All The Names 1-34

I picked this book up not because it was a nobel prize winner, but because it was summer and I was interested in broadening my horizons. Dad said that each of us (meaning my brother and I) could either pick out a book or get a scone or something from the starbucks counter in Barnes and Noble. My brother and I looked at eachother and snorted at the notion of buying some obscure pumpernickle, caffene infested drink over leafing through the piles of books that could be ours potentially (my dad knew this of course, and gave us 20 bucks anyhow. The obsure pumpernickle thing was ok.). So I was looking over the piles and piles of renowned books, and to say the truth, none of them really caught my eye, as per usual with the so called 'riveting, absolutely spectacular' novels. I looked towards the young adult section, and I looked towards the fantasy section, but something prevented me from scaling my usual haunts. I decided to be brave and read a potentially 'adultlike' book. The back of the book 'All The Names' by Jose (add little mark over the e) Saramago looked interesting, and turns out that it had won a nobel prize too. So that's where I am right now. On the spur of a moment choice that still holds my interest from the days where I still had time to be curious. Let's hope it's good.


Some Vocabulary: (thanks dictionary.com)

Central Registry: "Approved Facilities for the Storage of Federal Records" (Saramago 3)

Registrar: General, responsible for the registration of births, deaths, marriages, divorces, etc.


Quote: "Imagine now, if you can, the state of nerves, the excitement with which Senhor Jose opened the forbidden door for the first time, the siver that made him pause before going in, as if he had placed his foot on the threshold of a room in which was buried a god whose power, contrary to tradition, came not from his resurrection, but from his having refused to be resurrected. Only dead gods are gods forever." (Saramago 13)

Analysis: This reminds me of the epic similes that we've all come to know and love from The Odyssey. Firstly, it's long and truthfully, quite epic. Secondly, it's descriptive of the 'state of nerves' that Senhor Jose feels at the moment and it makes the reader want to hold thier breath in order to follow silently behind him and not disturb the moment for him.


Quote: "...prudence is only of any use when it is trying to conserve something in which we are no longer interested." (Saramago 23)

Analysis: This sentence personifies 'prudence'. It's quite clear to the reader that Senhor Jose thinks of prudence as a pesky little bugger that tries to confuse us on a regular basis.


Quote: "The card belongs to a woman of thirty-six, born in that very city, and there are two entries, one for marriage, the other for divorce. There must be hundreds, if not thousands of such cards in the index system, so it's hard to understand why Senhor Jose should be looking at it so strangely, in a way which, at first sight, seems intent, but which is also vague and troubled, perhaps this is the look of someone who, without making any sonscious choice, is gradually losing is grip on something and has yet to find another handhold." (25)

Analysis: This card is a symbol for the rest of the book's journey, and it foreshadows Senhor Jose's travels and his obsession with the mystery that this card provides him.



Book Quote: "Chance doesn't choose, it proposes."

Analysis: This is a quote that caught my eye and made me crack a smile. Because after all, we all are supposedly waiting for chance to throw us a favorable ball. But what we do with that ball is our own choice. We can screw things up, like throwing the ball through the window of our neighbor's condo and getting arrested for it 5 minutes later after a fingerprint analysis by the senile old man who lives there. Or if that's not favorable, we can play catch with the neighbor boy, and eventally be accredited with helping the boy make it to the pro level for baseball.

Theme: The emerging theme looks like a long journey to not only figure out who this woman is, but who Senhor Jose is himself. It is fascinating, and yet it's just life as seen from the outside.