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133rd out of 680 books
—
2,758 voters
The Stone Raft
What if, one day, Europe was to crack along the length of the Pyrenees, separating the Iberian peninsula?
In Saramago's lovely fable, the new island is sent spinning, like a great stone raft, towards the Azores. While the authorities panic and tourists and investors flee, three men, two women and a dog are drawn together by portents that burden them with a bemusing sense of...more
In Saramago's lovely fable, the new island is sent spinning, like a great stone raft, towards the Azores. While the authorities panic and tourists and investors flee, three men, two women and a dog are drawn together by portents that burden them with a bemusing sense of...more
Paperback, 272 pages
Published
June 1st 2000
by Panther
(first published 1986)
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Saramago's works not only keep me up late into the night reading, they also wake me from sleep in those hours after midnight that belong more to death than to life and force me to think again both about the words he has written and about those he has not. The Stone Raft is as multi-layered as the strata exposed when the Iberian Peninsula separates from the continent of Europe and begins an erratic journey through the Atlantic Ocean. There is, of course, the expected magical realism together with...more
Such an interesting concept for a book, yet it was SO BORING! I loved the first 20 pages, and then, POOF, it was gone. I was all like, "Dude, where did you go? I thought we were cool!" And the book was all like, "Sorry dude, I gotta be me."
Saramago, Jose. THE STONE RAFT. (1986; Eng. trans. pub. 1995). ****. This is a strange, but fascinating book. It’s a marvelous play on a “what-if” theme. The Iberian Peninsula breaks away from the European continent along the chain of the Pyrenees. Why? No real reason can be ascribed to this event, but it is discovered that several people, three Portugese and one Spaniard, participated in some unusual events with some unexplainable results just prior to this separation. Were they somehow respons...more
Gelezen in de Nederlandse vertaling van Maartje de Kort.
Nadat vijf personages ongeveer tegelijkertijd bovennatuurlijke dingen waarnemen, breekt het Iberisch schiereiland af van Europa en drijft het de Atlantische Oceaan op. Saramago beschrijft een beetje (maar nog lang niet zo consequent als in 'Stad der blinden' (Blindness) de maatschappelijke en politieke consequenties van deze onverklaarbare geologische verandering, maar rept vooral over de vijf personages, die gevoelsmatig de scheur hebben v...more
Nadat vijf personages ongeveer tegelijkertijd bovennatuurlijke dingen waarnemen, breekt het Iberisch schiereiland af van Europa en drijft het de Atlantische Oceaan op. Saramago beschrijft een beetje (maar nog lang niet zo consequent als in 'Stad der blinden' (Blindness) de maatschappelijke en politieke consequenties van deze onverklaarbare geologische verandering, maar rept vooral over de vijf personages, die gevoelsmatig de scheur hebben v...more
Mar 20, 2012
Louisa
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
favorites,
portuguese-literature
I have come to love Saramago's lyrical prose and the way he writes about ordinary people living their ordinary lives until something happens that turns everything upside down. This novel is no exception. In The Stone Raft, Saramago describes how the Iberian Peninsula breaks off from the rest of Europe and starts to drift into the Atlantic, almost collides with the Azores, then continues toward North America. We follow Joaquim Sassa as he travels across Portugal and Spain, trying to make sense of...more
Perfection may not be of this world, but in Saramago's "Stone Raft" it happens: without as much as a sigh, the Iberian peninsula separates itself neatly from the European continent and steers for mid-ocean on an uncompromisingly linear course. The geophysics of this separation remain unintelligble: it is a true miracle that suspends a small part of humanity into a state of grace. So the world moves but time seems to come to a standstill and an eery stillness descends over this vast chunk of land...more
The Stone Raft by Jose Saramago
New York: Harcourt Brace and Company
$23.00 – 292 pages
If you remember those wonderful fairy tales in which the hero acquires the aid of “helpers” in their journey to acquire some prize – usually, three or four creatures with remarkable powers - then you have the basic plot of The Stone Raft. In Appalachian Jack Tales, the powers include things like the ability to jump seven leagues, or to shout so loudly the mountains quake, or to drink the entire contents of a ri...more
New York: Harcourt Brace and Company
$23.00 – 292 pages
If you remember those wonderful fairy tales in which the hero acquires the aid of “helpers” in their journey to acquire some prize – usually, three or four creatures with remarkable powers - then you have the basic plot of The Stone Raft. In Appalachian Jack Tales, the powers include things like the ability to jump seven leagues, or to shout so loudly the mountains quake, or to drink the entire contents of a ri...more
"A Jangada de Pedra" é um dos muitos romances de Saramago que se baseiam em premissas socio-económico-politicas. Neste caso, A Península Ibérica destaca-se do resto da Europa e "navega" pelo Atlântico a rumo desconhecido.
