An International Bestseller - This is a shattering work by a literary master.--Boston Globe

A city is hit by an epidemic of white blindness which spares no one. Authorities confine the blind to an empty mental hospital, but there the criminal element holds everyone captive, stealing food rations and raping women. There is one eyewitness to this nightmare who guides seven strangers--among them a boy with no mother, a girl with dark glasses, a dog of tears--through the barren streets, and the procession becomes as uncanny as the surroundings are harrowing. A magnificent parable of loss and disorientation, Blindness has swept the reading public with its powerful portrayal of our worst appetites and weaknesses--and humanity's ultimately exhilarating spirit.

This is a an important book, one that is unafraid to face all of the horror of the century.--Washington Post

A New York Times Notable Book of the Year
A Los Angeles Times Best Book of the Year

The narrator's memories of a lost childhood paradise focus on two glorious days when he helped his uncle take some piglets to the market in Santarém. They traverse dusty roads, sleep in a barn and awake to a miraculous moonglow, and hear the animals in their infinite conversations. The journey, the night, the wind, the light. . . . This poetic story is an unforgettable adventure narrated by José Saramago and presented alongside Armando Fonseca's fanciful and evocative illustrations.

A very special gift for readers of all ages.

The clarity and compassion of [Saramago's] vision make Seeing worthy of its name. --Washington Post
​I have never read a novel that gets so many details of the political behavior that we for some reason insist on calling 'organized' so hilariously and grimly right. --Chicago Tribune

On election day in the capital, it is raining so hard that no one has bothered to come out to vote. The politicians are growing jittery. Should they reschedule the elections for another day? Around three o'clock, the rain finally stops. Promptly at four, voters rush to the polling stations, as if they had been ordered to appear.But when the ballots are counted, more than 70 percent are blank. The citizens are rebellious. A state of emergency is declared. 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? A police superintendent is put on the case.

What begins as a satire on governments and the sometimes dubious efficacy of the democratic system turns into something far more sinister.

Against his better judgment, Tertuliano decides to pursue his double. As he roots out the man's identity, what begins as a whimsical story becomes a wonderfully twisted meditation on identity and individuality (The Boston Globe). Saramago displays his remarkable talent in this haunting tale of appearance versus reality.

«Siempre acabamos llegando a donde nos esperan . --Libro de los Itinerarios

A mediados del siglo XVI el rey Juan III ofrece a su primo, el archiduque Maximiliano de Austria, un elefante asiático. Esta novela cuenta el viaje épico de ese elefante llamado Salomón que tuvo que recorrer Europa por caprichos reales y absurdas estrategias.

El viaje del elefante no es un libro histórico, es una combinación de hechos reales e inventados que nos hace sentir la realidad y la ficción como una unidad indisoluble, como algo propio de la gran literatura. Una reflexión sobre el sentido de la vida humana, con sus afanes, desvelos y ambiciones, con su irremisible final, en la que el humor y la ironía, marcas de la implacable lucidez del autor, se unen a la compasión con la que José Saramago observa las flaquezas humanas.

ENGLISH DESCRIPTION

José Saramago recounts the astounding voyage of Solomon the elephant across Europe in the sixteenth century.

An epic adventure full of humanity, humor and wisdom

We always arrive at the place where we are expected.--Book of Itineraries

In the mid sixteenth century, King João III gifts an Indian elephant to his cousin, Archduke Maximilian of Austria. This novel imagines the epic travels of Solomon and his handler across Europe, following royal whims and absurd strategies.

The Elephant's Journey blends real and fictitious events into an inseparable whole, as only great literature can do. A reflection on the meaning of human life, with its desires, worries and ambitions, and inevitable end, it showcases the humor and irony that characterize Saramago's prose, as well as his compassion for human weakness.

A delightful, witty tale of friendship and adventure from prize-winning novelist José Saramago

In 1551, King João III of Portugal gave Archduke Maximilian an unusual wedding present: an elephant named Solomon. In José Saramago's remarkable and imaginative retelling, Solomon and his keeper, Subhro, begin in dismal conditions, forgotten in a corner of the palace grounds. When it occurs to the king and queen that an elephant would be an appropriate wedding gift, everyone rushes to get them ready: Subhro is given two new suits of clothes and Solomon a long overdue scrub. Accompanied by the Archduke, his new wife, and the royal guard, these unlikely heroes traverse a continent riven by the Reformation and civil wars, witnessed along the way by scholars, historians, and wide-eyed ordinary people as they make their way through the storied cities of northern Italy; they brave the Alps and the terrifying Isarco and Brenner Passes; across the Mediterranean Sea and up the Inn River; and at last, toward their grand entry into the imperial city.

I returned to the spot, even though the sun had already set, I cast my hook into the water and waited. I don't think there is a deeper silence in the world than the silence of water.
I felt it then and never forgot it.

On the banks of a river near his grandparents' farm, a boy is about to catch a big fish. At the same moment that he loses his prey, the boy has a moment of growing awareness of the interconnectedness of all things. He is compelled to try again to catch the fish even though he is sure it's gone. And even though his chance has passed and he is company only to silence, he has staked a claim there by the river's edge.

From a childhood memory detailed in his book Small Memories, José Saramago spins a tale of quiet depth and wisdom-here translated by Margaret Jull Costa, and beautifully illustrated by Yolanda Mosquera.

