Talk:Blindness (novel)
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I have just done a bit of copy editing on the plot summary here. But I would like to do a much more extensive edit as I think the plot summary should be much shorter and tighter. I'll wait to see if anyone might have any objection, though it doesn't look like this article has gotten too much attention since it was written. The plot summary that we presently have is thorough and engrossing but simply way too long IMO.DianaW 19:11, 1 November 2006 (UTC)
Okay, here is my proposed plot summary. I'll post it here and wait for awhile to see if anyone comments. Mine is a bit bloodless compared to the original perhaps - I wonder if combining them in some way would work.
Blindness is the story of an unexplained mass epidemic of blindness afflicting nearly everyone in one (unnamed) city, and the social breakdown that swiftly follows. The novel follows the misfortunes of a handful of characters who are among the first to be stricken and centers around a doctor and his wife, several of the doctor’s patients, and assorted others, thrown together by chance. This group bands together in a family-like unit to survive by their wits and by the (also unexplained) good fortune that the doctor’s wife is one of only a few individuals who has escaped the blindness. The sudden onset and unexplained origin and nature of the blindness cause widespread panic, and the social order rapidly unravels as the government attempts to contain the apparent contagion and keep order via increasingly repressive and ineffective measures.
The first part of the novel follows the experiences of the central characters in the increasingly crowded and filthy asylum where they and other blind people have been quarantined. Hygiene, living conditions, and morale degrade horrifically in a very short period, mirroring the society outside, which is also disintegrating. Fights over food, rapes, and atrocities accumulate. When the army can no longer maintain the asylum (because most of the soldiers have gone blind too), the inmates escape and join the throngs of nearly helpless blind people outside who wander the devastated city and scrabble to survive.
The story then follows the doctor and his wife and their impromptu “family” as they attempt to survive outside, cared for largely by the doctor’s wife, who still sees (though she must hide this fact). The breakdown of society is near total. Law and order, social services, government, schools, etc., no longer function. Families have been separated and cannot find each other. People scrounge for food and shelter; violence, disease, and despair have overwhelmed human coping. The doctor and his wife and their new “family” eventually make a permanent home and are establishing a new order to their lives when the blindness lifts from the city en masse just as suddenly and inexplicably as it struck.DianaW 19:26, 4 November 2006 (UTC)
It strikes me this article belongs higher on the "importance scale." It is presently rated low. Low is defined as: "Subject is not particularly notable or significant even within the field of literature , and may have been included primarily to achieve comprehensive coverage of a notable author or other notable subject." This is the 1998 Nobel prize winner for literature.DianaW 19:47, 4 November 2006 (UTC)
- I agree. Who decides what importance things have on that scale? Tigger89 16:25, 22 November 2006 (UTC)
Well, I put in my summary. I wish there were somebody to talk about it with!DianaW 04:13, 9 November 2006 (UTC)
I'll start on some of the critical material on this novel, and other Saramago pages, soon.DianaW 04:14, 9 November 2006 (UTC)
Thanks to Nlu for reverting that latest thiing.DianaW 14:26, 21 November 2006 (UTC)
I have a problem with a comment in the "cultural specificity" section. The text reads: "The few definite identifiers of culture portrayed may hint that the country is Saramago's homeland of Portugal [...] some dialogue uses the familiar 'tu' second-person singular verb form (a distinction which does not exist in English, but does in Portuguese)." I do not think that the fact that the Portuguese original of the novel uses "tu" may hint that the country is Portgual. A Portuguese-language novel will use the Portuguese T-V distinction regardless of which nationality is involved. A Portuguese writer describing an English girl talking to her father would use "tu." I hope my point is clear.
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- I just worked on the prose in the "Style" section a bit, but I'm not sure about the comments about Portugual (I really wouldn't know, but my guess would be that the above commentator is correct that all the pronouns tell you is that the original was written in Portuguese). (Jose Saramago almost makes me want to learn Portuguese.) Also, I don't think it's correct that the characters in "All the Names" don't have names, I'm pretty sure at least the main character had a name, though there may have been a bunch of nameless petty bureaucrats (hm, kind of like wikipedia), and in that case I think the anonymity functions to intimidate (hm, again like wikipedia). I'm even closer to certain the characters in "The Cave" have names, but I don't have time to verify this right now so I'll leave it alone. Names are an interesting thing in Saramago. Either the characters have no names at all, or they have names that really call attention to themselves; I can't call the names to mind but the main character and his "double" in "The Double" have crazy wild names. In "Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis," the book is named for the main character, and names are also important in "History of the Siege of Lisbon." (Two really great books, btw.) And how about "Balthasar and Blimunda"!DianaW 02:08, 9 April 2007 (UTC)
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[edit] Notability content
This article needs more to detail its notability. :: Kevinalewis : (Talk Page)/(Desk) 16:51, 22 November 2006 (UTC)
[edit] curious about a few dates as i am writing an analytical essay on the novel
i was curious if anyone knew when this novel was credited with being an international best-seller or if Saramago was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature for this novel or all his works? if anyone has any other facts or information that could be of value please leave me a message at ryanrupprecht22@hotmail.com. if you are interested in posting this analytical essay once its finished, please contact me at the email address i provided above. thanks -ryan —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 72.24.163.143 (talk) 23:00, 14 April 2007 (UTC).
[edit] Fair use rationale for Image:Blindness novel.jpg
Image:Blindness novel.jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in Wikipedia articles constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.
Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale. Using one of the templates at Wikipedia:Fair use rationale guideline is an easy way to insure that your image is in compliance with Wikipedia policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page.
If there is other other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on the other images used on this page. Note that any fair use images uploaded after 4 May, 2006, and lacking such an explanation will be deleted one week after they have been uploaded, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you.BetacommandBot 14:21, 1 June 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Categorization as fictional disease
This novel is currently categorized under Category:Fictional diseases. I am not sure how a novel can be a fictional disease, unless the novel is so terrible that it inflicts various symptoms on its readers. There is an important distinction between the novel and the disease described in the novel. If someone creates an article on the white blindness, then we can categorize that as a fictional disease. This article, however, should not be categorized as such. − Twas Now ( talk • contribs • e-mail ) 11:47, 6 November 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Original Title
What does, "Ensaio sobre a cegueira", the book's Portuguese title, mean in English? I think it would useful to put it into the article.--Fantastic fred (talk) 01:57, 8 April 2008 (UTC)
