José Saramago

José Saramago (born November 16 is the 320th day of the year (321st in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 45 days remaining. Events 534 - A second and final revision of the Codex Justinianus is published. 1384 - Hedwig is crowned King of Poland, although she is a woman. 1532 - Francisco Pizarro and... November 16, 1922 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). Events January 7 - Dáil Éireann, the extra-legal parliament of the Irish Republic, ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by 64-57 votes. January 10 - Arthur Griffith is elected President of Dáil Éireann... 1922,) is a The Republic of Portugal (República Portuguesa), or Portugal, is a democratic republic located on the west and southwest parts of the Iberian Peninsula in southwestern Europe; it is the westernmost country in continental Europe. Portugal is bordered by Spain to the north and east and by the Atlantic... Portuguese Though anyone who creates a written work may be called a writer, the term is usually reserved for those who write creatively or professionally, or those who have written in many different forms. Skilled writers are adept at using language to portray ideas and images, whether it be in fiction... writer, A playwright is an author of plays for performance in the theater. The earliest playwrights with surviving works are a group of playwrights from Greece during the 5th century BC, notably Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, and Aristophanes. The term dramatist is sometimes synonymous with playwright, but often is not meant to... playwright, and A journalist is a person who practices journalism. Reporters are one type of journalist. They create reports as a profession for broadcast or publication in mass media such as newspapers, television, radio, magazines, documentary film, and the Internet. Reporters find the sources for their work; the reports can be either... journalist. He usually presents subversive perspectives of historical events in his works, trying to underline the human factor behind historical events, instead of presenting the usual official historical narratives. Some works of his can also be seen as allegories in several contexts.

He was awarded the The Nobel Prize in literature is awarded annually to an author from any country who has produced the most outstanding work of an idealistic tendency. The work in this case generally refers to an authors work as a whole, not to any individual work, though individual works are sometimes... Nobel Prize for literature in 1998 is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. Events January January 1998 - A massive ice storm, caused by El Niño, strikes New England, southern Ontario and Quebec, resulting in widespread power failures, severe damage to... 1998. He currently lives on Lanzarote, a Spanish island, is the easternmost of the Canary Islands, in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Africa. It is situated at 29°00 north, 13°40 west. The elongated island has an area of 845,9 km². It is part of the province of Las Palmas. It... Lanzarote in the Capitals Las Palmas de Gran Canaria Santa Cruz de Tenerife Area  – Total  – % of Spain Ranked 13th  7 447 km  1,5% Population  – Total (2003)  – % of Spain  – Density Ranked 8th  1 843 755  4,4%  247... Canary Islands. Saramago has been a member of the PCP congress in 1977 PCP sticker from 1999 PCP leaflet from 1999 The Portuguese Communist Party (Portuguese: Partido Comunista Português) is a communist party founded in 1921. It has members elected to the European Parliament. They sit in the European United Left - Nordic Green Left group. Its current leader... Communist Party of Portugal since 1969 was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1969 calendar). For other uses, see Number 1969. For the movie, see 1969 (movie). Events January January 1 - Australian media baron Rupert Murdoch purchases the largest selling British Sunday newspaper The News Of The World January... 1969, as well as an For information about the band, see Atheist (band). Atheism is the condition of being without theistic beliefs and alternatively the disbelief in the existence of deities. In antiquity, atheism was represented by Epicureanism. It disappeared from European philosophy when Christianity became dominant. During the Age of Enlightenment, atheism re-emerged... atheist and self-described pessimist - his positions have aroused considerable controversy in Portugal, especially after the publication of The Gospel According to Jesus Christ.

In his 2003 book, Genius: A Mosaic of One Hundred Exemplary Creative Minds, the American literary critic Harold Bloom (born July 11, 1930) is an American literary critic, known as a defender of the 19th century Romantic poets at a time when their reputations were at a low ebb, the author of a controversial theory of poetic influence, and more recently as the advocate of an aesthetic... Harold Bloom named Saramago as "the most gifted novelist alive in the world today." Referring to him as "the master," he said he's "one of the last titans of an expiring literary genre."

