Man of the Day: Jose Saramago
Who was José Saramago?
José de Sousa Saramago was born on November 16, 1922, in Portugal, and died on June 18 this year in Spain. He was a writer, screenwriter, journalist, playwright, short story writer, novelist and poet Portuguese.
What are the characteristics of his works?
Saramago's novels often deal with fantastic scenarios, such as in The Stone Raft, in which the Iberian Peninsula breaks the rest of Europe and sails around the Atlantic Ocean. In Blindness, the country is hit by a mysterious plague "white blindness". In his book The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis, Saramago creates an alternate version of history, it could have been making use of official information and mixing them with unofficial sources. Moreover, his novel Death with Interruptions revolves around a country where nobody dies over seven months, began on New Year's Day.
Using such imaginative themes, Saramago addresses the most serious issues with empathy and human acondição for the isolation of contemporary urban life. His characters struggle for their need for contact with each other and even with their need for individuality, to thereby find meaning and dignity outside of political and economic structures.
Writing Style:
Saramago uses an experimental style, which often features long sentences, sometimes more than one page. He uses periods sparingly, opting for a loose flow of clauses joined by commas. Many of his paragraphs extend for pages without a break for dialogue, because he chooses not to delimit them with quotes.
His works often refer to his other works. In Blindness, Saramago completely abandons the use of proper names, so it refers to characters simply by some unique feature, this was just one example of his use of style to highlight the themes of identity and meaning found along his work.
Trivia:
Saramago was also well known for his atheism and Iberianism, was also a member of the Portuguese Communist Party and Deputy Director of the Daily News.
He received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1998. He also won the Camões Prize, the most important literary prize of the Portuguese language. Saramago was considered responsible for the effective international recognition of prose in English.
His first job was as a mechanic, after having held various jobs: designer, employee health and welfare, translator, editor, journalist.
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Tags: playwright , writer , man / woman of the day , journalist , Jose Saramago , Portugal
Another brilliant mind that is gone, and in return, many minds manufacturers funk still loose on all sides.
True, but the funkeiros are from Brazil, he was from Portugal. (Worsened our side) hehehehe
One good thing to speak Portuguese, and they could feel "homesick" Saramago is to read the original. It was a great man, but his ideas are.
good blog.
It's real, translations, literature can distort enough. Similarly, we reading Nietzsche Oo
Gee, I do not read Nietzsche in the original ... Who knows, maybe some lives hehe
I do not even use the word "twist" for not putting a negative charge, but it is expected that the translator participate in the creation, placing a temperinho your ... Do not say that Paulo Coelho writes in the best versions in other languages? hehe
It's ... really a brilliant mind who will.
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And sure ... it's really a blessing to read Saramago in the original.
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He's gone, but the work is ... for pleasure and study.
Even though he is from Portugal, it is hard to believe that many here in Brazil, nor knew who Saramago. I have a friend very intelligent and cultured (These are the qualities that he self-defined), that when he saw me tweeting about Saramago's death, asked: Who the hell is Saramago? That's what I'm talking now question for anyone who is Tati puzzle shack. Everybody knows.
Portugal *
Hum??
"Do not say that Paulo Coelho writes in the best versions in other languages? hehe "
Did not know that. Interesting to know, even sounding with a bit of satire hehehe = P
It's unbelievable that someone, today, do not know who was Jose Saramago ... Only in Brazil itself. I'm sorry William. I am Portuguese and live in Rio de Janeiro and it cost me to hear something like this ...
No comments ...
Ana
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