A delightful, witty tale of friendship and adventure from prize-winning novelist Jose Saramago
In 1551, King Joao III of Portugal gave Archduke Maximilian an unusual wedding present: an elephant named Solomon. In Jose Saramago's remarkable and imaginative retelling, Solomon and his keeper, Subhro, begin in dismal conditions, forgotten in a corner of the palace grounds. When it occurs to the king and queen that an elephant would be an appropriate wedding gift, everyone rushes to get them ready: Subhro is given two new suits of clothes and Solomon a long overdue scrub. Accompanied by the...
A delightful, witty tale of friendship and adventure from prize-winning novelist Jose Saramago
In 1551, King Joao III of Portugal gave Archduke ...
Small Memories is a . . . nourishing last gift from a great writer. Washington Post Shifting back and forth between childhood and his teenage years, between Azinhaga and Lisbon, this is a mosaic of memories, a simply told, affecting look into the author s boyhood: the tragic death of his older brother at the age of four; his mother pawning the family s blankets every spring and buying them back in time for winter; his beloved grandparents bringing the weaker piglets into their bed on cold nights; and Saramago s early encounters with literature, from teaching himself to read by...
Small Memories is a . . . nourishing last gift from a great writer. Washington Post Shifting back and forth between childhood and his teena...
Saramago juxtaposes an eminently readable narrative of work and poverty, class and desire, knowledge and timelessness one in which God, too, as he faces Cain in the wake of Noah's Ark, emerges as far more human than expected. San Francisco Chronicle In this, his last novel, Jose Saramago daringly reimagines the characters and narratives of the Old Testament, recalling his provocative The Gospel According to Jesus Christ. His tale runs from the Garden of Eden, when God realizes he has forgotten to give Adam and Eve the gift of speech, to the moment when Noah s Ark lands on...
Saramago juxtaposes an eminently readable narrative of work and poverty, class and desire, knowledge and timelessness one in which God, too, as he fac...
Slippery figures in anomalous situations - ghosts, spies, bodyguards, criminals- haunt these stories by Javier Marias: the characters come bearing their strange and special secrets, and never leave our minds. In one story, a man obsessed with his much younger lover endlessly videotapes her every move, and then confides his surprising plans for her; in another, a ghost can't stop resigning from his job. Masterfully, Marias manages in a small space to perplex and delight. "The short story fits Marias like a glove," as Le point noted. His stories have been hailed as "formidably intelligent" (The...
Slippery figures in anomalous situations - ghosts, spies, bodyguards, criminals- haunt these stories by Javier Marias: the characters come bearing the...
Transform your life. Rewrite your destiny. In his most personal novel to date, internationally bestselling author Paulo Coelho returns with a remarkable journey of self-discovery. Like the main character in his much-beloved The Alchemist, Paulo is facing a grave crisis of faith. As he seeks a path of spiritual renewal and growth, his only real option is to begin again--to travel, to experiment, to reconnect with people and the landscapes around him. Setting off to Africa, and then to Europe and Asia via the Trans-Siberian railroad, he initiates a journey to revitalize...
Transform your life. Rewrite your destiny. In his most personal novel to date, internationally bestselling author Paulo Coelho returns with...
-Essential...A novel that resounds with relevance for our own time.- --New York Times Book ReviewFirst published in 1980, the City of Lisbon Prize-winning Raised from the Ground follows the changing fortunes of the Mau Tempo family--poor landless peasants not unlike Saramago's own grandparents. Set in Alentejo, a southern province of Portugal known for its vast agricultural estates, the novel charts the lives of the Mau Tempos as national and international events rumble on in the background--the coming of the republic in Portugual, the two world wars, and an attempt...
-Essential...A novel that resounds with relevance for our own time.- --New York Times Book ReviewFirst published in 1980, the City o...
The #1 International Bestselling author of THE ALCHEMIST reveals in this deeply thoughtful novel that the great wisdom of life is that we can be masters of the things that try to enslave us. "There is nothing wrong with anxiety. Although we cannot control God's time, it is part of the human condition to want to receive the thing we are waiting for as quickly as possible. Or to drive away whatever is causing fear. Anxiety was born in the very same moment as mankind. And since we will never be able to master it, we will have to learn to live with it--just as we have...
The #1 International Bestselling author of THE ALCHEMIST reveals in this deeply thoughtful novel that the great wisdom of life is that we can be...
The inklings of Saramago s style swell throughout . . . "Skylight" shines. " New York Times" Unmistakably Saramago . . . There is no shortage of wonders to be found in "Skylight"]. "Washington Post" A fascinating and startlingly mature work . . . The book is a gem. "Boston Globe" Lisbon, late 1940s. The inhabitants of a faded apartment building are struggling to make ends meet: Silvio the cobbler and his wife take in a disaffected young lodger; Dona Lidia, a retired prostitute, is kept by a businessman with a roving eye. Humble salesman Emilio s Spanish wife is in a permanent...
The inklings of Saramago s style swell throughout . . . "Skylight" shines. " New York Times" Unmistakably Saramago . . . There is no shortage of ...
