Las intermitencias de la muerte

In a country that is never named, nobody dies as of midnight on New Year's Day. At first people rejoice, but soon the consequences pile up: hospitals overflow with the endlessly dying, undertakers and insurers lose their business, the Church struggles to explain itself, and families smuggle relatives past the border to let them die. Death, personified as a woman, eventually reappears with a new policy of sending a letter a week in advance. When one letter keeps returning, she grows curious about a cellist. Saramago writes in dense paragraphs, with dialogue folded into the narration.

It is a good book for readers of satire and fable. You get a clever social thought experiment, followed by an unexpected, gentle love story.

Deep, contemplative, open-ended and thought-provoking; a moderate read.

Best for readers like The Wisdom Collector. Which reader are you?