Saramago's labyrinths focuses on both the form and the content of Saramago's writing, paying particular attention to Ensaio sobre a Cegueira (Blindness) and Todos os Nomes (All the Names). This is the first book-length study to relate the very structure of Saramago's texts to the ideas that he continued to return to throughout his writing career. In addition to her close textual analysis of Blindness and All the Names, Atkin makes clear connections between these novels and Saramago's other literary work, identifying the ways in which Saramago causes the reader to return to and consider the...

Twentieth-century Portugal saw dramatic political and social change. The monarchy was abolished, and a republic installed (1910), soon giving way to a long-lasting dictatorship (1926); a transition to democracy (1974) led to membership of the European Union (1986). But what do we know of how people lived during these periods? And how did men, in particular, respond to the changes taking place in society? In this illuminating and broad-ranging study, Rhian Atkin uses as case studies the work of Fernando Pessoa (1888-1935), LuIs de Sttau Monteiro (1926-93) and JosE Saramago (1922-2010) in order...