The Double in Boxall's 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die

May 20, 2021 Arukiyomi rated it liked it · review of another edition

For more reviews and the 1001 Books Spreadsheet, visit http://arukiyomi.com

Having enjoyed Baltasar and Blimunda, I was looking forward to this, particularly as it wasn’t going to be dealing with too much obscure Portuguese history. I’m also fond of Kafka-esque struggles and the idea of a man seeing his double in a video and then attempting to track him down really appealed.

The book didn’t disappoint. I found it entertaining, darkly comic and it asked the right questions about who we are and how ...more

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Dec 05, 2009 Tiffany rated it really liked it

Shelves: 1001-books, 1001-books__fromlist

So... premise of the story: Guy watches a five-year-old movie, sees bit actor who looks exactly like he did five years ago; guy becomes obsessed with actor and finding out more about him, mostly who he is and whether he looks like guy looks now; guy becomes *really* obsessed with actor. Honestly, as the plot was picking up (mostly still in the "Hey, that guy in that movie looks like me!" phase of the story), I kept thinking of the episode of Scrubs that talks about The Janitor being in The Fugit ...more

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Jan 26, 2009 Deodand rated it it was ok

Shelves: south-america, unfinished

I love the atmosphere of Saramago's books, where you feel like you and he are omnipotents floating through the world having a chat. But...I grow weary of books about isolated academics in their cocoons. It never was the most compelling subject matter. I enjoyed "Blindness" and will try his other work but this one isn't setting the hook. ...more

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Sep 06, 2009 Mounir rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: arabic-translation, a-to-re-read

الرواية تبدو رائعة حتى الآن
لكن الترجمة للآسف ليست على مستوى الرواية الرائعة
المترجم يبدو أحيانا وكأنه ينقل المعنى الحرفى للكلمات بدون صياغة أدبية معقولة.

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