya seperti penyebutan 'dokter', 'istri dokter', 'lelaki buta pertama kali', atau 'si pencuri'. Karena apa artinya sebuah nama tanpa penglihatan?

Meski segalanya suram, dialog antar tokohnya sangat menyentuh dan tetap memaparkan makna perjuangan hidup yang menohok sisi kemanusiaan kita. Pembangunan karakternya pun patut diacungi jempol, terutama istri dokter. Menurut saya, menjadikan seorang wanita sebagai pelopor dalam buku ini adalah pilihan yang tepat mengingat konflik dalam ceritanya menyinggung prahara derajat wanita. Istri dokter mengalami perkembangan karakter signifikan dan terlalu kentara sehingga menutup eksistensi dan esensi tokoh-tokoh lainnya. Karakter lainnya terkesan seperti tokoh pendukung atau figuran.

Tak hanya itu, mungkin akan sedikit membingungkan karena terdapat ketidaktepatan tanda baca di dalamnya—yang ternyata ialah unsur kesengajaan penulis agar pembaca turut merasakan "kebutaan" dalam cerita. Namun jangan khawatir, pembaca akan segera terbiasa karena diksinya sederhana dan justru menambah pengalaman membaca yang "unik".

Sayangnya, menurut saya masih ada konstruksi cerita yang masih berlubang seperti latar belakang white-sickness yang tiba-tiba terjadi, proses penularan (selektif) yang cepat, proses penyembuhan, hingga penyelesaian konflik serta ending yang masih misterius—yang mungkin akan dijelaskan lebih lanjut di Seeing (Blindness #2).

Isabella Castañeda R.

Saramago tiene la capacidad de convertir —al menos en este libro— lo abstracto en algo sencillo de entender. Crudo, bello, reflexivo, poderoso. Su capacidad de análisis es envidiable. Que buena obra.

A city is hit by an epidemic of "white blindness" whose victims are confined to a vacant mental hospital, while a single eyewitness to the nightmare guides seven oddly assorted strangers through the barren urban landscape

At random times, I wonder how I’d be if I was blind. Truthfully, I would only think of the possibilities of moving in a small space because I can’t imagine running, surviving and saving my own life, let alone others, while not seeing anything. My imagination was limited, could be because the thought of being blind after years of being able to see are scary. I imagined being blind as seeing only pitch black and nothing else. This work switched my thoughts and imagination. It forced me to pick up my will to live. 

It’s my first time reading this kind of form. It was vague for me at first but it definitely wasn’t hard to read. Idk what I was thinking upon picking up this book in the middle of a pandemic but it sure adds up the horrendous feeling. 

As much as I like the colour white, I can’t bring myself to imagine having to only see that.

Maurice FitzGerald

Jaden Nelson

The thought of everyone going blind is nearly imaginable but Saramago did the thinking for us, showing us essentially what happens when people are blinded and imprisoned together on a metaphorical isolated island and also what happens when no one is able to competently do the jobs that keep society functioning. I am a fan of the creativity of the concept of the book, and I think the characters were fairly well flushed out in a way that is cohesive with everyone being blind. I don't tink I picked up on every symbolic implication that Saramago was trying to make, but I did like the strong arc that we see of the types of people and what condition they end up in which illustrates the metaphorical aspect of being blind vs sightless. Instead of having the clarity of "vision" to see that a crisis like this is best solved peacefully together, people are blind to their shared humanity and act selfishly, which ends up making things worse off for everyone. Anyways, great listen of a book, probably not my favorite thing I've ever read or the most influential message to me, but I enjoyed the writing and the uniqueness of getting inside the head of blind people.

jess larry

amazing premise but i can't get over that writing style, my head HURTS

Traci Wilbanks

I read about half of this book before giving up on it. I kept waiting for it to turn a corner, but each corner was filled with death, filth, bullying, extortion, and rape.

wow… this was a horrifying book and so compelling, every page i wanted to put the book down but couldn’t stop reading, stephan king esque horror, wow

Daniel Carril

Fragmentos de genialidad y lucidez combinados con fragmentos de abrumadora densidad. El libro es original y contundente formal e ideológicamente… pero le sobran páginas para ser una obra redonda. Aun así, lectura más que recomendada.

A stunningly powerful novel of man's will to survive against all odds, by the winner of the 1998 Nobel Prize for Literature. “This is a shattering work by a literary master.”—The Boston Globe A New York Times Notable Book of the Year A Los Angeles Times Best Book of the Year A city is hit by an epidemic of "white blindness" which spares no one. Authorities confine the blind to an empty mental hospital, but there the criminal element holds everyone captive, stealing food rations and raping women. There is one eyewitness to this nightmare who guides seven strangers—among them a boy with no mother, a girl with dark glasses, a dog of tears—through the barren streets, and the procession becomes as uncanny as the surroundings are harrowing. A magnificent parable of loss and disorientation and a vivid evocation of the horrors of the twentieth century, Blindness has swept the reading public with its powerful portrayal of man's worst appetites and weaknesses—and man's ultimately exhilarating spirit.

Beatriz Aguiar

Don't remember it very well... ups
I know I did like it and its criticism. Yay

Arturo Hernández

Tomando otra situación que consideramos parte de la normalidad, arrebatándonosla e imaginando cómo es que el mundo se desenvuelve tras hacerlo. Uno pensaría que somos mejores de lo que creemos, pero esta obra te hace preguntarte si estás en lo cierto. Otra victoria de Saramago.

A city is hit by an epidemic of "white blindness" whose victims are confined to a vacant mental hospital, while a single eyewitness to the nightmare guides seven oddly assorted strangers through the barren urban landscape.

Cindy Lieberman

A very unsettling book to listen to during this time of rising COVID cases. 

Starting with Patient Zero, a plague of blindness affects the population. We see the best and worst of humanity as people struggle to adapt and survive. 

The book dragged a bit (or I grew tired of plague porn), and I understand that the printed book lacked much in the way of traditional formatting. Thus, I highly recommend the audiobook set at 1.5x or 1.75x speed. 

There is an important message here beyond the gruesome drama: what do we see when we look at others, and what sights are we purposefully —intentionally or subconsciously — blind to?

Makes COVID feel like a walk in the park. Fun read. Minus one star for the mushed-together dialogue and claustrophobic writing style.

Danny White

Sanaa Shaltout

نحن في المرحلة التي تسبق هذا العمى ..
لا تحكم علي شخص بل اتركه للمواقف وانظر هل سيبقى محافظاً علي مبادئه أم سيتحول من إنسان لطبيعة حيوانية

هذه الرواية تغوص في أعماق النفس البشرية بعد أن تًعريها من الداخل أمام نفسها وأمام العالم

لو كانت هذه الرواية هي سبب فوزك بجائزة نوبل فهي تستحق :)

I never want to say a book is “good” or “bad” because it’s so relative. For me personally I just found the book sort of boring. I lost interest quickly after the initial panic of the blindness even though the story was just ramping up. I liked the idea of none of the characters having specific names but it got a little annoying after awhile. As I’m not blind I can’t and won’t speak for blind people, but it did feel pretty ableist in its general depiction of blindness, essentially saying their lives were worthless without their sight. I also think something in the prose was lost in the translation because the frequent metaphors felt blunt and aggressive. I just felt like I got the point very quickly and it was predictable after that. 

Paul Elsasser &
Blindness by José Saramago

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Paul Elsasser &
Blindness by José Saramago