Creio que a história foi bastante bem introduzida, com a apresentação de uma série de acontecimentos estranhos que coincidiram como o inicio da ruptura geográfica. Cada acontecimento ocorre a uma personagem diferente, sendo o destino destas 5 personagens o fio condutor. O encade...more
Creio que a história foi bastante bem introduzida, com a apresentação de uma série de acontecimentos estranhos que coincidiram como o inicio da ruptura geográfica. Cada acontecimento ocorre a uma personagem diferente, sendo o destino destas 5 personagens o fio condutor. O encade...more
I read The Stone Raft after Blindness and was immensely impressed by both novels. The story concerns the drift of the Iberian peninsula from the rest of Europe. The premise is intriguing as the stone raft sails into the Atlantic heading for God only knows where. It shifts and turns so that North is South and East is West. This crisis brings together the citizens of Iberia challenged to prepare for the possibility the island will slam into the Azores or Canada or the U.S. possibly leaving cities...more
A jangada de Pedra é uma imponente narrativa utópica, sobre uma ideia que meandra pelos reinos da política e filosofia.
Repleta de vivacidade linguística e incríveis personagens,esta é a história deste grupo de pessoas ao longo da sua viagem pelos recantos da península que navega pelo mar há muito descontinuada do resto da Europa.
Ora esta ideia, a da separação da península é surreal e não é inteiramente possivel, não como Saramago a relata. Mas o leitor atento e inteligente entenderá que a metáf...more
Repleta de vivacidade linguística e incríveis personagens,esta é a história deste grupo de pessoas ao longo da sua viagem pelos recantos da península que navega pelo mar há muito descontinuada do resto da Europa.
Ora esta ideia, a da separação da península é surreal e não é inteiramente possivel, não como Saramago a relata. Mas o leitor atento e inteligente entenderá que a metáf...more
About as exhausting as a questing tale should be, this 15-year-old novel is extremely relevant to our current economical crisis. Saramago wrote "The Stone Raft" before Portugal and Spain experienced the '90s boom, long before they joined the Euro currency, and long long before they became two of the four European countries, along with Ireland and Greece, most recently cited for their complete financial collapse. In Saramago's telling, the Iberian peninsula pulls away from mainland Europe which b...more
Sono un'appassionata lettrice di Saramago eppure questo libro non mi ha particolarmente entusiasmato. L'idea che percorre tutto il libro è come al solito molto originale e l'autore ci lascia ,come sempre,piena libertà di interpretazione dell'opera. La descrizione onirica dei paesaggi,in questo caso della penisola iberica,la dinamica surreale dello svolgersi dei fatti, l'improbabilità delle conseguenze delle azioni umane e della loro coincidenza nel tempo e nello spazio lasciano ancora una volta...more
One day, without warning, a crack appears along the ridge of the Pyrenees, the mountains that separate the Iberian peninsula from the rest of Europe. Attempts to fill the crack fail. Before long, the peninsula has completely detached itself from Europe (leaving precipitous cliffs several kilometers high along the northern border) and is moving westward through the Atlantic at a frightening speed of tens of kilometers per day.
