Reviews

Saramago's chilling thriller about an epidemic of "white blindness" that affects everyone in its path is a truly remarkable tale of loss and a metaphor for the horrors of humankind. With such a large and varying cast of characters including young children, a mother and an elderly man, narrator Jonathan Davis gives a truly rousing performance and displays his wide-ranging ability. Each character is original and believable in the face of this unbelievable epidemic. Davis's reading puts his audience in a bright white place, where little is visual save for the listeners' imaginations running wild. Davis's voice paints a vivid portrait. A Harcourt paperback (Reviews, July 13, 1998). (Oct.) Copyright 2008 Reed Business Information.

Saramago's 1998 Nobel prize-winning novel, about the citizens of an unnamed city going blind and succumbing to their basest instincts, is his first book ever to appear in audio. Unfortunately, Saramago's allegory about the role of the individual in an uncaring society and the search for meaning is somewhat heavy-going in audio format because of the lack of well-defined characters and setting. Actor Jonathan Davis (Snow Crash) makes this often chaotic sociopolitical tale more palatable with his sensitive, measured reading. The tie-in with Fernando Meirelles's recently released film adaptation starring Julianne Moore and Mark Ruffalo may create some demand among public and academic library patrons. [Watch the trailer at blindness.notlong.com.--Ed.]--Michael Adams, CUNY Graduate Ctr. Lib. Copyright 2008 Reed Business Information.