2 stars = Meh. Intriguing enough to finish, but not enough to like it.
It is true what people say, the young have the ability, but lack the wisdom, and2 stars = Meh. Intriguing enough to finish, but not enough to like it.
It is true what people say, the young have the ability, but lack the wisdom, and the old have the wisdom, but lack the ability.
In my quest to become more familiar with Portuguese culture, I decided to read a book by José Saramago, one of the most popular novelists in Portugal and a Nobel prize winner. I was told this novel was a good place to start, and was drawn to the dystopian theme centered around the dangers of unfettered capitalism and the slave-like cage it encloses around workers.
The author at times has an incredible way with words - prose that makes you stop and ponder it for its brilliance and beauty before moving on in the story. But that is really the only positive thing I have to say.
... the best way of killing a rose is to force it open when it is still only the promise of a bud.
While some readers will not mind, I detested the format of the novel which did not include quotation marks or even new lines for new speakers, and only a miniscule number of paragraph breaks in the entire book. Mostly, it was 10-15 page chapters that consisted of one long unbroken paragraph, primarily in a stream of consciousness format. Paragraphs are chapter length, and sentences are paragraph length. It was utterly painful to read despite the interspersed lovely prose, as evidenced by the four months it took to complete this 320 page novel. For example, here is ONE sentence pulled from one of the paragraph chapters:
If simplicity really is a virtue, no idea could be more virtuous than this, as you will soon see, Sir, Cipriano Algor would say to the head of the buying department, I’ve been pondering what you said about having two weeks to remove the stock taking up space in the warehouse, it didn’t occur to me at the time, probably because of my excitement when I saw that there was a slight hope that I might be allowed to continue as a supplier to the Center, but then I started thinking about it and thinking about it, and I realized that it’s difficult, if not impossible, to fulfill two obligations at once, that is, to remove the crockery and make the dolls, yes, I know you haven’t yet put in a firm order for them, but just supposing that you did, it occurred to me, purely as a precaution, to suggest an alternative that would leave me free during the first week to get on with making the dolls, I would then remove half of the crockery in the second week, go back to the dolls during the third week, and remove the remaining crockery during the fourth week, I know, I know, you don’t have to tell me, I’m not pretending that there isn’t another option which would be to start with the crockery the first week and then alternately, in sequence, dolls, crockery, dolls, but I think, in this particular case, one should take into account the psychological factor, everyone knows how different the state of mind the creator is from that of the destroyer, of someone who destroys, and if I could start making the dolls, that is start with creation, especially in the excellent frame of mind in which I find myself now, I would face with renewed courage the hard task of having to destroy the fruits of my own labor, because having no one to sell them to or, worse still, not even being able to give them away, is tantamount to destroying them.
I also learned that I could not possibly care less about pottery or learning how pottery is made. I hope I never read a book about a potter or pottery ever again as this one provided more than enough fodder on this mind numbing subject for a lifetime.
There are some things that are only said once and never again and you hear those words in your head until the last days of your life.
While this one was unfortunately a dud for me, because of his talented way of putting words together, I would read another Saramago novel so long as it was in audio format to avoid the atrocious formatting, and if the plot never came close to discussing pottery at all, whatsoever.
... time is a master of ceremonies who always ends up putting us in our rightful place, we advance, stop, and retreat according to his orders, our mistake lies in imagining that we can catch him out. ------------------------------------------- First Sentence: The man driving the truck is called Cipriano Algor, he is a potter by profession and is sixty-four years old, although he certainly does not look his age.
Favorite Quote: They say that time heals all wounds, but we never live long enough to test that theory....more
It is difficult to find resources to learn European Portuguese as almost all the apps, websites and programs are for Brazilian Portuguese which soundsIt is difficult to find resources to learn European Portuguese as almost all the apps, websites and programs are for Brazilian Portuguese which sounds very different. This is the first storyglot book Susana Morais has published for total beginners (A0), which was a nice confidence boost for me compared to another book of hers I had first tried that was for advanced beginners (A2). However, you can easily grow with this book and depending on how you use it, even intermediate B1-B2 students could find it useful.
Considering that this is written at an elementary vocab level, I was extremely impressed with how she managed to create such an interesting story. I would do an extra chapter just to find out what was going to happen next. There was humor, plot twists, a mystery and lots of adventure.
I also really enjoy the format as it teaches you in various ways. The beginning of the book has the story in Portuguese with the English translation right below. She gives you a website where you can play the audio of her narration performance, and each chapter includes mini lessons to explain grammar and exercises to practice. At the end of the book is the story just in Portuguese with no translation, as well as the solutions for all of the exercises.
She gives you a lot of ideas of how to use the book in the beginning, but what worked well for me as a beginner, was to first just listen to the chapter and see how much I could understand. Verbal understanding is definitely my weakness at this point. Next, I read through it in Portuguese and try to figure out what it means before reading the translation. This brings a lot more understanding as reading comprehension is my strength currently. Then I relisten to it while reading along so I know how to pronounce any words I am uncertain of. Finally, I read the chapter out loud and then do the lesson and exercises.
I legit enjoyed the story itself, let alone how much I learned from her lessons. I think that I will reread this one multiple times and in different ways as my learning and fluency level progresses. Highly recommended to people that are studying European Portuguese, as well as her online program, The Portuguese Academy. ...more
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