A proofreader realizes his power to edit the truth on a whim, in. Rather than fire him as she ought to, maria encourages raimundo to rewrite the history of the siege of lisbon in. A huge body of work followed, translated into more than forty languages, and in 1998 he was awarded the nobel prize in literature. In a moment of subversive daring, raimundo decides to change just one single word of texta capricious revision that. The publishing house he works for has trusted his corrections to many of their texts for years, yet one day on impulse he decides to alter a book, the history of the siege of lisbon, by inserting a word of his own. After holding a series of jobs as mechanic and metalworker, saramago began working in a. The history of the siege of lisbon by saramago, jose and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. Born in portugal in 1922, he was in his sixties when he came to prominence as a writer with the publication of baltasar and blimunda.
Free download or read online the history of the siege of lisbon pdf epub book. For instance, his most famous prose work, the book of disquiet, was. His protagonist, a proofreader named raimundo silva, adds a key word to a history of portugal and thus rewrites not only the past, but also his own life. The history of the siege of lisbon by jose saramago, 9781860467226, available at book depository with free delivery worldwide. A brilliantly amusing metafiction about the instability of history and the reality assumed by fiction, from the acclaimed portuguese author the stone raft, 1995, etc. Everyday low prices on a huge range of new releases and classic fiction. The history of the siege of lisbonstarts off slow, but those who persevere through saramagos wordy prose are wellrewarded. A driver stalled at a busy intersection suddenly suffers an attack of white blindness no other color, or any shape, is.
Buy the history of the siege of lisbon by jose saramago online at alibris. Saramagos the history of the siege of lisbon 1989 reading the. Other readers will always be interested in your opinion of the books youve read. It tells the story of a proofreader and the story of the siege of lisbon as it both is and is not told in the book he is charged with correcting. This time, saramago tells the story of a publishers proofreader, raimundo silva, a middleaged solitary who has no life apart from his workuntil his absorption in a complex historical work about the siege of lisbon is. When raimundo silva, a lowly proofreader for a lisbon publishing house, isbn 9781860467226 buy the history of the siege of lisbon ebook.
Raimundo silva, assigned to correct a book entitled. In 1989 the history of the siege of lisbon appeared. Despite its title the history of the siege of lisbon doesnt revolve around proven historical facts of the defeat of the moors camping in front of the gates of lisbon in 1147. Jose saramago may not somebody who relies so heavily on plot. The history of the siege of lisbon saramago jose download bok. But this is not a historical novel like mantels booker prize winner, but rather a story inserted into history. The history of the siege of lisbon is a good book but takes a lot of patience to read it without skipping pages. Martin amis wrote somewhere that mainstream fiction only has about a halfdozen plots to work with, all of which have been used for millennia. Download file to see previous pages the author questions the reason why the proofreader alters the story and includes the word not which changes the whole story. Can you please tell me what is the meaning of the ending. This acclaimed book by jose saramago is available at in several formats for your ereader. But this is not a historical novel like mantels booker prize winner, but. The history of the siege of lisbon by jose saramago alibris.
Barossos article is about the interview of saramago about his novel the history of the siege of lisbon. It comprises two intersected strands, one focusing on the life of the main character and the other on the siege of lisbon in the 12th century. In 1998 he was awarded the nobel prize for literature. Pdf the history of the siege of lisbon book by jose. The history of the siege of lisbon by jose saramago musings of a.
Born in portugal in 1922, he was in his sixties when he came to prominence as a writer with the publication of baltasar. Raimundo changes a single word in a manuscript, thereby implying. It tells the story of a proofreader and the story of the. Whether youve loved the book or not, if you give your honest and detailed thoughts then people will find new books that are right for them. The history of the siege of lisbon judith amanthis. The history of the siege of lisbon saramago jose download. Instead of being fired the proofreader is commissioned to develop the idea into a novel. His revision of a signal episode in portuguese history unexpectedly and inexplicably wins the heart of his supervisor, maria sara, a woman of unwavering conviction.
Raimundo silva is a proofreader for a lisbon publisher. Raimundo silva, assigned to correct a book entitled the history of siege of lisbon by his publishing house, decides to alter the meaning of a crucial sentence by inserting the word not in the text, so that the book now claims that the crusaders did not come to the aid of the portuguese king in taking lisbon from the moors. Publication date 1998 topics proofreading, sieges publisher. The interviewee conducted the interview some days before saramago was officially crowned the nobel prize for literature. I cant wait until my next foray into the wonderful magical world of jose saramago. The history of the siege of lisbon is a triumph of how utterly irrelevant plot is to a great novelist. History of the siege of lisbon isbn 9781860467226 pdf epub. The history of the siege of lisbon jose saramago, author, joe e. The book trail the history of the siege of lisbon the. The novel dramatizes how the history of portugal derives from the conquest of lisbon and the moors by the christians. The history of the siege of lisbon by jose saramago abebooks. A proofreader in a publishing house changes a word in a manuscript to make a history book read that a 12th century battle was strictly a portuguese victory, rather than a joint victory with the crusaders. What complicates things and provides us fans of jose saramago with a simply astonishing novel, are the.
The focal point is the siege of the moorish city of lissibona lisbon in 1147 by portuguese forces under christian king alfonso i, its conquest and the expulsion of the moorsa battle in which as many as 150,000 perished. Giovanni pontiero when raimundo silva, humble proofreader for a lisbon publishing house, takes it upon himself to insert a negative into the sentence of a history book, he rewrites history. From this point, both raimundos novel and saramagos which encloses it assume a dizzying. The history of the siege of lisbon audiobook by giovanni. What happens when the facts of history are replaced by the mysteries of love. All would end at this point were that not the whole story.
He utilizes streamofconsciousness in the history of the siege of lisbon as a way to merge the history of the citys past with that of the protagonist living out his life in the modern day. Except that it still has not been established whether it is the novel that prevents man from forgetting himself or. The stone raft, in which the iberian peninsula breaks off from. The history of the siege of lisbon by jose saramago. Travel guide travel back to the siege of lisbon booktrail style. The history of the siege of lisbon is a novel by portuguese author jose saramago, first published in 1989.
Nonetheless, the history of the siege of lisbon published in portugal in 1989 and only now reaching the u. I find the history of the siege of lisbon to form a sort of trilogy of skepticism along with the gospel according to jesus christ and the stone raft, enriched by the somewhat lesser footnote of the year of the death of ricardo reis. The book was published in multiple languages including english, consists of 314 pages and is available in paperback format. Typical jose saramago unique writing style takes some getting used to. The history of the siege of lisbon jose saramago, giovanni pontiero on. The history of the siege of lisbon by jose saramago, 97818604623, available at book depository with free delivery worldwide. When raimundo silva, a lowly proofreader for a lisbon publishing house, inserts a negative into a sentence of a historical text, he alters the whole course of the 1147 siege of lisbon. One night, while reading over the final draft of a nonfiction work called the history of the siege of lisbon, is suddenly inspired to insert a not into the text where it does not belong, so that the text reads. Saramago acknowledged in a recent article that there is a lot of him in the protagonist of that novel, raimundo silva, a middleaged, isolated proofreader who falls in love with his boss, an attractive, younger editor who saves him from emotional mediocrity. From this point, both raimundos novel and saramagos which encloses it assume a dizzying variety of shifting.
783 1362 1186 537 1193 1109 191 53 1140 1102 356 1106 400 1528 942 187 1541 954 548 101 1425 907 1144 581 238 1183 576 984 1236 325 853 206