«Saramago vuelve comprensible una realidad huidiza, con parábolas sostenidas por la imaginación, la compasión y la ironía . --Comité Nobel

«Hay que vivir aunque sea de cualquier modo, siempre que sea vivir.

Tras la muerte de su marido, María Leonor, madre de dos hijos, se siente abrumada ante las dificultades para administrar su hacienda en el Alentejo, las expectativas de la sociedad y el férreo control de su entorno. Después de unos meses sumida en una profunda depresión, decide finalmente afrontar su responsabilidad como propietaria de las tierras, pero su corazón está atormentado por un pecado secreto: a pesar del duelo, su deseo no se ha apagado.

Entre cavilaciones sobre la esencia del amor, el paso del tiempo y los deslumbrantes cambios en la naturaleza, la joven viuda pasa las noches en vela, espiando los amores de sus criadas y padeciendo la soledad propia. Hasta que dos hombres muy distintos irrumpen en su vida y su destino se tambalea inesperadamente.

Escrita en 1947, La viuda es la primera novela del autor, que vio la luz en Portugal con el título de Terra do pecado por decisión del editor. Hoy, cuando se cumple el centenario del autor, se publica por primera vez en español, respetando su título original, esta historia escrita por un joven José Saramago, que anticipa el gran escritor que todos conocemos. En ella está ya presente su personal forma de mirar el mundo y algunas de las características de sus novelas más aclamadas: la extraordinaria fuerza narrativa y un personaje femenino inolvidable.

ENGLISH DESCRIPTION

THE FIRST NOVEL BY THE PORTUGUESE NOBEL PRIZE WINNER, UNPUBLISHED SO FAR IN SPANISH

The start of the author's centennial celebration

Saramago makes an elusive reality understandable, with parables sustained by imagination, compassion and irony. -Nobel Committee

You have to live in any way possible, as long as it means living.

After the death of her husband, Maria Leonor, mother of two children, feels overwhelmed by the difficulties in managing her farm in the Alentejo, the expectations of society, and the tight control of her environment. After a few months in deep depression, she finally decides to face her responsibility as the owner of the land, but her heart is tormented by a secret sin: despite being in mourning, her desire has not subsided.

Amid musings about the essence of love, the passage of time and the dazzling changes in nature, the young widow spends her nights awake, spying on her maids' lovers and suffering in her own loneliness. Until two very different men break into her life and her fate unexpectedly falters.

Written in 1947, The Widow is the author's first novel, which was published in Portugal under the title Terra do pecado / Land of Sin, a decision made by the editor. Today, with the celebration of the author's centennial, it is published for the first time in Spanish, respecting its original title, this story written by a young José Saramago, who foresees the great writer we all know. In it, his unique way of looking at the world and some of the characteristics of his most acclaimed novels are already present: the extraordinary narrative force and an unforgettable female character.

En una tierra sin nombre ni tiempo, un hombre llama a la puerta del rey para pedirle un barco con que zarpar en busca de la isla desconocida. Las trabas burocráticas que le ponen, la dificultad para emprender el viaje, la procedencia de la tripulación, los pertrechos necesarios y hasta el sitio de la presunta isla serán el objeto de esta narración en apariencia sencilla, pero que va ganando hondura con cada página.

Al cabo, lo que podría pasar por una simple fábula se convertirá en un fascinante cuento filosófico capaz de satisfacer tanto a los lectores de Voltaire como de Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. Con humor y sabiduría, Saramago nos regala una pequeña obra maestra sobre los anhelos permanente de la humanidad.

Nuestra edición se completa con las fabulosas ilustraciones de Manuel Estrada, que resaltan el misterio y el encanto presentes en la imaginación del Nobel portugués.

ENGLISH DESCRIPTION

Nobel Prize-winning author Saramago departs from his usual dense, linguistic style to write a mischievous and thoughtful satire on ruling elites and bold dreamers, cast in the form of revisionist fairy-tale (Kirkus Reviews).

A man went to knock at the king's door and said, Give me a boat. The king's house had many other doors, but this was the door for petitions. Since the king spent all his time sitting at the door for favors (favors being offered to the king, you understand), whenever he heard someone knocking at the door for petitions, he would pretend not to hear . . .

Why the petitioner required a boat, where he was bound for, and who volunteered to crew for him, the reader will discover in this delightful fable, a philosophic love story worthy of Swift or Voltaire.

A fascinating and startlingly mature work . . . The book is a gem. -- Boston Globe

Lisbon, late 1940s. The inhabitants of a faded apartment building are struggling to make ends meet: Silvio the cobbler and his wife take in a disaffected young lodger; Dona Lídia, a retired prostitute, is kept by a businessman with a roving eye. Humble salesman Emilio's Spanish wife is in a permanent rage; beautiful Claudinha's boss lusts for her; Justina and her womanizer husband live at war with each other. Happy marriages, abusive relationships, jealousy, gossip, love--Skylight is a portrait of ordinary people painted by the master of the quotidian, a great observer of the immense beauty and profound hardship of the modern world.

The gifted young Saramago makes these characters click together in a way that's extremely sympathetic. -- NPR, All Things Considered

It was only a matter of time before a work of such extraordinary honesty and perception would make its way into the world. -- San Francisco Chronicle