₦airaland Forum

I'm reading Blindness by Jose Saramago.

The book was published in 1995 originally in Portugese, but copies have been translated into other languages. It's also been made into a motion picture.

The story begins with this quote:
If you have eyes, look
If you can look, see.

I'm still in the 34th page, but the book centers around 5 individuals who have been struck by 'white blindness'. Unlike regular blindness that leaves you see darkness like someone turned off the light, this one leaves you with an endless stretch of white light.
Almost unsettling as the victims put it.

I haven't gotten to the central theme of the plot yet, but going by what I've seen so far the author is probably trying to establish a major flaw in the way we live. We have eyes, but are really blind. We look, but see nothing. We don't perceive, don't feel.

We're taken through the individual fear of the characters as they learn to 'feel' their way through life and develop other sensory organs.

The story telling is also unconventional. Rather than use dialogues with quotation, the author jumbled up everything. New dialogues are indicated by a capital letter (within a sentence) and sometimes it's confusing who is speaking at a time.

So far I'm enjoying the read

Bimffo:
You love reading Novels and Books in General..

What is your secret?? I wanna know how You read Novels and Books without getting Bored.?

Like Sleeping Bored!

Interest.

I've read books since I was a little girl-- I read my books, siblings' books, neighbours' books and practically lived in the school library during breaks

So it's interest. My imagination is by far the most active part of my mind; to feed it I need stories. Books provide stories. But now I'd likely find a story anywhere around me (like one bird family nesting above my window).

I do get bored by some books though. Some things like self-help books can put me to sleep cuz they're so monotonous-- no colour. Still there's hardly a book (or pamphlet sef) that passes by me that won't get at least a cursory glance, a quick flip through the pages or a look of longing if I can't have it


So I'll advice you find what interests you and begin from there.

Just started "Blindness" by José Saramago.


It's interesting that not even one dialogue is present in this book.


Next in queue is Khaled Hoseini's And The Mountains Echoed.