About this item
Highlights
- "[The Cave] is yet another triumph . . . for Portugal's, or even the world's, greatest novelist.
- Author(s): José Saramago
- 307 Pages
- Fiction + Literature Genres, Literary
Description
About the Book
Cipriano Algor, an elderly potter, lives with his family in a small village on the outskirts of The Center, a mysterious place they are forced to contend with. Filled with the depth, humor, and the extraordinary philosophical richness that marks each of Saramago's novels, "The Cave" is an essential book.Book Synopsis
"[The Cave] is yet another triumph . . . for Portugal's, or even the world's, greatest novelist. Read it." -- Washington PostA genuinely brilliant novel." -- Chicago Tribune
Cipriano Algor, an elderly potter, lives with his daughter Marta and her husband Marçal in a small village on the outskirts of The Center, an imposing complex of shops and apartments to which Cipriano delivers his wares. One day, he is told not to make any more deliveries. Unwilling to give up his craft, Cipriano tries his hand at making ceramic dolls. Astonishingly, The Center places an order for hundreds. But just as suddenly, the order is canceled and the penniless three have to move from the village into The Center. When mysterious sounds of digging emerge from beneath their new apartment, Cipriano and Marçal investigate; what they find transforms the family's life. Filled with the depth, humor, and extraordinary philosophical richness that marks all of Saramago's novels, The Cave is one of the essential books of our time.
From the Back Cover
A Los Angeles Times Best BookA New York Times Notable Book
"[The Cave] is yet another triumph . . . for Portugal's, or even the world's, greatest living novelist. Read it."-The Washington Post Book World
Cipriano Algor, an elderly potter, lives with his daughter Marta and her husband Marcal in a small village on the outskirts of The Center, an imposing complex of shops and apartments to which Cipriano delivers his wares. One day, he is told not to make any more deliveries. Unwilling to give up his craft, Cipriano tries his hand at making ceramic dolls. Astonishingly, The Center places an order for hundreds. But just as suddenly, the order is cancelled and the penniless three have to move from the village into The Center. When mysterious sounds of digging emerge from beneath their new apartment, Cipriano
and Marcal investigate; what they find transforms the family's life. Filled with the depth, humor, and extraordinary philosophical richness that marks each of Saramago's novels, The Cave is one of the essential books of our time.
"As with Proust, to be drawn into a Saramago sentence is to be drawn into a world that takes shape out of a maze. . . . His human voices wake us and we live."-The New York Times Book Review
JOSE SARAMAGO is one of the most acclaimed writers in the world today. He is the author of numerous novels, including All the Names and Blindness. In 1998 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. -Chicago Tribune
MARGARET JULL COSTA has established herself as the premier translator of Portuguese literature into English today, and her previous renderings of Saramago's novels are highly acclaimed.
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Review Quotes
EUROPEAN PRAISE FOR THE CAVE
"A magnificent novel and an allegory of our times."--Diário de Notícias (Portugal) "Another modest epic of anonymous heroes in extreme situations."--El Periódico (Spain) PRAISE FOR ALL THE NAMES "A psychological, even metaphysical thriller that will keep you turning the pages in spite of yourself, and with growing alarm and alacrity."--The Seattle Times "Reveals a master far from content to rest on his laurels."--The Wall Street Journal PRAISE FOR BLINDNESS "This is an important book, one that is unafraid to face all of the horrors of the century."--The New York Times "A shattering work by a literary master."--The Boston Globe--