José Saramago Books

A year in the life of the Nobel laureate on the anniversary of his death.

A retelling of the Gospel following the life of Christ from his conception to his crucifixion. A naive Jesus is the son not of God, but of Joseph. In the desert it is not Satan, but God that Christ tussles with, an autocrat with whom he has an unbalanced and unsettled relationship.

After killing his brother Abel, Cain must wander for ever. He witnesses Noah's ark, the destruction of the Tower of Babel, Moses and the golden calf. He is there in time to save Abraham from sacrificing Isaac when God's angel arrives late after a wing malfunction. Written in the last years of Saramago's life, Cainwittily tackles many of the moral and logical non sequiturs created by a wilful, authoritarain God, forming part of Saramago's long argument with God and recalling his provocative novel The Gospel According to Jesus Christ.

Lisbon circa 1935 comes to life in this story of a doctor who forsakes medicine to recite poetry in the streets, the women in his life, and the ghost who occasionally accompanies him

Set in early 18th-century Portugal, this novel tells the story of the love between Baltasar, a soldier who lost a hand in the wars, and Blimunda, whose mother died at the hands of the Inquisition.

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 text books. 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.

A lasting childhood experience of simple, soulful joy unfolds in this poetic narrative by Nobel Prize winner José Saramago. Through evocative prose, the story captures the essence of innocence and the profound impact of memories that shape one's identity. The excerpt reflects on the beauty of everyday moments, inviting readers to reminisce about their own cherished experiences.

Four years after a bizarre blindness plague hits the capital, the political arena is thrown into turmoil when election day is marked by an unprecedented turnout of blank ballots and rebellious acts that prompt a state of emergency declaration. By the Nobel Prize for Literature-winning author of Blindness. Reader's Guide available. Reprint.

A subtle and insightful story about boredom, passion, curiosity and memory from the Nobel Prize-winner Jose SaramagoSenhor Jose is a lonely civil servant who spends his days labouring in the labyrinthine stacks of Lisbon's central registry.

Called 'the book lost and found in time' by its author, Skylight is one of Saramago's earliest novels. The manuscript was lost in the publishers' offices in Lisbon for decades, and is only now being published in English. Lisbon, late-1940s. The inhabitants of an old apartment block are struggling to make ends meet. There's the elderly shoemaker and his wife who take in a solitary young lodger; the woman who sells herself for money, clothes and jewellery; the cultivated family come down in the world, who live only for each other and for music; and the beautiful typist whose boss can't keep his eyes off her. Poisonous relationships, happy marriages, jealousy, gossip and love - Skylight brings together all the joys and grief of ordinary people.