Before I somewhat complain about this book, I HAVE to point out that Professor Beasley spoiled this book for me before I even started reading. Despite the MAJOR spoiler, I carried on and still read the book like a good student. I only wish the spoiler he had given me was an indication that the book wasn’t going to be good before I started it, so that I could have properly prepared myself.
Alright let’s begin now, this book really disappointed me. The premise of the book made it seem so intriguing and the opening line “The following day, no one died” drew me in….only for that intrigue to quickly disappear. However, before I begin “complaining” about the content of the book I have to say WHAT WAS THIS PUNCTUATION. Like are proper sentences and FULL-STOPS just not a thing anymore??? It genuinely isn’t hard to add periods to sentences, I mean at this point even a random period to end the ongoing comma loop would have been appreciated. I just know somewhere literature and english teachers are quaking in their shoes due to the lack of proper sentence structures. Also, before someone comes at me and says “it’s a stylistic choice”, respectfully I don’t care. No one, absolutely no one can convince me that writing sentences like this is a good choice because it absolutely isn’t.
Anyways, back to the books storyline. The exploration of life and death and what that means for every individual was interesting to read (when I wasn’t getting confused by the run-on sentences). It was an aspect of the book that I enjoyed because it highlighted how death isn’t necessarily a sad thing, it gives meaning and structure to life. However, death falling in love and struggling with her emotions to continue her tasks just seemed to cliche to me. Like not to be pessimistic but the notion of love conquers all just didn’t intrigue me or make sense to me. Like am I supposed to believe that if one day the Grim Reaper comes to me and I make him fall in love with me, I can live?? Like no, I don’t think that’s how it works.
Overall, the premise of the book was interesting but I just wish it was written better, especially regarding the punctuation. I will say that I don’t exactly hate this book, perhaps the right word is…detest.
Question to think about: This book got me thinking about how I would feel if death was declared “dead”. So, based on that if you found out death wasn’t a thing anymore, how would you feel? Would you rejoice in your new found immortality or wish to complete your life at some point?
Alizey,
I have to agree with you on the punctuation. I felt like I had to lock in to every word so I can really tell when the sentence ended or when another person is talking or else I would’ve been confused the whole time. To answer your question, I feel like I wouldn’t want to be immortal. Being immortal can be one of those things that is a blessing but also a curse. Ideally, I would like to rest once I’ve completed my goals and when I feel like I’ve done everything I could in this world.
You’re just trying to get the award for “best blog post title,” aren’t you? ;)
I’m not sure about Saramago’s style (although I will note that it’s the same in other books of his I’ve read). But I myself don’t hate it, though it makes you work a little hard, and perhaps think about why we have these rules (grammar) that bind how we write. In my lecture, I suggest that grammar is like death (even though death herself *also* writes “ungrammatically”): it gives form and structure to writing. And death is, after all, the full stop that puts life to an end.
Hi Alizey,
I liked reading your blog post and can agree with your dislike for some parts of the book. I did not enjoy the format or grammatical errors/ punctuation like you mentioned. It would have perhaps been a more enjoyable read if the format was more cohesive or simply written how we are used to! – Puneet D