ISBN: 9781860466854

Synopsis A city is hit by an epidemic of sudden blindness. The authorities segregate the newly-blind and all who have come into contact with them. It is not long before the criminal element take over, the compound is set on fire and the blind escape – only to find a deserted, looted city.

Bookclub Review Originally published in 1995 in Portugese, this is a book about the degeneration of society given deprived conditions, physical and mental restrictions. Disaster strikes at this unnamed city whereby its in habitants go blind randomly. The authorities try to contain the widespread epidemic by herding the blind into a disused asylum centre and the reader witnesses the events through the eyes of the only character that can still see. The reader witnesses the inhabitants of the asylum centre experience degrees of social degeneration i.e. stealing, extortion, violence, rape and murder. The novel has many layers varying from the underlying beast in the human nature to the enslavement of self to an order regardless of whether it is tyranny or democracy. It is about losing control and losing dignity when confronted with the unspeakable. The novel is written in a “stream of consciousness” technique and contains many long, breathless sentences in which commas take the place of periods which makes the dialogues harder to follow. The narrator is completely omniscient and frequently reveals the inner thoughts and feelings of characters as well as providing frequent and heavy foreshadowing of significant developments. Since no names are given and no geographical references are made, the story becomes universal and timeless. It is a dystopian novel with predecessors such as We by Yevgeny Zamyatin, The Lord of the Flies by William Golding and Galapagos by Kurt Vonnegut.

What the group thought:

Most people started the discussion by having read and enjoyed the book. As the conversation progressed the opinion of some within the group wavered towards the negative. They gave their reasons in the sense that the story line was unbelievable, unrealistic and flat. However the imagery was very powerful and the story line worked. In conclusion the book club was divided because some thought the book to be a masterpiece and some thought it to be less of an achievement. Nevertheless the book remains a widely acclaimed literary accomplishment albeit a painful read.