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Saramago’s work is always translated into English and his latest novel, Seeing, is a sequel to his excellent novel, Blindness.
Despite the heavy rain, the presiding officer at Polling Station 14 finds it odd that by midday, on National Election day, only a handful of voters have turned out. Puzzlement swiftly escalates to shock when the final count reveals 70 per cent of the votes are blank. National law decrees the election should be repeated eight days later.
The result is worse: 83 per cent of the votes are blank. The authorities, seized with panic, decamp from the capital and place it under a state of emergency. Who are the insurgents? The authorities leap from one possibility to the next, but the lack of hostility exacerbates things, since justice cannot be meted out when not a single law has been broken.
In his new novel, José Saramago has deftly created the politician’s ultimate nightmare: disillusionment not with one party, but with all, thereby rendering the entire democratic system useless.
Seeing is priced at 13.50 euros.
4″>leisure
