José Saramago and his new novel, Claraboia

“Clarabóia” (Skylight), a previously unpublished novel written by Portuguese Nobel laureate José Saramago has finally reached the bookstores, after having been tacitly rejected by publishers in the 1950s. The now posthumously published novel was one of the first he ever completed, and after its overall rejection Saramago made the drastic decision to give up pursuing a career in writing. Although he later changed his mind, he never wanted “Clarabóia” to be published while he was still alive." (via Portugal Daily View)

When he died last year, José Saramago, aged 87, was considered the greatest prose writer of the Portuguese language. Winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1998, Saramago consolidated a career that was basically built during maturity. The praise the writer had gathered for his personal and unique writing style, Saramago's politician side was distrusted by the world. Communist and a fierce critic of the consumer society and ideology, Saramago made from his skepticism, a trademark.

Thus, Saramago was characterized as a mature man, firm in convictions and defined in aesthetic terms. Saramago invented a literary mode, made of long phrases with a peculiar punctuation in which the dialogues overlapped with digressions and reflections, merging several voices in the same paragraph. The art of the writer was on building such a complex text with absolute dominion of the rhythm and flow. It was always easier to read Saramago than explaining it

Picture  from Instituto Português de Cultura

Death has the power to consolidate myths. Saramago, was the writer who had had his "debut" at this peak of his age and intelligence, after a lifetime of many practical activities, from the realm of locksmiths to the partisan journalism. The launch of the novel Claraboia will change that story. The book is from 1953, when the author was not even 30 years old and was written five years after the Terra do Pecado, written when he was only 25 , in 1947, with little repercussion. 

Because of that, the interest on the early work of the author may earn another inflection: Was Saramago already a Saramago in the early 1950? Claraboia brings a positive response in terms of world view and in respect of the man he was, while it offers us hints of his art. The style is different, but the writer was already there.  (this article was originally published in Divirta-se, in Portuguese Language)

If this is the first time you read about Saramago and you would like to know more about this great writer, visit his dedicated page on the Nobel Prize website and if you read in Portuguese or in Spanish language, his website is the right place to be.

Kames Wood, from The New Yorker, also reviews one of Saramago's book "Death takes a holiday"   and by clicking here, you will be taken to Amazon Bookshop, where you can purchase one of Saramago's works, in English.