Blindness

It has been really difficult for me to understand and grasp the rape that happens with the main woman’s doctor/husband. Outside of that, this was my first Saramago and I loved his style. I liked that there were no ‘action movies’ climaxes and that there weren’t always explanations of things. Reminded me a lot of 2020 in many ways.

An author who has produced exceptionally remarkable literary work can be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature once every year. As of my last update in 2023, Annie Ernaux was the most recent laureate, and she received the award in 2022 for her body of works that explore personal and collective memories as well as identities and social issues. Ernaux's notable work, "A Woman’s Story", captures her pointed study on individual and societal themes. This memoir goes beyond Ernaux herself to address broader historical and cultural perspectives by providing a profound exploration of her life within that context. Ernaux's writing is considered to be raw but lyrical where it gives its readers an insighful glimpse into her experiences and thoughts. It is this ability to merge personal narrative with wider social commentary which has earned Ernaux critical acclaim.

Chilling and terrifying at the same time. A book that will never leave you for its imagery and the possibilities of the story becoming real life!

Incredible book. Little difficult to read, needed concentration, since there's little punctuation.
It's an incredible story about what happens with society when something goes horrible wrong. First book I've ever actually thought I'd love to see turned into a movie, because I'd love to view what went on in my head while I read this book.

Last night I finished this book. I tried to walk down our hallway to the bathroom without turning any lights on. I put my hand out to feel the door frame so that I wouldn't run into the wall when I turned. I felt a little panicked - the way I always do when it is too dark to see my hand in front of my face. And this is in my own home, which I know pretty damn well. Could I do the same to get to the grocery store? How about a place I've never been before? If I was thrown into a hospital or a mental ward, could I navigate? Probably not. I'd be one of those stepping in my own fecal matter and weeping uncontrollably. And that scares the shit out of me.

I almost gave up on this book about half-way through. Why?

1. There is minimal punctuation. There are no quotations or indentations during conversations.
2. Speaking of indentations, there are not really paragraphs persay.
3. There are chapters, but they are very long. I usually prefer shorter chapters because it launches me from one chapter to the next when I can say, "Oh, only four more pages until the end of this chapter." Then I usually start the next because it is "only nine pages."
4. There are descriptions of the people rather than names: first blind man's wife, doctor's wife, the old man with the black eye patch, etc. These do become tolerable, however, and as real as actual names.
5. It was hard to read and not really grabbing my attention. I put it down and picked up another book, a "classic." Note to anyone else struggling to finish: take a break and read a classic. The language of the classic made it much easier to come back and read this one.

And then it sort of blew me away. I couldn't stop reading. And I couldn't stop imagining - imagining what type of world this would be to live in. Could I survive sudden blindness? Could my family? Would my cat end up so feral that it would try to eat me (sometimes I am convinced this is the path she is already on). It is terrifying to think about and more convincing than "zombies."

The language/writing, which was at first difficult to get through, became almost magical.
Is she still beautiful, She was more beautiful once, that's what happens to all of us, we were all more beautiful once, You were never more beautiful, said the wife of the first blind man.