by Jose Saramago: interesting but I'm not sure if I liked it. It's an ugly story, well-told. Citizens of a modern city are suddenly afflicted with blindness, not just a few of them, but most of them. Quickly all the trappings of civilization are shed as the nameless citizens kill, rape, and misuse one another. Saramago narrates all this without benefit of quote marks, indentation, or other normal paragraphing, giving it all a breathless rushed feeling, as if he has to get the story out before either he or I are also struck with the white blindness.Of course, Saramago is telling a bigger story, one in which we are reminded that we are one disaster away from savagery. As I said, it was interesting, but I'm not sure if I liked it.
Widget by Css Reflex | TutZone
Are all writers of this genre allergic to punctuation or is it just me?
ReplyDeleteI don't mean I'm alleric to punctuation, I just mean... you know.
Yep, definitely seems a trend. I call it sloppy, gimmicky writing... (I originally left out a period in that ellipsis. How ironic.)
ReplyDeleteI have attempted to read books without proper grammar and punctuation and I just can't. Otherwise, the plot does sound interesting.
ReplyDeleteJose Saramago is very difficult to read to a Portuguese, exactly because of the punctuation. I'm not talking only for myself, but in behalf of my pupils,too. To tell you the truth, I prefer him as a Poet, even knowing that he has brilliant works in Prose.
ReplyDelete