People panic. Governments react with an overabundance of rhetoric but...more
People panic. Governments react with an overabundance of rhetoric but...more
1 like · like · see review
Why must book reviews be organized?
This is one that isn't:
These long sentences of clause within clause adds something like a breathtaking, literally running our of breath before the sentence ends, element to an already seductive narrative; seductive in its macabre analysis of normal events: joana carda scratching ground with elm branch & causing cerbere's dogs barking, joaquim sassa's rock bouncing off sea, pedro orce rising from chair & making earth tremble, jose anaico followed by star...more
This is one that isn't:
These long sentences of clause within clause adds something like a breathtaking, literally running our of breath before the sentence ends, element to an already seductive narrative; seductive in its macabre analysis of normal events: joana carda scratching ground with elm branch & causing cerbere's dogs barking, joaquim sassa's rock bouncing off sea, pedro orce rising from chair & making earth tremble, jose anaico followed by star...more
Gostei muito. Acho que ficou a ser um dos meus favoritos de Saramago. De entre os que já li dele, talvez seja suplantado só pelo Memorial do Convento.
Para começar, a ideia que está na base do livro é brilhante. Mas isso é comum a muitos livros de Saramago. O problema é que por vezes ele começa com uma ideia brilhante e depois, ao longo do livro, parece que deixa de saber bem por onde ou para onde nos há-de levar. Daí que em geral eu goste da escrita de Saramago mas depois possa ficar um bocadinh...more
Para começar, a ideia que está na base do livro é brilhante. Mas isso é comum a muitos livros de Saramago. O problema é que por vezes ele começa com uma ideia brilhante e depois, ao longo do livro, parece que deixa de saber bem por onde ou para onde nos há-de levar. Daí que em geral eu goste da escrita de Saramago mas depois possa ficar um bocadinh...more
Ao fim de alguns anos, decidi dar uma nova oportunidade a Saramago. Quando tinha 16/17 aventurei-me na leitura de Memorial do Convento e foi um horror!!! Quase que fugi do livro, como o Diabo foge da Cruz.
Este ano tinha decidido tentar novamente e aproveitei o desafio literário que estou a fazer e em que no mês de Agosto, teria que ler um livro publicado no ano em que nasci. Eis que A Jangada de Pedra foi publicada no belo ano de 1986!
Gostei mais do que estava a espera! A escrita de Saramago con...more
Este ano tinha decidido tentar novamente e aproveitei o desafio literário que estou a fazer e em que no mês de Agosto, teria que ler um livro publicado no ano em que nasci. Eis que A Jangada de Pedra foi publicada no belo ano de 1986!
Gostei mais do que estava a espera! A escrita de Saramago con...more
Bem, gostei este livro! Ao contrário do último livro que li do Saramago, que não apreciei tanto, decidi pegar neste logo a seguir para ver se Saramago ainda me podia surpreender. E quão certa revelei estar. Li este livro de ontem para hoje, e estou ainda em transe, parece-me.
