The Notebook

by José Saramago, Umberto Eco (Preface by), Amanda Hopkinson (Translator), Daniel Hahn (Translator)

Overview

Beginning on the eve of the 2008 US presidential election, The Notebook evokes life in Saramago’s beloved Lisbon, revisits conversations with friends, and offers meditations on the author’s favorite writers. Precise observations and moments of arresting significance are rendered with pointillist detail, and together demonstrate an acute understanding of our times. Characteristically critical and uncompromising, Saramago dissects the financial crisis, deplores Israel’s punishment of Gaza, and reflects on the rise of Barack Obama. The Notebook is a unique journey into the personal and political world of one of the greatest writers of our time.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781844678013
Publisher:	Verso Books
Publication date:	05/01/2011
Sold by:	Penguin Random House Publisher Services
Format:	eBook
Pages:	304
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

The Portuguese Nobel Laureate Jose? Saramago was a novelist, playwright and journalist. His numerous books, including the bestselling All the Names, Blindness, and The Cave, have been translated into more than forty languages and have established him as one of the world’s most influential writers. He died in June 2010.

Umberto Eco is a professor of semiotics at the University of Bologna and the author of Foucault’s Pendulum, The Name of the Rose, and other international bestsellers. He lives in Milan, Italy.

Daniel Hahn is a writer, editor, researcher, and translator. His translations include Creole (2002), The Book of Chameleons (2006), My Father’s Wives (2008), and Rainy Season (2009), by Angolan novelist Jose? Eduardo Agualusa.

Editorial Reviews

Nobel Prize winner Saramago offers a rare glimpse into his personal life with the publication of a year's worth of blog entries, assembled in diary form. Encouraged by his family, Saramago agreed to blog about any and everything he had to say. What has emerged is an incredibly poetic and realistic glimpse into our world, often, but not always, through a political lens. Not only does he comment on emerging policies in the United States, he writes exceptionally moving pieces concerning the Middle East, Italy, and many other regions of the globe. Saramago also tackles less harrowing topics; in one anecdote he describes the beauty of Lisbon and his affection for the breathtaking city. He reserves his kindest words, however, for recollections of and gratitude for his friends and mentors, usually other literary giants. Though Saramago's political pieces shine, he doesn't ignore other aspects of society voicing concern over the increasing acceptance of violence in the media and the home. Beautifully crafted and honest, Saramago's latest volume is elegant in tone and style and clearly conveys a legend's take on our evolving society.
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Publishers Weekly

Fascinating and smart and provocative, and a lot of fun to dip into.”—The New York Times

“In readably provocative style, with offbeat riffs on his life and writing, on ideas and histories ... This is a bittersweet delight.”—Boyd Tonkin, The Independent

“Saramago is one of Europe’s most original and remarkable writers ... His writing is imbued with a spirit of comic inquiry, meditative pessimism and a quietly transforming energy that turns the indefinite into the unforgettable.”—Richard Eder, Los Angeles Times

“In the craft of the sentence, Jose? Saramago is one of the great originals. His prose is a voice that envelops all voices: it is like the universe’s immanent murmur ... No one writes quite like Saramago, so solicitous and yet so magnificently free.”—Steven Poole, The Guardian

“The book presents an intelligent twist on the blogs-turned-books phenomenon, proving that the two mediums are compatible beyond social curios and cultural gimmicks ... . The Notebook is a unique glimpse into the candid ruminations of one of the most talented living writers.”—Flavorwire

“I’m hard pressed to think of another writer who makes me stop as Saramago does, to go back and discover the meaning of history or allegory in all its wild newness.”—Julian Evans, Financial Times

“Saramago enjoys picking up a passing thought or an incident and running with it, confident in his political outrage, calm in his appreciation of friends, considered in his aphoristic criticism of culture.”—Iain Finlayson, The Times [London]

“Saramago is a writer, like Faulkner, so confident of his resources and ultimate destination that he can bring any improbability to life.”—John Updike, The New Yorker

“Beautifully crafted and honest, Saramago’s Notebook is elegant in tone and style while clearly conveying a legend’s take on our evolving society.”—Publishers Weekly

“Impenitently enraged and tender.”—Umberto Eco

“The most gifted novelist alive in the world today.”—Harold Bloom

From the Publisher

Fascinating and smart and provocative, and a lot of fun to dip into.

The New York Times

The book presents an intelligent twist on the blogs-turned-books phenomenon, proving that the two mediums are compatible beyond social curios and cultural gimmicks.... The Notebook is a unique glimpse into the candid ruminations of one of the most talented living writers.

Flavorwire

"That place where I can most express myself according to my desires" is how Nobel laureate, Portuguese novelist, playwright, and journalist Saramago (Blindness; The Cave) describes his latest endeavor, which consists of a series of excerpts taken from his blog between September 2008 and August 2009. When Saramago moved from Portugal to Lanzarote in the Canary Islands, he was presented with a notebook by his sister- and brother-in-law. Saramago did not write in that notebook, but from it, the idea for the Lanzarote Notebooks emerged and resulted in a blog. No sloppy online writing from this meticulous author—Saramago writes with great sensitivity on topics as diverse as the status of women, world finance, automobiles, music, justice, divorce, and libraries. His love for Lisbon is certain, as is his admiration for specific authors, scientists, and heroic individuals. He hazards a few choice denunciations, as well, for Pope Benedict, jihad, terrorism, torture, and George W. Bush. VERDICT A left-wing humanist, Saramago displays true concern for the state of the world. For serious readers in public and academic libraries.—Nedra Crowe-Evers, Sonoma Cty. Lib., Santa Rosa, CA

Library Journal