Ruminations on "Blindness" by José Saramago

I've been eyeing this since I first saw it on Booksale last December. There were at least 5 books in the two branches I frequent so I didn't buy it right away. I was also trying to refrain myself from impulsively buying books that are not in my to-buy list, so I decided to check some reviews first. Finally bought it last week.

Survival. The story revolves around an ophthalmologist's wife who was spared from an instant epidemic called "white blindness" that struck the whole country, and how she alone carried the responsibility of looking after those no longer capable of doing so themselves. The story is set mostly in an asylum where the first victims are quarantined (she pretended to be struck blind as well just so she could stay with her husband)--where names became irrelevant and your voice is your identity. It's a story of survival, compassion, and just how much (and for how long) one's spirit can endure.

This book is so good, though I'm not satisfied with it's ending. It made me wince, smile, almost want to cry. The living conditions depicted in the book is unimaginable, and the line between what can be considered humane and not seems practically erased. Survival of the fittest is definitely in play here. It's dystopian, and it's frightening because it seems possible; one moment everything's as it is, then BOOM--you're flung into a world you only see in nightmares. It is creepy in a way, and it made me cringe more than a few times when certain things are described and my brain supplements it with visions of the things I read. No thanks to you, imagination.

On one hand there's the harrowing condition in which the people are subjected to, on the other there's the strength of a woman who is not willing to turn a blind eye on her surroundings (pun intended)--though several times she wished she couldn't see--and take responsibility in striving for what little order and  justice she can do or give. It's so easy to give up and give in to depression and whatnot (it is even understandable to end your own life), but she cannot find it in herself to let things go as it is and let things happen knowing she can at least try to change them. This is the story of how the heroine, along with a band of companions gathered around her, struggled in a world far from what anyone could ever hope it would be.


There's a line in the synopsis that says, Blindness is a powerful portrayal of man's worst appetites and weaknesses--and man's ultimately exhilarating spirit. And I think it is. It truly is.