Biography

Family History

Saramago was born into a family of landless peasants in Azinhaga, The Republic of Portugal (República Portuguesa), or Portugal, is a democratic republic located on the west and southwest parts of the Iberian Peninsula in southwestern Europe; it is the westernmost country in continental Europe. Portugal is bordered by Spain to the north and east and by the Atlantic... Portugal , a small village in the province of Ribatejo some hundred kilometers north-east of Lisbon (in Portuguese, Lisboa) is the capital and largest city of Portugal. It is the seat of the district of Lisbon. Geography and Location Missing image Panoramic_view_of_lisbon.jpg Panoramic of Lisbon, taken from Graça Hill Lisbon is situated at 38 degrees, 42 minutes north, and 9 degrees, 8 minutes... Lisbon. His parents were Jose de Sousa and Maria de Piedade. "Saramago" which is a wild herbaceous plant was his father's family's nickname, which got accidentally incorporated into his name upon registration of his birth. In 1924, Saramago's family moved to Lisbon (in Portuguese, Lisboa) is the capital and largest city of Portugal. It is the seat of the district of Lisbon. Geography and Location Missing image Panoramic_view_of_lisbon.jpg Panoramic of Lisbon, taken from Graça Hill Lisbon is situated at 38 degrees, 42 minutes north, and 9 degrees, 8 minutes... Lisbon, where his father started working as a policeman. A few months after moving to the capital, his brother Francisco, older by two years died. Despite being a good pupil, Saramago's parents were unable to afford to keep him attending a grammar school, and at 12 years of age he was moved to a technical school, and after finishing school worked as a car mechanic for 2 years. Later he worked as a translator, then as a journalist and finally, a writer. Saramago married Ilda Reis in 1944. Their only child, Violante, was born in 1947. He is currently married to Pilar del Río.

Style

Saramago tends to write long sentences, using punctuation that most of us have been taught is incorrect. He uses no quotation marks to delimit dialog. Many of his "sentences" can be a page long or more, as he uses commas where most writers would place periods. Many of his paragraphs match the length of some authors' chapters. Surprisingly, it does not take most readers long to become adjusted to reading his unique style of prose.

Quotes

On the US$950,000 Nobel Prize that he recently won: "This prize is for all speakers of Portuguese, but while we're on the subject, I shall keep the money."

