Friday, June 29, 2007

Blindness by Jose Saramago

My amazing friend, Jeannette recommended that I read this book, Blindness. To sum things up, imagine the following scene . . .

You are sitting at a stop light in the middle of a busy intersection. As you look up, you see the red light, but then you get a glare from the car next to you -- a bright white light hitting your eyes. As you look back at the light and the road, you discover that the glare is still in your eyes . . . or is it? Everywhere you look is just whiteness . . . a white blindness. Not the typical darkness when someone goes blind, but a whiteness. You can never escape the constant light. You can't close your eyes, forget your problems, and be lost in the darkness. All you ever see is the bright white light. Can you imagine?

What would it be like to be lost in this white blindness, and then on top of it all, discover that it is contagious . . . it is affecting everyone around you. Those early cases are quarantined in an old abandoned asylum, with living conditions that are far from ideal. In time, the epidemic hits all (or does it?). How do those with this new blindness survive, both in quarantine and out on the streets? The fear that drives people and the selfishness of individuals are prominent throughout; yet the necessity to stay together and to work as a team are imminent to survive. Though disturbing to explore, it was an absolutely fascinating read. Were this to happen today with all the medical and technological advances that we have made, would we still revert to such ways? How would we as the human race react? How would I as an individual react?

There is a sequel written to this book called Seeing. The reviews are not as good, but I am definitely intrigued enough to read it! I can't wait to see what it holds!

2 comments:

  1. Thanks for posting this! I needed the author's name to find it, so now I have it. I'll be reading it soon!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow, what a crazy sounding book! I'll have to check it out...

    ReplyDelete

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