Goodreads Mobile | see what your friends are reading

Feb 03, 2012

Angus rated it:

Disclaimer: This is not a review. This may have spoilers. Read at your own risk. Visit original post at Book Rhapsody.

***

Intro

I still recall that day when the newfangled, recently opened, and biggest book store in my hometown started shelving Jose Saramago’s books. There was Seeing, The Double, The Gospel According to Jesus Christ, and this book, Death at Intervals. Or Death with Interruptions, which I think is the more popular edition. I didn’t realize that my fawn More...

11 comments like (4 people liked it)

Oct 27, 2008

Michael rated it:

Saramago's wonderful novel takes the old motif of death taking a holiday and breathes new life into it. Stylistically challenging for the reader with its run-on sentences and eschewing of capitals other than those that are initial, the work demands concentration. For those willing to put some effort into it, however, it becomes an experience very much like thinking the author's thoughts with him. As he leads us through the narrative, Saramago takes time to criticize government, business, religi More...

3 comments like (13 people liked it)

Jan 18, 2010

Ronny rated it:

book#2 - 2010

Kata orang, kematian tak kenal libur dan istirahat, bahkan saat kita, manusia-manusia fana ini, sedang berlibur atau istirahat. Seusai Tahun Baru misalnya, kalau kita buka koran tgl 2 Januari tiap tahunnya, selalu ada saja berita malapetaka dari tgl 31 Desember - 1 Januarinya. Tahun ini misalnya, bisa kita baca di Kompas tgl 2 Januari 2010 berita2 macam "Tabrakan, 6 Orang Tewas", "Warga Ditembak Orang Tak Dikenal". Belum lagi peristiwa2 yang tidak mas More...

26 comments like (9 people liked it)

Feb 21, 2009

Yuelio rated it:

Además de la delicia de leer a Saramago, con una técnica que no da a espacio a detener la lectura hasta que termina el capítulo, tenemos una historia con la que reflexionar.
No es sólo la visión hipotética del mundo dónde se hace reprimenda a los que codiciamos la vida eterna, sino un vistazo a la convivencia entre caos y armonía de la euforia y depresión humana. Cómo quién dice nadie esta de acuerdo con lo que suceda.
Ahora profundizando un poco en dos personajes y entrando a terren More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Feb 08, 2009

Erin rated it:

Gracias to my dad for recommending this book. Certainly one of the most clever books that I've come across. The novel encourages thought about immortality and the ramifications of such a notion. We would love to live forever if the living means that we are in our most perfect state indefinitely. Saramago makes that a possibility in a country where death (without a capital d) takes a break and stops letting people die. The problems that arise are quite entertaining, yet very real.

More...

2 comments like (3 people liked it)

Dec 11, 2011

s.penkevich rated it:

Out of the half dozen Saramago novels I have read, this is actually my favorite. It may have been due in part that I devoured most of it while seated upon the sun soaked banks of a river this past July, but this short little work really struck me. It is so unique and imaginative and this book was just a really fun read. Despite it's focus of death and all, it isn't quite as heavy as most of his novels and will make you laugh at the dark abyss of death as most of this novel is actually darkly h More...

6 comments like (5 people liked it)

Dec 26, 2011

Mohammed rated it:

New review:
I gave it another shot and finished after a long struggle. I still stand by my opinion.

----------------------------------------------------------

Old review:
This is one of the worst books I've ever read in my entire life. In fact, this is the first book I gave up on. What's sad is that the premise behind the book is brilliant and mind blowing, but it's just not flexible to be contained in 200 pages. The book might strike you as a short easy read, but it's More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Sep 30, 2011

Charles rated it:

A strange phenomenon. At the beginning of Death with Interruptions, the narrator tells us that at the stroke of midnight the people of a certain country that is never named will be saved from any life threatening injuries or illness. Death in essence has refused to take them. As a result all people will live.

The novel with an impossible plot is imaginative and well written.
It is divided into two parts.

The first half proceeds to unfold a brilliant telling on how th More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Apr 09, 2011

Joana rated it:

Este é um livro maravilhosamente original. A história começa quando, num determinado país, após a passagem de ano, ninguém morre. No primeiro dia do ano o facto causa estranheza e, nos dias seguintes, quando se confirma, provoca a euforia da generalidade da população. Apesar de a imortalidade ser desde sempre um dos sonhos da espécie humana, o autor mostra-nos, desde logo, a preocupação e mesmo aflição que assaltou alguns grupos da sociedade.
O governo do país começou logo a prever os enorm More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 13, 2011

Sarah rated it:

This is a strange and difficult little book. Set in a small Catholic land locked fictional country, death decides to stop killing at the first of the year. Locals celebrate at first, but after a few months weary of the growing number of sick, elderly and injured who can not die. Death is a possibility in other countries, so some take their forever-dying relatives across the border (often with the aid of the maphia). The first half of this book is about how the government, maphia, church and roya More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 16, 2008

Ab rated it:

This book was really amazing. Saramago asks the most intriguing philosophical questions and then builds a novel around them. I have Post-It flags sticking out all over the book where there are things I'd never thought of about immortality vs. death, descriptions and comparisons put so wonderfully that I need to write them down.

