The Double by José Saramago (Lisa Hill, ANZ LitLovers)

The Double, by José Saramago, is very entertaining reading.  It’s the story of a most ordinary man, a teacher of history, who one night, watching a video, sees himself as he was five years ago on the screen.  He becomes consumed by anxiety about this double, and his quest to deal with the problem of who owns his identity is, in the hands of this master storyteller, a remarkable story.

Saramago (1922-2010) was a Portuguese author: he wrote novels, plays and journalism and was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1998.  Wikipedia tells me that he came to the attention of Portuguese censors late in his life, and moved to Spain to avoid interference on religious grounds.  (Apparently he died at Las Palmas, which I visited as a small child en route to Africa.  I have vivid memories of the contrast between its warmth,  colour and vivacity and the drabness of postwar London.)  In Portugal all seemed to be forgiven when Saramago won the Nobel, though the conservative PM who’d supported the religious censorship prudently avoided the mourning when Saramago died. 

I read and blogged this book on September 13th 2010.  To read the rest of my review, please visit http://anzlitlovers.wordpress.com/2010/09/13/the-double-by-jose-saramago/

The Double by José Saramago

I decided to read this because: I enjoyed his book All the Names.

First line: The man who had just come into the shop to rent a video bears on his identity card a most unusual name, a name with a classical flavor that time has staled, neither more not less than Tertuliano Maximo Afonso.

The book in one sentence: A high school history teacher discovers the existence of his exact double in all respects, tries to make sense of it, and becomes obsessed with killing him.

I'd recommend it to: Anyone who's read Saramago before. If you're interested in psychological and books that make you ponder into the night, this may be for you.

I liked: Again, Saramago makes a story of a seemingly mundane existence - a teacher, an introvert, depressed, with few friends, no real life to speak of - into something interesting.

The premise of the story - of the possibility of having an exact double in this world - immediately reminded me of matter and anti-matter. I was speculating that when Tertuliano Maximo Afonso would eventually meet his double that something stupendous would happen ... spontaneous combustion? Of course, nothing like that did happen.

This is a psychological novel. It examines how a person's core of existence - identity and individuality - is shattered when the improbable and impossible happens. There is a lot of thinking going on, a lot of second guessing, and a lot of stress. And that can get to you, if you really think about it.

I didn’t like: Saramago's strange storytelling with little or no punctuation and long-winded sentences doesn't really bother me, but it can grate on the nerves somewhat, especially since there were pages and pages of soliloquy and non-action.

And why the emphasis on the name Tertuliano Maximo Afonso, and it's insistent repetition throughout the text? I think Saramago was trying to stress that despite the uniqueness of his name, our hero had to contend with the contrary. But again, its repeated use throughout the text was getting tiring.

There were times that the book was slooooowwww. I admit, I skimmed through some sections. This is not a book to read when you are bored. It can be a little clinical at times, like reading through a doctor's notes.

Author factoids: Saramago is a Portuguese writer who was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1998.

Verdict: Once you get past the strange non-punctuation, the heart of the story makes for a compelling and disturbing read.

Random quote:.

The best way to achieve universal exoneration is to conclude that since everyone is to blame, no one is guilty.

Originally posted on my blog Guiltless Reading.