José Saramago (born November 16, 1922,) is a Portuguese writer, playwright, and journalist. He usually presents subversive perspectives of historical events in his works, trying to underline the human factor behind historical events, instead of presenting the usual official historical narratives. Some works of his can also be seen as allegories in several contexts.
He was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1998. He currently lives on Lanzarote in the Canary Islands. Saramago has been a member of the Communist Party of Portugal since 1969, as well as an atheist and self-described pessimist - his positions have aroused considerable controversy in Portugal, especially after the publication of The Gospel According to Jesus Christ.
In his 2003 book, Genius: A Mosaic of One Hundred Exemplary Creative Minds, the American literary critic Harold Bloom named Saramago as "the most gifted novelist alive in the world today." Referring to him as "the master," he said he's "one of the last titans of an expiring literary genre."
Biography
Family History
Saramago was born into a family of landless peasants in Azinhaga , Portugal , a small village in the province of Ribatejo some hundred kilometers north-east of Lisbon. His parents were Jose de Sousa and Maria de Piedade. "Saramago" which is a wild herbaceous plant was his father's family's nickname, which got accidentally incorporated into his name upon registration of his birth. In 1924, Saramago's family moved to Lisbon, where his father started working as a policeman. A few months after moving to the capital, his brother Francisco, older by two years died. Despite being a good pupil, Saramago's parents were unable to afford to keep him attending a grammar school, and at 12 years of age he was moved to a technical school, and after finishing school worked as a car mechanic for 2 years. Later he worked as a translator, then as a journalist and finally, a writer. Saramago married Ilda Reis in 1944. Their only child, Violante, was born in 1947. He is currently married to Pilar del Río.
Style
Saramago tends to write long sentences, using punctuation that most of us have been taught is incorrect. He uses no quotation marks to delimit dialog. Many of his "sentences" can be a page long or more, as he uses commas where most writers would place periods. Many of his paragraphs match the length of some authors' chapters. Surprisingly, it does not take most readers long to become adjusted to reading his unique style of prose.
Quotes
On the US$950,000 Nobel Prize that he recently won: "This prize is for all speakers of Portuguese, but while we're on the subject, I shall keep the money."
Bibliography
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1977 - Manual de Pintura e Caligrafia Manual of Painting and Calligraphy
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1978 - Objecto Quase Quasi Objects
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1981 - Viagem a Portugal Journey to Portugal
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1982 - Memorial do Convento Baltasar and Blimunda
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1984 - Ano da Morte de Ricardo Reis (O) The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis (A Tribute to Fernando Pessoa)
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1986 - Jangada de Pedra (A) The Stone Raft
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1989 - História do Cerco de Lisboa The History of the Siege of Lisbon
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1991 - Evangelho Segundo Jesus Cristo (O) The Gospel According to Jesus Christ
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1995 - Ensaio sobre a cegueira Blindness
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1997 - Todos os Nomes All the Names
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1999 - Conto da Ilha Desconhecida (O) ISBN 8571648492 The Tale of the Uknown Island , English: Margaret Jull Costa (Translator) ISBN 0151005958 (Hardcover) ISBN 0156013037 (Paperback)
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2001 - Caverna (A) The Cave
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2003 - Homem Duplicado (O) The Double
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2004 - Ensaio sobre a Lucidez Lucidity
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2005 - Don Giovanni ou o Dissoluto Absolvido
Additional Information
Last updated: 08-25-2005 23:59:35
