The Lizard

by José Saramago, J. Borges (Illustrator), Nick Caistor (Translator), Lucia Caistor (Translator)

Overview

A story by Nobel Prize-winning writer Jose Saramago, gorgeously illustrated in woodcuts by one of Brazil's most famous artists.

When a lizard appears in the neighborhood of Chiado, in Lisbon, it surprises passers-by, and mobilizes firefighters and the army. With a clear and precise style, the fable offers a multitude of senses, reaching audiences of all ages. "The Lizard" is a short story included in A Bagagem do Viajante (1973), a volume that brought together the Saramago chronicles for the newspaper A Capital and the weekly Jornal do Fundão between 1971 and 1972. Translated by Nick Caistor and Lucia Caistor, The Lizard, is an illustrated version of the chronicle by J. Borges.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781609809331
Publisher:	Seven Stories Press
Publication date:	12/03/2019
Pages:	24
Product dimensions:	8.40(w) x 11.00(h) x 0.40(d)
Age Range:	6 - 9 Years

About the Author

José de Sousa Saramago, (November 1922 - June 2010), was a Portuguese writer and recipient of the 1998 Nobel Prize in Literature. His works, some of which can be seen as allegories, commonly present subversive perspectives on historic events, emphasizing the theopoetic human factor. More than two million copies of Saramago's books have been sold in Portugal alone and his work has been translated into 25 languages. He was a founding member of the National Front for the Defense of Culture in Lisbon in 1992, and co-founder with Orhan Pamuk, of the European Writers' Parliament (EWP).

Nick Caistor is an award-winning translator of more than fifty works from Spanish and Portuguese. He has also published short biographies of Octavio Paz, Fidel Castro and Ernesto 'Che' Guevara, as well as cultural histories of Buenos Aires and Mexico City. His daughter, Lucia Caistor, is a social researcher focusing on cities and how people experience them. She lives between London and Lisbon, and has translated several works from Argentina, Brazil, and Portugal.

José Francisco Borges (Bezerros, Brazil, 1935) is one of the greatest popular artists of Brazil, and a key figure in the tradition of string (loose sheets with texts and images that tell stories). In 1964 he published his first work in the genre: O encontro de dois vaqueiros no Sertão de Petronila, which would be followed by more than two hundred cords to present. His work has been the subject of exhibitions in the United States, France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Mexico and Venezuela. He currently resides in his hometown, where he teaches the art of wood engraving (xilogravura) to his family.

Editorial Reviews

…memorable…The winsome language and striking woodcut art in bold colors and lots of black capture the ominous rush to judgment and the sweet possibility of wonderment.

The New York Times Book Review - Maria Russo

08/19/2019

Ably translated by the Caistors, this surreal fable by Noble Prize–winner Saramago imagines a monstrously outsize military response to the appearance of a lizard. The “superb creature” is first spotted in the Lisbon neighborhood of Chiado. “This is a fairy tale,” Saramago opens; “in what other kind of story would a lizard appear in Chiado?” In folk-style woodcut figures by Brazilian artist Borges, the lizard is sometimes black, sometimes rust-colored. “It stood there in the middle of the street, its mouth half-open, flicking its forked tongue.” People flee, rumors fly (“Some said the lizard was poisonous, others that its scales were bulletproof”), emergency squads assemble, and armored cars and military planes approach. But the tale’s fairies have other plans: the lizard morphs, morphs again, then vanishes altogether, much to its attackers’ confusion. First published in the 1970s, when Portugal was ruled by a dictatorship, Saramago’s tale envisions a state so insecure that it is threatened by anything unknown. While some readers may find the mayhem disturbing rather than comic, the fable serves as a reminder that in toxic political situations, nothing—not even a fairy lizard—is safe. Ages 6–9. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

"This memorable fable about the arrival of a giant, fork-tongued but seemingly harmless lizard artfully combines the mythmaking sensibilities of the Portuguese Nobel laureate Saramago and the Brazilian artist Borges. The mysterious lizard shows up in an ordinary town, and 'panic filled the air.' As forces gather to attack it, the creature is transformed into a rose, possibly by fairies. The winsome language and striking woodcut art in bold colors and lots of black capture the ominous rush to judgment and the sweet possibility of wonderment." —Maria Russo, New York Times Book Review

"Borges contributes bold, rustic woodcuts that leave plenty of room for symbolic interpretations. ... A pensive, allegorical fairy tale for readers ready to sit with perplexity." —Kirkus Reviews

"Ably translated by the Caistors, this surreal fable by Nobel Prize–winner Saramago imagines a monstrously outsize military response to the appearance of a lizard. ... the fable serves as a reminder that in toxic political situations, nothing—not even a fairy lizard—is safe. Ages 6–9." —Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher

2019-06-23
Panic ensues when an unwelcome guest arrives.

A lizard appears in the Chiado neighborhood of Lisbon, Portugal. It stops in the middle of the street, halting cars and causing an old woman to scream. People scatter in fear, planes fly overhead, all while the lizard remains mostly unperturbed. Finally, the people launch an attack, and, "thanks to the fairies," the lizard "was transformed into a crimson rose." The rose blooms, turns white, then becomes a dove. The narrator claims in the opening that "this is a fairy tale," for "in what other kind of story would a lizard appear in Chiado?" Semantic arguments aside, this tale is high-concept fiction. With political-leaning overtones, the 1998 Nobel Prize-winning Saramago integrates overriding realism akin to Aesop with Carrollian exaggeration. Young non-Portuguese readers may need an older reader to help interpret the tale's meaning (and the older reader may also need some outside help). Borges contributes bold, rustic woodcuts that leave plenty of room for symbolic interpretations. There is a visual lack of continuity between pages, with the described "green" lizard alternatively appearing in black and red shades while its head and number of legs also changes. Like the story itself, the translation challenges readers with sophisticated vocabulary.

A pensive, allegorical fairy tale for readers ready to sit with perplexity. (Picture book. 5-8)

Kirkus Reviews