All the Names [L0072]

2001 - PB Excellent condition. The Nobel Prize-winning author of Blindness, Jose Saramago, weaves this tale of Senhor José a low-grade clerk in the city's Central Registry, where the living and the dead share the same shelf space. A middle-aged bachelor, he has no interest in anything beyond the certificates of birth, marriage, divorce, and death that are his daily routine. But one day, when he comes across the records of an anonymous young woman, something happens to him. Obsessed, Senhor José sets off to follow the thread that may lead him to the woman-but as he gets closer, he discovers more about her, and about himself, than he would ever have wished. The loneliness of people's lives, the effects of chance, the discovery of love-all coalesce in this extraordinary novel that displays the power and art of José Saramago in brilliant form.

From recent Amazon/GoodReads reviews: "All The Names is another incredible work from one who is deserving of the Nobel Prize honor. Saramago once again challenges the reader to examine their feelings and revise their assumptions about life. Yet, it is done in a way that allows the reader to sympathize with the main character and be moved by the story. It is a rare talent that possesses the ability to masterfully handle so many aspects of writing. When that talent creates a book as multi-layered and fascinating as All The Names, it deserves to be read by as wide an audience as possible."; "Dense and ponderous, Saramago's unpunctuated prose is, remarkably, seldom dull; what's extraordinary about this book is the suspense, the tension, the humor, and the sarcasm that keeps his narrative moving. There is a nebulous atmosphere behind this story, as the reader nervously follows a man who, drowning in a sea of daily tedium, can't resist the impulse to find the humanity behind "all the names" he files away in the registry. In the end, his rebellion restores integrity to his own life as well."; "This is at once a journey through Existentialism, through the anonymity of living in the world today, a study of the depersonalization of society. Yet out of this microscopic examination of details we come to understand the significance of maintaining individualism, of finding connection, of fighting against a meaningless passage on this earth. Though no one is named in this novel, save the main character, Saramago paints the peripheral characters with such clarity that names are the least important designators. This is not an easy read: many great books are not easy reads. But the work required to stay with the author to the end is compensated by luxuriating in a wordbath that is found only in strolling through the process. I think this is a brilliant book by a unique writer who has descovered a style of writing that only enhances his uncommonly interesting tales. Spend time here. You'll be rewarded in countless ways."