749. The Year and Death of Ricardo Reis

The Year and Death of Ricardo Reis

Jose Saramago
1984
Around 360 pages

Jose Saramago is another List author who is going to be with us for some time, so it's important to make a good first impression. This felt a little like a poorer quality Jorge Luis Borges work, but he's still finding his sea legs as an author.

The book chronicles the final year in the life of Ricardo Reis, one of the many heteronyms used by the Fernando Pessoa. Reis returns to Lisbon from Brazil, upon learning of Pessoa's death. While there, he takes up residence in a hotel, where he wastes his days reading newspapers and wandering the streets of Lisbon.

So I enjoy the novel's concept. It's the kind of metafiction that would make Borges' proud. But I don't think he really stands out on his own yet. I found the weird grammatical structure distracting and the frequent digressions from the main plot irritating. 

Satisfying ending though.

RATING: ***--

Interesting Facts:

Translated into English in 1991.

Won the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize.

UP NEXT: Empire of the Sun by J.G. Ballard