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Cain - José Saramago, Margaret Jull Costa
Cain
by: (author) (author)
3.26 85
“Suitably disturbing—and a pleasure to read.” — The ScotsmanIn this, his last novel, José 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... show more
“Suitably disturbing—and a pleasure to read.” — The ScotsmanIn this, his last novel, José 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 the dry peak of Ararat. Cain, the despised, the murderer, is Saramago’s protagonist. Condemned to wander forever after he kills his brother Abel, Cain makes his way through the world in the company of a personable donkey. He is a witness to and participant in the stories of Isaac and Abraham, the destruction of the Tower of Babel, Moses and the golden calf, the trials of Job. The rapacious Queen Lilith takes him as her lover. An old man with two sheep on a rope crosses his path. And again and again, Cain encounters a God whose actions seem callous, cruel, and unjust. He confronts Him, he argues with Him. “And one thing we know for certain,” Saramago writes, “is that they continued to argue and are arguing still.” A startling book—sensual, funny—in all ways a fitting end to Saramago’s extraordinary career.
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Format: hardcover
ISBN: 9780547419893 (0547419899)
ASIN: 547419899
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Pages no: 159
Edition language: English
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Community Reviews
The better to see you, my dear
The better to see you, my dear rated it
2.5 I didn't need it pointed out to see it
So, Saramago goes trolling through the old testament.I really liked "The Gospel according to Jesus Christ", and have read some very interesting takes on the Cain and Abel story (like Unamuno's Abel Sanchez), but I didn't much care for this one. After the first quarter, I had trouble staying engaged,...
Gatta ci cova
Gatta ci cova rated it
5.0 Caino
È colpa di un dio collerico e crudele, compiaciuto del ricco dono di Abele e contrariato da quello più modesto, ma offerto con amore, di Caino, se la mano si leva contro il fratello. È quindi dio, responsabile dell’azione fratricida di Caino. Compiuto il delitto, Caino, subirà un castigo malvagio. G...
sologdin
sologdin rated it
Nutshell: nearly posthumous old testament tomfoolery by Nobel Prize winner.Biblical satire, strangely not more effective overall than [b:God the Ultimate Autobiography|893726|God The Ultimate Autobiography|Jeremy Pascall|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1329642961s/893726.jpg|878951], cov...
Ellinor's Litventures
Ellinor's Litventures rated it
4.0
Kain is a parody on the bible: After killing his brother Abel Cain is sent around the world and also through time. He witnesses the most important scenes in the Old Testament (e.g. Noah building his Arch, Abraham sacrificing Issac, the dance around the Golden Calf etc). But all scenes are seen throu...
Kinga's Books
Kinga's Books rated it
3.0 Jose Saramago - Cain
In 'Cain', published just a few months before Saramago’s death, the author gets to argue with God one last time. On this occasion his jibes are aimed at the god of the Old Testament, who, as we all know, is an easy target. This god is cruel, proud, jealous, vindictive, inconsistent and often simply ...
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