Tão cedo no entanto, não irei mais livros do autor porque acredito que não se deve abusar das doses. Apesar de ter gostado deste livro como há algum tempo não gostava, a escrita de Saramago é para ser lida com muita atenção...more
Tão cedo no entanto, não irei mais livros do autor porque acredito que não se deve abusar das doses. Apesar de ter gostado deste livro como há algum tempo não gostava, a escrita de Saramago é para ser lida com muita atenção...more
1 like · like · see review
أول مرة أقرأ رواية بهذا الإسلوب السردى الذى يروى فيه ساراماجو الأحداث ثم يستوقف لينقد أفعال أبطاله أو إيضاح شىء ما
تتحدث الرواية عن إنفصال شبة الجزيرة الأيبيرية عن أوروبا وطوفانها فى المحيط
وتأثير هذا على علاقات شبة الجزيرة أو الجزيرة بالعالم سياسياً وإقتصادياً وجغرافياً وإجتماعياً
وتأثيره أيضاً على سلوك سكانها وتعاملهم مع طوفان الجزيرة فى البحر دون معرفة وجهتها
ثم إقتراب الجزيرة من جزر الآزور وإحتمال صدامهم ونجاتهم فى آخر لحظة
"أفلت من الموت الملايين من الأشخاص المرعوبين فى كل من أسبانيا والبرتغال,...more
تتحدث الرواية عن إنفصال شبة الجزيرة الأيبيرية عن أوروبا وطوفانها فى المحيط
وتأثير هذا على علاقات شبة الجزيرة أو الجزيرة بالعالم سياسياً وإقتصادياً وجغرافياً وإجتماعياً
وتأثيره أيضاً على سلوك سكانها وتعاملهم مع طوفان الجزيرة فى البحر دون معرفة وجهتها
ثم إقتراب الجزيرة من جزر الآزور وإحتمال صدامهم ونجاتهم فى آخر لحظة
"أفلت من الموت الملايين من الأشخاص المرعوبين فى كل من أسبانيا والبرتغال,...more
The Stone Raft follows 5 characters who each may or may not have had something to do with the Iberian peninsula breaking away from mainland Europe and floating off across the ocean. The first half-2/3 of the book is quite interesting, as the characters cross paths and join each other on goal-oriented journeys back and forth on the Iberian island. Additionally interesting are sections on how the world's political leaders would react to such an event - these sections became more interesting after...more
i have decided that besides the book Blindness...I think that i hate Jose Saramago.
I read this book on a cross country flight. I felt like I was stuck with no place to run...and so I was tortured to finish this novel.
Perhaps something is lost in the translation of these novels...like...maybe the interesting parts? But I find that the story drones on and on, and really never gives you anything to dig into.
I'm glad I read Blindness first, as I really enjoyed that book...but after reading this an...more
I read this book on a cross country flight. I felt like I was stuck with no place to run...and so I was tortured to finish this novel.
Perhaps something is lost in the translation of these novels...like...maybe the interesting parts? But I find that the story drones on and on, and really never gives you anything to dig into.
I'm glad I read Blindness first, as I really enjoyed that book...but after reading this an...more
...now, i picked this book randomly as i wandered aimlessly in the labyrinth that is my university's library and as i read the first paragraph i thought, oh no..not the writer is the storyteller point of view as i always think it rather gives an aura of pomposity, which i have to say does not necessary reduce the quality of text which is very much the case with this superb book which really got me hooked, as such i would sum the appeal of this book with these brief exclamations sans exclamation...more
Well I'm a big fan of "magical realism" and I also really enjoy translations of books by people from other cultures than mine. I wish I was multi-ligual and could read books how they were written but that isn't going to happen in this life time.
So what do I think. As the stars indicate, the book get's high marks. Usually right after I finish a book (unless its a real stinker - and honestly if I hate them I don't finish them) anyway I tend to give books that I've just finished at least a 4...may...more
So what do I think. As the stars indicate, the book get's high marks. Usually right after I finish a book (unless its a real stinker - and honestly if I hate them I don't finish them) anyway I tend to give books that I've just finished at least a 4...may...more
لطالما سمعت عن نوعية قصص ساراماجو المختلفة عن كل ما هو مألوف ومعروف لنا عن عالم الروايات. فلا يوجد هنا حب مستحيل أو فراق وهجر!
كانت لدي فكرة عامة عن أسلوب ساراماجو القصصي، وكانت (الطوف الحجري) أول قصة أقرأها له.
هي قصة جمع فيها الكاتب كل شئ: السياسة، الجغرافيا، الفلسفة، الإنسانيات، وشئ من حب.
طريقة ساراماجو مثيرة للضحك! كان كل بضعة صفحات يفاجئني بأنه يتحدث إليّ مباشرةً، ناقدًا أساليب الروايات المعتادة، وأحيانًا معتذرًا إن كان أصابني بالملل في هذه الجزئية بالذات! وأنا أقول وقتها: ده إنت ترغي للصبح...more
4 likes · like · see review
Disse a leitora cansada de ler durante tantos dias Que leitura!, e sentia-se como se tivesse sido arrastada lá com o barco de pedra para chegar até ao lugar onde chegou, Aqui ao fim.
