In 1936, the poet Ricardo Reis, one of Fernando Pessoa's heteronyms, returns to Lisbon from Brazil after learning that Pessoa has died. José Saramago imagines him living in a hotel, wandering a gray, damp city under Salazar's regime, reading the newspapers about the Spanish Civil War, and receiving visits from the ghost of Pessoa. Reis becomes involved with a hotel maid, Lídia, and a young woman, Marcenda, with a paralyzed arm. The novel follows his passive, reflective existence as Europe moves toward war.
It suits readers who like Saramago's long, comma-spliced sentences, and anyone interested in Pessoa and Portuguese history. It rewards patient, thoughtful reading.
Deep, inward-looking, contemplative, open-ended and thought-provoking; a demanding read.
Best for readers like The Literary Connoisseur. Which reader are you?
- Published
- 2010
- Publisher
- Editorial Caminho
- ISBN
- 9789722102865
- Language
- PT
