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The History of the Siege of Lisbon (Panther)
 
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The History of the Siege of Lisbon (Panther) (Paperback)

by Jose Saramago (Author), Giovanni Pontiero (Translator)
3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
RRP: £8.99
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Product details

  • Paperback: 320 pages
  • Publisher: The Harvill Press; New edition edition (1 Jun 2000)
  • ISBN-10: 1860467229
  • ISBN-13: 978-1860467226
  • Product Dimensions: 19.2 x 13 x 2.4 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 214,665 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in this category:

    #13 in  Books > Fiction > Authors, A-Z > S > Saramago, Jose

Product Description

Amazon.co.uk Review
"If proofreaders were given their freedom and did not have their hands and feet tied by a mass of prohibitions more binding than the penal code, they would soon transform the face of the world, establish the kingdom of universal happiness, giving drink to the thirsty, food to the famished, peace to those who live in turmoil, joy to the sorrowful ... for they would be able to do all these things simply by changing the words ..." The power of the word is evident in Portuguese author José Saramago's novel, The History of the Siege of Lisbon. His protagonist, a proofreader named Raimundo Silva, adds a key word to a history of Portugal and thus rewrites not only the past, but also his own life.

Brilliantly translated from the Portuguese by Giovanni Pontiero, The History of the Siege of Lisbon is a meditation on the differences between historiography, historical fiction, and "stories inserted into history." The novel is really two stories in one: the reimagined history of the 1147 siege of Lisbon that Raimundo feels compelled to write and the story of Raimundo's life, including his unexpected love affair with the editor, Maria Sara. In Saramago's masterful hands, the strands of this complex tale weave together to create a satisfying whole. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Description
When Raimundo Silva, humble proof-reader for a Lisbon publishing house, takes it upon himself to insert a negative into the sentence of a history book, he rewrites history. The effect of this act of insubordination is to make his editor, the voluptuous Dr Maria Sara, fall in love with him.


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Customer Reviews

5 Reviews
5 star:
 (2)
4 star:
 (2)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:
 (1)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.8 out of 5 stars (5 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars yet another masterpiece of storytelling, 28 Nov 2001
By A Customer
Saramago creates the most ingenious plots in literature. Spain and Portugal float away from Europe and head across the Atlantic, a fictional poet returns to attend the funeral of his factual creator, and here the whole history of Portugal is transformed by inserting one wrong word into a translation. They sound impossible, unlikely, absurd, yet in Saramago's hands they work, they are believable and beautifully written.

You don't need to know the history of Lisbon in advance, and you don't need to worry about sentences that last a page or more. This is a wonderful love story.

So why not five stars? Because The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis is even better!

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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Quite simply a masterpiece, 5 Dec 2000
Reading The History of the Siege of Lisbon is, quite literally, to step into another world. With almost no punctuation, the reader takes a deep breath before plunging in, to be swept along on the author's stream of the consciousness. A sentence that begins with a mundane account of a proof-reader's staid world may end with a disastrous attempt at military innovation, a sublime description of sunset or the loud clear cry of a Moorish muezzin calling the faithful to prayer. Saramago moves effortlessly from the early mediaeval world, where myth becomes history, to the modern, where Raimundo Silva invents a myth again with an erroneous word. In the process, Silva transforms his own story, exploring possibilities that had never before existed. Saramago frequently communicates directly with his readers, questioning his own motives and inviting his audience to question the motives of his characters. This combination of scholarly wit and engaging narrative has created a refreshing, challenging and beautiful novel.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Quite simply a masterpiece, 8 Dec 2000
Reading The History of the Siege of Lisbon is, quite literally, to step into another world. With almost no punctuation, the reader takes a deep breath before plunging in, to be swept along on the author's stream of the consciousness. A sentence that begins with a mundane account of a proof-reader's staid world may end with a disastrous attempt at military innovation, a sublime description of sunset or the loud clear cry of a Moorish muezzin calling the faithful to prayer. Saramago moves effortlessly from the early mediaeval world, where myth becomes history, to the modern, where Raimundo Silva invents a myth again with an erroneous word. In the process, Silva transforms his own story, exploring possibilities that had never before existed. Saramago frequently communicates directly with his readers, questioning his own motives and inviting his audience to question the motives of his characters. This combination of scholarly wit and engaging narrative has created a refreshing, challenging and beautiful novel.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


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Most Recent Customer Reviews

1.0 out of 5 stars Dreadful
After reading The year of the death of Ricardo Reis a book I thought was one of the best ever written and Blindness (not quite the best book ever written) I thought by buying this... Read more
Published on 4 Oct 2004

4.0 out of 5 stars A mature love story
A typically compelling and unusual tale from Saramago that tells the seemingly innocuous story of a proofreader who makes an intentional mistake. Read more
Published on 24 Mar 2003 by Mr. Paul J. Bradshaw

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