What would happen to a society if death took a break? If science was as it was, no major break-throughs yet, and people suddenly could not die? The people who More...

1 comment like (3 people liked it)

Apr 14, 2008

Maria rated it:

Situaciones imposibles que vuelven a darse en 'Las intermitencias de la muerte', cuyo comienzo no puede ser más sorprendente: 'Al día siguiente no murió nadie', y eso es lo que sucede en la novela: de la noche a la mañana, los habitantes de un país sin nombre dejan de morir y consiguen la ansiada inmortalidad, aunque, eso sí, quien estuviera muy grave o a punto de morir, se queda igual porque su salud no mejora.

En la primera parte de su novela, que en España e Hispanoamérica publicar More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Apr 13, 2009

Danika rated it:

This is classic Saramago. Totally brilliant and compelling, but also hard to read. I find the author's style (very little punctuation, LONG sentences and paragraphs) to require a lot of concentration. But as usual, it pays off with a clever story full of nuance.

The premise of this novel is that one day, death stops visiting. In other words, everyone is suddenly immortal, regardless of how sick or injured they might be. There follows joy and exuberance, then chaos and all manner of s More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Oct 05, 2008

John rated it:

A very good answer to the question - 'why does God let people die?'. It is a thought provoking fable, which touches on religous, social and even economic consequences of death (and non-death). But it is the pschyological effects that linger in the mind, not just for the humans involved (the first part of the book), but for Death herself (the second part).

My only gripe is the style of writing. In certain parts (normally when people are speaking) punctuation, paragraphs, capital lett More...

3 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 13, 2008

Claudia rated it:

I didn't want this to be my first reading of Saramago. But as a friend left his book with me, I decided I would read it before I returned.

It's great! How can someone imagine a place where death no longer happens and how it rearranges the entire society! And also with a sense of humor.
I really like it.

The only thing I don't like is that the authot rarely uses period!!! You can have an entirely page with only one paragraph, one hundred commas and no period! hahaha Not More...

2 comments like (2 people liked it)

Mar 18, 2009

Michael rated it:

This is my first time being de-flowered by Mr. Saramago and man can this 86 year old put on the moves. I have a feeling that after I read more Saramago this book will succumb to, what I call, the "Toni Morrison" effect. This is when the oeuvre begins to lay its shadow over individual works, so that the lesser books seem even lesser (Love anyone). In a fit of narcissism, I named the effect after my first encounter with it.

If you're still reading, then I must declare thi More...

0 comments like

Dec 30, 2011

Justin rated it:

Jose Saramago has simply never disappointed me. Every book I've read of his leaves me amazed at his storytelling and in awe of how he makes his utter disregard for traditional writing rules work for him.

Death with Interruptions is the story of what happens when death (that's 'death' with a lower-case 'd', mind you - a death with jurisdiction only over the unnamed country in which the story takes place) decides to take a break from claiming lives. While her decision initially causes c More...

0 comments like

Dec 28, 2011

Amy rated it:

First of all, it bothers me that writers who don't use appropriate punctuation and rules of correct writing are lauded as geniuses and rebels. Punctuation doesn't convey the message of the book. Punctuation makes sure I can understand what I read. Quotation marks aren't negotiable. That's the main thing that irked me about this book.

Yes, I like the premise. The personification of death was done in an almost humorous way. I have to say, however, I think I liked the second part More...

0 comments like

Aug 22, 2011

Dorothy rated it:

I wonder if another translator may have done more justice to bring the humor to life in the English language, although I am not sure how blatant the language in the original is. Seems to me there were some poignant moments and some moments of obvious humor (death writing the editor of the paper that corrected her letter). However, although obviously absurd, many of the edicts and much of the other communication from the government was so dry that it was hard to read at all. I believe that (in ad More...