Bibliography

• For the album by Ash, see 1977 (album). Events January-February January 1 - First woman Episcopal priest ordained. January 6 - EMI sacks the Sex Pistols January 18 - Scientists identify a previously unknown bacterium as the cause of the mysterious legionnaires disease January 18 - Australia experiences its worst railway disaster... 1977 - Manual de Pintura e Caligrafia Manual of Painting and Calligraphy
• Events January January 1 - The Copyright Act of 1976 takes effect, making sweeping changes to United States copyright law. January 1 - Air Indias Boeing 747 explodes near Bombay - 213 dead. January 4 - Referendum in Chile supports policies of Augusto Pinochet. January 7 - Emilio Palma is born in Antarctica, making... 1978 - Objecto Quase Quasi Objects
• 1981 is a common year starting on Thursday. Events January-February January - Sarawak Chamber found January 1 - Greece enters the EEC January 1 - Palau becomes self-governing January 4 - Sheffield police arrests Peter Sutcliffe, the Yorkshire Ripper January 10 Townsville International Airport opens (aus) January 16 - Protestant gunmen shoot and... 1981 - Viagem a Portugal Journey to Portugal
• 1982 is a number and represents a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar Events January-February January 6 - William Bonin is convicted of being the freeway killer. January 8 - AT&T agrees to divest itself of twenty-two subdivisions January 11 - Mark Thatcher, son of the... 1982 - Memorial do Convento Baltasar and Blimunda
• 1984 is a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Events January January 1 - Brunei becomes a fully independent state January 1 - AT&T is broken up into 22 independent units January 5 - Richard Stallman starts developing GNU. January 7 - Brunei becomes the sixth member of the... 1984 - Ano da Morte de Ricardo Reis (O) The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis (A A tribute (from Latin tribulum, contribution) is wealth one party gives to another as a sign of respect or, as was often case in historical contests, of submission or allegiance. Various ancient states, which could be called suzerains, exacted tribute from areas they had conquered or threatened to conquer. In... Tribute to This article is in need of attention. Please improve it in any way you see fit. Fernando Pessoa Fernando António Nogueira Pessoa (13 June 1888 - 30 November 1935) has been called by some the greatest modern author in the history of Portugal. Pessoa was born in Lisbon. His father... Fernando Pessoa)
• 1986 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. Events January January 1 - Spain and Portugal enter the European Community January 1 - Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands and is separated from the Netherlands Antilles. January 9 - After losing a patent battle with Polaroid, Kodak leaves... 1986 - Jangada de Pedra (A) The Stone Raft
• 1989 is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Events January January 7 - Akihito becomes Emperor of Japan following the death of Hirohito. The Heisei period begins January 8 - the Kegworth Air Disaster - A British Midland Boeing 737 crashes on approach to East Midlands Airport - 44 dead... 1989 - História do Cerco de Lisboa The History of the Siege of Lisbon
• 1991 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. Events January January 2 - Sharon Pratt Dixon is sworn in as mayor of Washington, DC becoming the first black woman to lead a city of that size and importance. January 4 - The United Nations Security Council votes unanimously... 1991 - Evangelho Segundo Jesus Cristo (O) The Gospel According to Jesus Christ
• 1995 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. It was the first year of the International Decade of the Worlds Indigenous People (1995- 2005): http://www.unesco.org/culture/indigenous/ Events January January 1 Austria, Finland and Sweden enter the European Union Fred West, accused... 1995 - Ensaio sobre a cegueira Blindness (Ensaio sobre a cegueira in Portuguese), Jose Saramagos novel, first published in Portuguese in 1995 and in English in 1997, concerns a plague of white blindness which strikes a man sitting in traffic, and soon begins to spread across the country. As the blind are quarantined and civil... Blindness
• 1997 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Reef. Events January January 3 - NBCs Today Show Bryant Gumbel signs off for the last time January 8 - Mister Rogers receives a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame... 1997 - Todos os Nomes All the Names
• 1999 is a common year starting on Friday of the Common Era, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. Events Kosovo War Shooting in Littleton, Colorado, United States, leaves several high school students dead. Y2K preparation was a major event in 1999 both in... 1999 - Conto da Ilha Desconhecida (O) ISBN 8571648492 The Tale of the Uknown Island, English: Margaret Jull Costa (Translator) ISBN 0151005958 (Hardcover) ISBN 0156013037 (Paperback)
• 2001 is a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. By strict interpretation of the Gregorian Calendar, 2001 is also the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millenium. Popular culture, however, often views the year 2000 as holding this distinction. 2001 is also the year... 2001 - Caverna (A) The Cave
• 2003 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, and also: The International Year of Freshwater The European Disability Year Events January January 1 - Luíz Inácio Lula Da Silva becomes the 37th President of Brazil. Pascal Couchepin becomes President of the Confederation in... 2003 - Homem Duplicado (O) The Double
• 2004 is a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. It was designated the: International Year of Rice (by the United Nations) International Year to Commemorate the Struggle against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO) Elections were held in 73 countries during 2004. See a list of elections... 2004 - Ensaio sobre a Lucidez Lucidity
• 2005 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. Events January Iraqi police officers hold up their index fingers marked with purple indelible ink, a security measure to prevent double voting. Worldwide aid effort continues to develop in response to the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. January 3... 2005 - Don Giovanni ou o Dissoluto Absolvido

Additional Information

• Writers Directory (http://portuguesewriters.blogspot.com/Portuguese)
• Jose Saramago online (http://saramagosaramago.blogspot.com/)
• Saramago Autobiography on Nobel Prize site (http://nobelprize.org/literature/laureates/1998/saramago-autobio.html)
• [1] (http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/saramago.htm)
• [2]  (http://nobelprize.org/literature/laureates/1998/index.html)
• Saramago, opiniones (http://saramago.blogspot.com/)