Blindness in Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge

Jun 05, 2020 Kristin rated it really liked it

Shelves: popsugar2020

An interesting read, although I did not care at all for the style in which it was written. A man falls blind at a traffic light for unexplained reasons and the blindness proves contagious, first infecting those he has been in contact with, from the good Samaritan who drove him and his car home (then proceeded to steal the care, so maybe not so 'good' after all) to the eye doctor he consulted, who then infect those they encounter, and so forth. Once the government catches wind of this 'epidemic', An interesting read, although I did not care at all for the style in which it was written. A man falls blind at a traffic light for unexplained reasons and the blindness proves contagious, first infecting those he has been in contact with, from the good Samaritan who drove him and his car home (then proceeded to steal the care, so maybe not so 'good' after all) to the eye doctor he consulted, who then infect those they encounter, and so forth. Once the government catches wind of this 'epidemic', they force the blind, plus those they have been in contact with who are not yet blind, into an abandoned mental hospital. However, one person remains with vision, the wife of the eye doctor, who feigned blindness when the authorities came to take her husband away.
Saramago then describes the breakdown of society when sight disappears. Not wishing to be separated from her husband or made a slave by the other blind residents of the hospital, the doctor's wife initially does not tell anyone but her husband her secret, though she does what she can to make life better for the original group of blind people, which includes the first man, his wife, the car thief, and other patients who were in the doctor's office the day the first blind man arrived. Instead, she is witness to horrors such as soldiers shooting the blind on sight if they stray too close to the entrance of the hospital, dead bodies and human waste left wherever each fell, and a group of blind people with a gun holding the food rations hostage in exchange for sexual favors. Even once the microsociety of the hospital breaks up, likely because there are no more people with vision to guard the entrances, the doctor's wife must lead her group to a safe space in a city that has been overrun with the blind, who have taken refuge wherever possible after the hospital reached capacity.
Again, the story itself was fascinating, as I've never given it much thought about how the world would change if, in a matter of days, no one was able to see a thing and was left to rely on the memories of their environment. This was the first book I've read, outside of basic picture books, where there wasn't a single character with a proper name. Everyone was referred to as a basic description 'the first blind man', 'the doctor's wife', 'the woman with dark glasses', etc. In and of itself, since the characters were referred the same way each time, those descriptions became their names. Where I had trouble was that Saramago's text all runs together with minimal punctuation. There is not a quotation mark to be seen, but a great bit of dialogue, so it is very easy to get completely lost on who is talking and what they are talking about.
I've heard there is a sequel to 'Blindness', which I would be interested in reading, but I would love to find a version that has not only been translated from the original Portuguese but also doctored to be properly punctuated, as this writing style is apparently common to all of Saramago's works. Yes, it would muddle the authenticity of the book, but I'd rather give up the authenticity to have a text that does not require multiple readings of passages to figure out what is going on. ...more

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Jan 27, 2021 Julie rated it really liked it

Shelves: to-read-own

What a strange story! Surprising and disturbing in many ways but also thought provoking. Like nothing else I’ve ever read, it examines what makes us human and what people are willing to do when society breaks down and all expectations of community and decency are abandoned in the interest of survival. This has been on my #TBR for nearly 9 years! Thanks @TheAromaofBooks and #BookspinBingo for finally reading! #ReadingEurope #Portugal

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Dec 23, 2007 Judy rated it did not like it

Shelves: stopped-reading

I didn't *read* this book; I started it. It seems very good, and that's the problem - it is a scary, intense story, and too intense for me at the time. Maybe later... ...more

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