help me decide

[pastels]

okay i haven't read a book for a while because of schoolwork, so i have vowed to read one this week. what should it be, the sound and fury by faulkner or the year of the death of ricardo reis by saramago?

[kiki1982]

I am a great fan of Saramago, so I would naturally recommend him. That said, though, I haven't read Faulkner, so actually I can't comment, but Saramago is, let's say..., an experience.

[kelby_lake]

I'm intending to read a Faulkner book so maybe you could read The Sound and The Fury and we could have a chat :)

[Mariamosis]

I haven't read 'The Sound and the Fury', however I have read 'A Light in August' by Faulkner.... an excellent author. Let me know how you like it because it is sitting on my bookshelf as well.

[lupe]

I regard ``The Death of Ricardo Reis`` as one of the masterpieces of modern litterature and arguably the best book of Saramago I`ve read so far. The proze is magnificent, the story fascinating; the book is big but it lasted so little. Go for it!

[kiki1982]

I regard ``The Death of Ricardo Reis`` as one of the masterpieces of modern litterature and arguably the best book of Saramago I`ve read so far. The proze is magnificent, the story fascinating; the book is big but it lasted so little. Go for it!


What else have you read from him, if I may be so bold?

So far I have read:
The Gospel according to Jesus Christ
The Stone Raft (the Iberian peninsula)
All Names (the archives)
The Cave (I'm not sure how it is translated becaus it was badly done in Dutch, but it's about the pottery man who works for the big shopping centre)
The Siege of Lisbon (the old corrector)

The City of the Blind is still on my list, but his books in Dutch are so expensive :(.

[pastels]

i'm reading the year of the death of ricardo reis now since i need to return it to the library soon anyway, and lupe and kiki put forth some lets say convincing arguments :).

my favorite that i've read from him so far is probably the gospel according to jesus christ. also 've read death with interruptions, all the names, the double, and baltasar and blimunda. and i've read a few pages of the cave and stone raft, kiki, but i got distracted and before i knew it, the book was overdue heh :)

[kiki1982]

my favorite that i've read from him so far is probably the gospel according to jesus christ. also 've read death with interruptions, all the names, the double, and baltasar and blimunda. and i've read a few pages of the cave and stone raft, kiki, but i got distracted and before i knew it, the book was overdue heh :)

The Gospel according to Jesus Christ was the one I started with. His prose, wow.

I read The Stone Raft, but I couldn't get it. I'll have to read it again and study it. There must be a meaning to the birds, the car, the red thread and the three people together.

The Cave is so much about our society. It is the last part of the trilogy The City of the Blind, All the Names and The Cave; all about our society and how Saramago perceives it to be.

I rarely call myself a fan of anyone and I usually don't make a job of reading everything a writer has written. I try one, if that really tickles my fancy, I'll get another. But I don't normally read such a lot of one, because it means I have no time for anything else (being a very slow reader... Just look at my list of this year somewhere on this forum). So it needs to be just wow.

You know Saramago started to write when he was middle-aged? He is already 80 now. If there is any writer in this world I would like to have my book signed by, it is him. Apparently he is a very arrogant and unpleasant man, but we won't judge... (If that is wrong, please correct me)

Anyway, how is The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis? I would like to read it as well, but I haven't reached it yet.

[lupe]

What else have you read from him, if I may be so bold?

So far I have read:
The Gospel according to Jesus Christ
The Stone Raft (the Iberian peninsula)
All Names (the archives)
The Cave (I'm not sure how it is translated becaus it was badly done in Dutch, but it's about the pottery man who works for the big shopping centre)
The Siege of Lisbon (the old corrector)

The City of the Blind is still on my list, but his books in Dutch are so expensive :(.

This is the list of Saramago book I have read so far (original titles):

Manual de Pintura e Caligrafia
O ano da morte de Ricardo Reis
História do cerco de Lisboa
O evangelho segundo Jesus Cristo
Ensaio sobre a cegueira
Todos os nomes
O homem duplicado
Ensaio sobre a Lucidez

I liked most of them, some more than others, but "The death of Ricardo Reis" remains my favourite. In general, I regard him as one of the best world authors of our times; the subjects he chooses (and comes back again and again), his prose, his humour, even his syntax and grammatical choices fascinate me.

I have no idea about his personality; but the fact that the church hates him raises even more my esteem towards him…

[kiki1982]

The church hates him... Would that have anything to do with the start of The Gospel? :p The immaculate conception is indeed not really for him... That was probably closer to reality, though, but really, it didn't take anything away from the message...

I read him in Dutch, but even through translation his proze is magnificent. (hopefully translated properly)

I'll certainly have to read Ricardo Reis then.

The man, the mind and the proze that is the result are fascinating.

Ok, enough of this flattery. :blush: