"Caim" by José Saramago

[Betty]

"Caim" is the Portuguese title, aka "Cain" in the English translation. In the first third, there is Adam and Eve in Eden, followed by their departing and shifting for themselves. The author strays from the Biblical original but tells an absorbing tale with bifurcated characters in a stratified society. Saramago has the first man and woman question the rationale behind an authoritarian, omniscient creator making his creation take the blame for their human condition. Yet, Abel's murder of Cain earns lifetime protection from violence, lovemaking with a notorious queen, and freedom, whereas others, namely underlings, receive death. It will be of interest to note the direction Saramago takes in the rest of the book.

[Betty]

Cain becomes the guide through successive biblical events in the manner of an itinerant time traveler, dropping in and participating in them, sometimes much to his disgust. In some instances, he might know how the future plays out in a character's life. He witnesses happenings behind the familiar scenes to expose trickery and evil while also creating fictitious characters and situations. A big question yet to be answered is how Saramago will end this saga.

[Betty]

I read this book first in English. The original one in Portuguese is coming along. The story takes a lot of liberties with the biblical one about Cain. Saramago introduces instantaneous time travel on the surprised main character as if moments in nonlinear time follow after (or before) like quickly pronouncing the syllables of one word. There also are narrative surprises for the reader specifically about Cain's two-sided characterization: sociable to most appearances yet evil, as the novel concludes in the final scenes, seemingly in the image of his creator.