Caro leitor das minhas humildes palavras, se não está a perceber por que razão estou a dar um chuto nas regras gramaticais das quais tanto gosto e faço questão de aplicar, pois então leia o livro e aí saberá. Foi o primeiro que li de Saramago e se por um lado me faz espécie a história aqui contada, por outro lado acr...more
Caro leitor das minhas humildes palavras, se não está a perceber por que razão estou a dar um chuto nas regras gramaticais das quais tanto gosto e faço questão de aplicar, pois então leia o livro e aí saberá. Foi o primeiro que li de Saramago e se por um lado me faz espécie a história aqui contada, por outro lado acr...more
الطوف الحجري
كتب جوزيه ساراماغو هذه الرواية قبل روايته الأشهر (العمى) بتسع سنوات، ولكن لأن أغلبية القراء قرءوا العمى أولاً وكانت مدخلاً لهم للتعرف على هذا البرتغالي النوبلي، فلذا تأتي المقارنة دائماً معاكسة، وتبدو هذه الرواية وكأنها استعادة لموضوعة (ثيمة) العمى.
في هذه الرواية أيضاً نواجه موضوعة الحدث المفصلي الذي لا تفسير له، والذي يضرب المجتمع بقوة، فيخلخل توازناته، فكما قرأنا في العمى تحولات المجتمع الأعمى، وكيف تعيش شخصيات الرواية في ظل الجماعة الصغيرة التي نشأت وتقاربت في تلكم الظروف، نعاين...more
كتب جوزيه ساراماغو هذه الرواية قبل روايته الأشهر (العمى) بتسع سنوات، ولكن لأن أغلبية القراء قرءوا العمى أولاً وكانت مدخلاً لهم للتعرف على هذا البرتغالي النوبلي، فلذا تأتي المقارنة دائماً معاكسة، وتبدو هذه الرواية وكأنها استعادة لموضوعة (ثيمة) العمى.
في هذه الرواية أيضاً نواجه موضوعة الحدث المفصلي الذي لا تفسير له، والذي يضرب المجتمع بقوة، فيخلخل توازناته، فكما قرأنا في العمى تحولات المجتمع الأعمى، وكيف تعيش شخصيات الرواية في ظل الجماعة الصغيرة التي نشأت وتقاربت في تلكم الظروف، نعاين...more
4 likes · like · see review
ممتعة!
اعجبتني واقعية ساراماجو السحرية، وسرده الذي يأخذك إلى عالم من الأفكار التفصيلية التي تبدو لاول وهلة استطراد وفلسفة لا لزوم لهما وسرد لتفاصيل غير هامة، لكنك تكتشف سريعا انها إنما لمحات صادقة عن الحياة والإنسان .
مثلا حين يصف الدهشة ، فيقول :
"هو ذا" صرخ جوزيه انايسو، لو كان فرنسيا لقال "هذا هو"، فكل إنسان له طريقته للتعبير عن الدهشة التي يشعر بها الأخر أيضاً، لنسمع ما قاله بدرو أورثي بصوت زاعق "عجباً"، بينما بدت هذه الكلمة لجواكيم زازا مجرد صدى للتعبير الأول "هو ذا".
الاستطرادات لا حصر لها في...more
اعجبتني واقعية ساراماجو السحرية، وسرده الذي يأخذك إلى عالم من الأفكار التفصيلية التي تبدو لاول وهلة استطراد وفلسفة لا لزوم لهما وسرد لتفاصيل غير هامة، لكنك تكتشف سريعا انها إنما لمحات صادقة عن الحياة والإنسان .
