“Jose Saramago has a strange way of writing: a single paragraph can span pages; sentences are long and winding; and the only punctuation marks he ever uses are periods and commas (never mind the questions or who's talking!). Despite the seemingly appalling structure, I must say it was not difficult to read at all. In fact, this very same idiosyncracy happened to create an ebb and flow that I believe would not have been achieved otherwise.
The bulk of this story (in fact, probably too much of it--sadly, Jesus' life as a grown adult only spans a fraction of the entire novel) revolves around Joseph's guilt involving the Massacre of the Innocents (Why didn't he warn the others?) and Jesus' childhood as he carries with him this realization. It is during this period--that is, before his public ministry--that Saramago makes the best use of his liberties as an author, molding the story, creating a more believable, truly human Jesus. He was Son of Man, conceived by Joseph, and not by the Spirit; he was a man who loved (and made love, might I add); he was a man who tried to defy the Father (who had planned a means for turning himself into a god for all nations at the expense of so many lives); he was a man who in the end met his inevitable demise.
I loved this controversial book--the wit already shone through in the very first page of text, describing an illustration across it. Most of all it was a book that asked worthy questions, and a book that came with its own set of speculative answers. If there is anything else I must mention, though, it is that the last chapters seemed to quicken in pace, and the ending felt rather abrupt. Still, it definitely saddened me to close the book. Jesus had endeared himself to me.
I can't recommend this to everybody, though, for self-explanatory reasons.
”
moonlitdawn wrote this review Saturday, March 21 2009.
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