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All the Names
by: Jose Saramago

Used Price: $17.33

Binding: Paperback
EAN: 9781860466434
Format: Import
ISBN: 1860466435
Label: The Harvill Press
Manufacturer: The Harvill Press
Number Of Pages: 224
Publication Date: September 02, 1999
Publisher: The Harvill Press
Studio: The Harvill Press

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Customer Reviews

Average Rating: out of 5 stars

Rating:

- Minor problem with translation
Saragamo does not use quotation marks. In the dialogues between two persons, he indicates a switch between speakers by a comma, followed by a word that begins with a capital letter. This is a problem in English when the word is "I", because "I" is always capitalized. As a result, it is sometimes difficult to determine when the speaker switches. The translator could have eliminated this problem by using the non-capitalized form of "i" when it was not the first word following a switch of speakers. Although not gramatically correct, it would have made it easier for the reader.

Rating:

- Good, but I'm a bit confused.
This is the first book I read by this author. I'm pretty sure it won't be the last. However, the ending left me a bit confused. Oddly, I get the feeling as I get older it will make more and more sense. I have to ask though. If he hadn't started his search, with all the effects it had on the other characters. Would things have turned out different for her? I think you know what I'm talking about.

Rating:

- Pointless
I normally enjoy reading Saramago's material, but I had a difficult time getting through "All The Names." Maybe I'm a little too dense to understand the underlying meaning to this novel, but, as a previous review mentioned, it took a long time to develop and when it finally reached a point of interest, some 100 pages later, it seemed to just drag even more.
On a positive note, the writing was superb.

Rating:

- what's in a name?
'All the Names' is a decidedly odd novel by Jose Saramago. In it he chronicles the rather lonely life of a middle-aged bachelor who works at a government ministry responsible for recording births, marriages, divorces and deaths of the populace. This bachelor clearly has issues, and he takes on an unwholesome obsession with his work. When he stumbles across the name of a complete stranger he feels compelled, as if dictated by divine intervention, to learn everything about her.

Unfortunately after the author does a satisfactory job of pulling the reader into the madness of this civil servant he doesn't really finish the story in a satisfactory way (..no spoilers here). If there is a profound message embedded in 'All the Names' I'm afraid I couldn't find it.

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Rating:

- kafka lite
If Kafka were older and a little more optimistic (magical) what would you get? This author. Typical for his novels, the protagonist is a lonely older man trapped in a bureaucracy, who discovers and creates a bit of mystery. Well worth it, but be prepared. This author does not like punctuation, which can slow you down a little. In this case it makes you savor the novel more.

Books : All the Names