مثلا حين يصف الدهشة ، فيقول :
"هو ذا" صرخ جوزيه انايسو، لو كان فرنسيا لقال "هذا هو"، فكل إنسان له طريقته للتعبير عن الدهشة التي يشعر بها الأخر أيضاً، لنسمع ما قاله بدرو أورثي بصوت زاعق "عجباً"، بينما بدت هذه الكلمة لجواكيم زازا مجرد صدى للتعبير الأول "هو ذا".
الاستطرادات لا حصر لها في...more
I should dearly like to know what it will be like when people and the effects they alone cause will exist no more, best not to think of such an enormity, for it is enough to make one dizzy, but it will be quite sufficient for some tiny animals, some insects, to survive for there still to be worlds, the world of the ant and the cicada, for example, they will not draw black curtains, they will not look at themselves in the mirror, and what does it matter, after all, the only great truth is that th...more
Aug 04, 2008
Christine
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
anyone who doesn't mind a bit of a meandering journey
This was the first book by Saramago I've read, and I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship...
I feel as if I've just come back from a long trip. Saramago's quixotic narrative brings to life five characters whose lives become connected after a series of strange, dream-like natural events centered around the Iberian peninsula breaking off of mainland Europe. His writing is beautiful and the narrator's self-consciousness in telling their story I find especially appealing.
(p.5)"Writ...more
I feel as if I've just come back from a long trip. Saramago's quixotic narrative brings to life five characters whose lives become connected after a series of strange, dream-like natural events centered around the Iberian peninsula breaking off of mainland Europe. His writing is beautiful and the narrator's self-consciousness in telling their story I find especially appealing.
(p.5)"Writ...more
Saramago's novels are never straightforward. In The Stone Raft, the Iberian peninsula separates from the mainland of Europe and floats into the sea. Why? What causes it? What does it mean? The text contains no answers. The event itself is magical and inexplicable, the meat of the novel resting entirely in how people respond to it. With enough detail to make the impossible feel real, Saramago describes in macrocosm how the media, the populations of the peninsula and mainland, and the governments...more
Jose Saramago is not an author you want to read if you like to have everything wrapped up with a bow and fully explained in the end. In novel after novel, Saramago drops characters into bizarre circumstances and very rarely (if ever) explains exactly how or why those circumstances came about.
In this particular tale, Saramago has the entire Iberian Peninsula cleave from the rest of Europe and begin a journey sailing out to sea. The story focuses on 5 people and one dog on the peninsula as they a...more
In this particular tale, Saramago has the entire Iberian Peninsula cleave from the rest of Europe and begin a journey sailing out to sea. The story focuses on 5 people and one dog on the peninsula as they a...more
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José de Sousa Saramago (pronounced [ʒuˈzɛ sɐɾɐˈmagu]) is a Nobel-laureate Portuguese novelist, playwright and journalist. He was a member of the Portuguese Communist Party.
His works, some of which can be seen as allegories, commonly present subversive perspectives on historic events, emphasizing the human factor rather than the officially sanctioned story. Saramago was awarded the Nobel Prize for...more
More about José Saramago...
His works, some of which can be seen as allegories, commonly present subversive perspectives on historic events, emphasizing the human factor rather than the officially sanctioned story. Saramago was awarded the Nobel Prize for...more
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“The virtue of maps, they show what can be done with limited space, they foresee that everything can happen therein.”
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6 people liked it
“ما أريد معرفته الآن هو كيف يكون ذلك العالم عندما يختفي البشر و النتائج التي يتسببون فيها؟ ربما لا يكون مفيدًا التفكير على هذا النحو الضخم ؟، ياله من دوار ، و الآن حسن ، يكفي أن يتبقى على قيد الحياة بعض الحيوانات الصغيرة و بعض الحشرات ، وعندها سيكون هناك عوالم : عالم النملة ، و عالم الجندب و لا تٌفتح السرائر ، ولن يتم النظر في مرآة ، و أكثر من ذلك ، في النهاية فإن الحقيقة الكبرى ، لا يمكن للعالم أن يموت .”
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4 people liked it
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