Saramago, José

Blindness by José Saramago ( Book )
183 editions published between 1995 and 2011 in 31 languages and held by 2,910 libraries worldwide
An epidemic of blindness strikes a city and the result is chaos, the government issuing shoot-to-kill orders. Much of the action is seen through the eyes of a woman who claims to be blind so she won't be separated from her husband. A look at how people behave under stress. By the author of The History of the Siege of Lisbon.

The cave by José Saramago ( Book )
76 editions published between 2000 and 2010 in 15 languages and held by 1,988 libraries worldwide
Informed that his clay pots and jugs are no longer needed, elderly potter Cipriano applies his craft to the making of ceramic dolls, but his family's subsequent successes are compromised by a terrible discovery.

All the names by José Saramago ( Book )
100 editions published between 1900 and 2010 in 18 languages and held by 1,919 libraries worldwide
Senhor José is determined to find out more about a woman he only knows from the birth certificate he discovered at his job as a clerk in the Central Registry.

Death with interruptions by José Saramago ( Book )
48 editions published between 2005 and 2009 in 10 languages and held by 1,640 libraries worldwide
"On the first day of the new year, no one dies. This, understandably, causes consternation among politicians, religious leaders, funeral directors, and doctors. Among the general public, on the other hand, there is initially celebration - flags are hung out on balconies, people dance in the streets. They have achieved the great goal of humanity: eternal life. Then reality hits home - families are left to care for the permanently dying, life-insurance policies become meaningless, and funeral directors are reduced to arranging burials for pet dogs, cats, hamsters, and parrots. Death sits in her chilly apartment, where she lives alone with scythe and filing cabinets, and contemplates her experiment: What if no one ever died again? What if she, death with a small d, became human and were to fall in love?"--jacket blurb.

Seeing by José Saramago ( Book )
42 editions published between 2004 and 2010 in 12 languages and held by 1,558 libraries worldwide
On election day in the capital, it is raining so hard that no one has come out to vote. The politicians are growing jittery. Should they reschedule for another day? Around three o'clock, the rain finally stops. At four, voters rush to the polling stations, as if ordered to appear. But when the ballots are counted, more than 70% are blank. The citizens are rebellious. A state of emergency is declared. The president proposes that a wall be built around the city. But are the authorities acting too precipitously? Or even blindly? The word evokes terrible memories of the plague of blindness that hit the city four years before, and of the one woman who kept her sight. Could she be behind the blank ballots? Is she the organizer of a conspiracy against the state? What begins as a satire on governments and the sometimes dubious efficacy of the democratic system turns into something far more sinister.--From publisher description.

The double by José Saramago ( Book )
59 editions published between 2002 and 2010 in 16 languages and held by 1,533 libraries worldwide
Renting a recommended video to ease his depression, divorced history teacher Tertuliano Maximo Afonso is unsettled to see a man in the video who looks exactly the way he looked five years earlier.

Baltasar and Blimunda by José Saramago ( Book )
179 editions published between 1982 and 2010 in 25 languages and held by 1,471 libraries worldwide
"Portugal, 1711: ... In the midst of the terrors of the Inquisition and the plague, a seemingly mismatched couple discovers the wonders of love. This poetic tale, graced with exquisite historical detail and full of magic and adventure, is a tapestry of human folly and human will."--Back cover.

The Gospel according to Jesus Christ by José Saramago ( Book )
115 editions published between 1991 and 2010 in 22 languages and held by 1,454 libraries worldwide
The story of Jesus Christ as a thing of this earth: a questioning adolescent who is troubled by the world and by his body; a mother who is, by turns, devoted, fearful, and resentful; a family with all the complex frictions of any family.

The elephant's journey by José Saramago ( Book )
26 editions published between 2008 and 2011 in 5 languages and held by 1,374 libraries worldwide
"The enchanting tale of an elephant, his keeper, and their journey through sixteenth-century Europe, based on a true story." (from the back cover).

The history of the siege of Lisbon by José Saramago ( Book )
77 editions published between 1989 and 2010 in 16 languages and held by 1,261 libraries worldwide
A proofreader in a publishing house changes a word in a manuscript to make a history book read that a 12th Century battle was strictly a Portuguese victory, rather than a joint victory with the Crusaders. Instead of being fired the proofreader is commissioned to develop the idea into a novel. A study in historical revisionism.