0 comments like

Aug 15, 2011

Kristi rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like

Jul 27, 2011

Joseph added it

I haven't quite finished this book yet, but I love it and I don't think it will change - I'm so curious of how it will end. I am fascinated by Saramago's style of writing or could one call it method? He takes an everyday thing to the extreme, people becoming blind by whiteness, people starting to vote blank et. al. and this time it's death's turn, the most everyday thing of them all even if we don't want to think about it. After all life is, from a pessimistic view point, a sexually transmitted More...

0 comments like

Jun 26, 2011

James rated it:

Beautiful book. He writes without most punctuation (no quotation marks, commas are the only thing designating when someone else speaks) which can be confusing at times. It might turn off some people, but it forced me to really pay attention; I ended up fond of his “style”.

The idea behind this book is refreshing. Saramago explores the unique situation well and does not shy away from the darker turns humanity might take when dealt with this situation.

<spoiler> The idea t More...

0 comments like

Jun 09, 2011

Jeruen rated it:

Wow. That's what I can say upon finishing this book. This is a book about death, both as a phenomenon, and as a personification.

I have read one of his other novels, entitled The Cave about more than a year ago, and I liked it. Saramago writes in a very interesting style, where his prose was rather in the stream-of-consciousness style, and the dialogue is interspersed with the prose. Paragraphs usually take more than one page long, and non-human entities like dogs even get a chance to t More...

0 comments like

Mar 07, 2011

Iris rated it:

Review courtesy of a friend in my book club (Shawn Dooley) ...

The book may be a little hard to get into but once the story grabs you it's difficult to not finish. This is a book about death (little d) and her decisions to do things a little differently. First of all she stops people from dying, then she gives them a week's notice. It's an interesting story about the behaviors of human beings when presented with such options. Those seeking the Fountain of Youth may want to consider More...

0 comments like

Nov 06, 2010

Bibliophile rated it:

A doua zi, nimeni n-a murit.

Asa incep cele 300 de pagini petrecute de mine, din nou, in compania acestui geniu portughez, Jose Saramago, si pe care le-am parcurs destul de greu, dar de care m-am bucurat nespus.
In speta, ideea e simpla, asa cum m-am obisnuit si de la Eseu despre orbire. Intr-o zi, care se intampla sa fie 1 ianuarie, moartea se decide sa isi abandoneze lucrul, si anume sa nu mai ucida nici o fiinta. In consecinta, nimeni nu decedeaza, nici macar bolnavii termin More...

0 comments like

Jul 30, 2010

Evan rated it:

Perfect Saramago to read right after Blindness. Sort of a companion piece insofar as both function by letting an absurdly horrifying premise (unexplained mass blindness, suspension of death) rampage through the human species. Some very old conceits here (death takes a holiday, death learns to love), and the story is mainly peopled with caricatures. As I found in Blindness, Saramago's speculative ramblings can get tedious, and he can be overly precious in directly addressing the reader. His ob More...

1 comment like

Jun 23, 2010

Kirstie rated it:

I have been reading alot lately...instead of eating, I just devour mainly books now. Anyhow, I'd like to catch up from the past months in the next few days and Saramago seems like a good place to start, especially seeing as how he oddly passed away after I had finished reading his novel Death With Interruptions.

Saramago is no stranger to writing epic stories about massive events befalling Portugal such as Blindness and massive political upheaval, for instance. This story is no differ More...

0 comments like

May 28, 2010

Bruce rated it:

Admirably translated by Margaret Jull Costa, this novel by the Portuguese Nobel Prize in Literature winner, José Saramago, is odd indeed. Odd, as well as amusing, thought provoking, and compelling. In a small landlocked country, death has ceased and no one can die, although that does not mean that they cannot linger indefinitely at death’s door. What at first seems wonderful quickly becomes a nightmare as the terminally infirm begin to accumulate. Some professions are distraught - undertaker More...

2 comments like (2 people liked it)

Apr 30, 2010

Michael rated it:

Jose Saramago has a wonderful premise: Death stops working in a single South American country. And he does a great job of detailing a lot of the obvious and non-obvious ramifications of this. But my problem is that the guy writes in a way that would have given anyone else an "F" in high school.

All commas, interjections, and rambling narrative that hops from person to person without identifying who is talking, responding, etc.

I liken Jose to Madonna.

More...

0 comments like

Apr 07, 2010

Jesse rated it:

Boring! His whole method of puncuation is frustrating. I usually don't mind employing strange usages of puncuation, but in this case, I don't see how it is nessecary beside the fact that it's just his style now and he feels the need to continue to write that way. It doesn't reinforce theme the way Cormac McCarthy's sparse use of puncuation does.
Another complaint: Saramago introduces a fantastical element into the story - no one dies, death is a real entity. Then he gives us no rules, More...

5 comments like

reviews