PVLD Adult Services Blog

Portugal’s Nobel Prize winner José Saramago died last Friday at age 87.  His remains were cremated Sunday following a funeral service in Lisbon.  In 1993, his novel The Gospel According to Jesus Christ prompted the Portuguese government to remove his name from consideration for the European Literature Prize.  From then until his death, Saramago had lived in self-imposed exile in the Canary Islands.

In a 60 year career, Saramago published more than 30 works, including novels, poetry, essays and plays.  His novel Blindness, adapted for film and directed by Fernando Meirelles, was released in 2008 to mixed reviews.  On Sunday, the Vatican newspaper l’Osservatore Romano called Saramago, who was a communist and atheist, a “populist extremist” and “an anti-religious idealogue.”

Library resources: books by Saramago