José Saramago: Nobel Laureate

José Saramago was one of the most significant voices in Portuguese literature. His astonishing works won him the Nobel Prize for Literature. Many of his works, such as The Story of Blindness,  are cathartic and inspire the reader to reflect.

People often say that Saramago was the cause of the problems. He never stopped condemning injustice, and he always shared his views on the conflicts of the time. Saramago, in fact, described himself as a passionate writer, a person who had to reveal every little thing hidden, even though it meant encountering the real monsters of this world. 

His pursuit of truth and his quest to get people to reflect shaped his unique literary style. He used imaginative parables, irony, and compassion to paint a picture of reality that people could not fail to see. Today, new generations are rediscovering his voice and admiring his bold personality.

He is one of the most notable Portuguese writers, e.g. Alongside Fernando Pessoa. José Saramago’s magical and curious work encourages people to analyze current problems through his eyes. 

A wise man from a humble family

José de Sousa Saramago was born on 16 November 1922 in Golegã, Portugal. His parents, José de Sousa and Maria da Piedade, were humble peasants. When Saramago was 2 years old, his parents decided to move to Lisbon to achieve financial stability.

Then when they settled in Lisbon, his father began working as a police officer. As a young man, Saramago attended technical school until his parents could no longer afford his education.

After that, he had no choice but to work as a mechanical blacksmith. However, he did not focus only on his work. Saramago devoted his free time to learning with his own advice. He never stopped reading, learning, or writing. In 1947, at the age of only 25, he published Land of Sin (Terra do Pecado). That same year, her daughter Violante was born as the fruit of her first marriage.

A loyal writer and journalist

José Saramago began translating the works of Hegel and Tolstoy into Portuguese in 1955. At the same time,  he sought to give his style a more mature style to make his writings more successful. And while he was really adept, no journalist dared to publish his work.

After  Skylight (Claraboia)  was repulsed, Saramago waited a few years and tried again. It was not until 1966 that he tried again with  Probably Joy (Provavelmente Alegria)  and later with  The Year of 1993 (O ano de 1993). Both of these works were recognized by journalists.

Then when he finally got the success he wanted, he began his career as a journalist. Saramago served as a journalist’s assistant for the newspaper Diário de Notícias and then for  Diário de Lisboa, where he became deputy director and political commentator.

In the midst of the Carnation Revolution on April 25, 1974, Saramago decided to focus exclusively on his writings. In 1976, he published The Notes  and  The Lives of Things. 

Nobel Prize and the Last Days

By the 80s, José Saramago was already an internationally famous author. He achieved widespread recognition with  Baltasar and Blimunda (1982), The Stone Ferry (1986), the  controversial  Gospel of Jesus Christ ( 1991),  and  The Story of Blindness (1995).

Saramago managed to develop his writing further, which meant that his books became even bolder. In 1998, he won the most prestigious award: the Nobel Prize for Literature. 

At that time he traveled between Lisbon and the Canary Islands of Lanzarote, the home of his Spanish wife, translator and journalist, Maria del Pilar del Rio Sanchez.

José Saramago died of leukemia on June 18, 2010, at the age of 87 years. He had just started writing a new novel, but left only 30 pages behind.

A report on blindness,  José Saramago

“I don’t think we became blind, you think we are blind, blind but seeing, blind who can see but who can’t see.” With these words, José Saramago edited one of the most interesting controversial metaphors in his work. In The Story of Blindness, he talks about people’s inability to identify each other as equals. He transforms people into notorious beings, beings who need guidance to understand and survive in the world.

This work is a work that deeply reflects on the human soul. It’s a dystopian novel, and anyone who reads it can no longer ignore the blindness of our society, which in the book spreads like an infection.

There is only one protagonist in the story who is able to see: a  woman who decides to be with her husband in this blindness. He becomes eyes, and he tries to help the rest of the world. However, the environment is purely oppressive. Soldiers shoot anyone who approaches the sick. People are led by a dictatorship. Chaos rules and hope disappears.

The narrative of blindness  shows that the human soul does not want to see. The inability to identify others as equals leads to selfishness, conflict, and fear. The Story of Blindness  is an impressive book. It is one of the greatest literary works in history that is definitely worth reading.