Blindness
About the book
An epidemic of unexplained blindness puts a community to the test.
Original title: Ensaio sobre a cegueira
Europe · A READING GUIDE
Portugal
Begin with de Carvalho’s Empty Wardrobes or one of Saramago’s parables. Pessoa’s Book of Disquiet suits fragmentary, unhurried reading without the expectation of a conventional plot. Eça de Queirós opens nineteenth-century classics; Lobo Antunes and Tavares offer more demanding narrative experiments. Cardoso and Jorge explore Portuguese experiences connected to Africa and decolonisation; setting does not change an author’s affiliation.
WHERE TO START
- BlindnessJosé Saramago
- The Book of DisquietFernando Pessoa
- The MaiasJosé Maria Eça de Queirós
Books to begin with
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The Book of Disquiet
About the book
Bernardo Soares’s fragmentary writings connect daily Lisbon life with reflections on existence.
Original title: Livro do Desassossego
EnglishTranslation
The Book of Disquiet
Penguin Modern Classics
Translated by Richard Zenith
Edition source ↗PolishTranslation
Księga niepokoju spisana przez Bernarda Soaresa, pomocnika księgowego w Lizbonie
Lokator
Edition source ↗
The Maias
About the book
A Lisbon family’s fortunes centre on Carlos da Maia’s career and tragic love affair.
Original title: Os Maias
The Crime of Father Amaro
About the book
A young priest’s affair exposes the hypocrisy of a provincial community.
Original title: O Crime do Padre Amaro
The Return
About the book
Rui leaves Angola during decolonisation and encounters a Portugal he has never seen.
Original title: O Retorno
Empty Wardrobes
About the book
Widowed Dora learns that her understanding of her marriage rested on things left unsaid.
Original title: Os Armários Vazios
Jerusalem
About the book
Night-time encounters connect illness, violence and the history of a psychiatric institution.
Original title: Jerusalém
The Natural Order of Things
About the book
Lisbon residents’ voices intertwine family secrets, dictatorship and colonial experiences.
Original title: A Ordem Natural das Coisas
The Murmuring Coast
About the book
Evita revisits Mozambique memories, challenging an apparently innocent account of colonial war.
Original title: A Costa dos Murmúrios
Death at Intervals
About the book
When people in a country stop dying, institutions and families confront the consequences of immortality.
Original title: As Intermitências da Morte
The Double
About the book
A teacher discovers an actor who looks exactly like him and begins a dangerous search.
The Cave
About the book
A potter loses the market for his work as a powerful Centre imposes a new order on his family.
Context and sources
Sources on authors and their connections to this country. Specific edition details appear beside each book. Polish and English originals are not labelled as translations.
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