Reddit reviews Blindness (Harvest Book)

"Blindness" by Jose Saramago

http://www.amazon.com/Blindness-Harvest-Book-Jose-Saramago/dp/0156007754

Saramago is a Portuguese author who won the Noble prize for literature in 1998 for his "parables sustained by imagination, compassion and irony". In Blindness, a city is hit by an unexplainable epidemic of sight loss. The story explores the implications of wide-spread sickness on a community, and serves as a metaphor to a society increasingly blinded to its own actions.

Here is a mash of books off the top of my head.

• World War Z
  
• Blindness
  
• A Fire Upon The Deep
  
• I Am Legend
  
• Frankenstein
  
• The Quantum Thief
  
• The Windup Girl

For better or worse, this fact about the book has influenced my own writing. I feel like names can sometimes be too stiffening to a character and a succinct description is a much better way to refer to someone. IIRC, Saramago's Blindness does precisely this same thing.

This is kind of similar to the plot of this book: Blindness by José Saramago

>A city is hit by an epidemic of "white blindness" which spares no one. Authorities confine the blind to an empty mental hospital, but there the criminal element holds everyone captive, stealing food rations and raping women. There is one eyewitness to this nightmare who guides seven strangers-among them a boy with no mother, a girl with dark glasses, a dog of tears-through the barren streets, and the procession becomes as uncanny as the surroundings are harrowing. A magnificent parable of loss and disorientation and a vivid evocation of the horrors of the twentieth century, Blindness has swept the reading public with its powerful portrayal of man's worst appetites and weaknesses-and man's ultimately exhilarating spirit. The stunningly powerful novel of man's will to survive against all odds, by the winner of the 1998 Nobel Prize for Literature.

Datsyuk

Thanks for the contest!

Blindness
http://amazon.ca/dp/0156007754

Blindness is one of my favorites 'WTF' books. Even after finished reading it, I had some sort of mental hangover for a few days. I experienced a strange feeling of sadness and I had to remind myself this is just a novel, a terrific and disturbing novel.

I think perhaps you might like Blindness by Jose Saramago and Happy Birthday!

You have a killer Goodreads list.

Try "Blindness" by Jose Saramago. It's a gritty, heavy story exploring man's worst appetites, his indomitable spirit and much in-between. Similar to "Lord of the Flies", it has all the thrills and terrors that come with a post-apocalyptic world suffering from pandemic blindness.

It was cool to see John Eldridge, "Wild at Heart" and C.S. Lewis', "Great Divorce" and "Screwtape Letters" on your list. All three of those books were very important in my life. It made me think of another book that effected me positively "Sheet Music" by Kevin Leman. It picks up on the "hero" theme in Wild at Heart only in the context of intimacy in marriage and in many other ways explores how important sex is to a husband and wife (physically, psychologically and spiritually). He speaks to both genders. Whether you're greatly satisfied in this area already or looking for more, I imagine Leman's insights can be valuable to you and your marriage (even for people who don't necessarily believe in God or adhere to Christianity, etc.) Who doesn't like making a case for more sex in their life : )

=========================

That being said, "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance", by Robert M. Pirsig (credit /u/TrueLibertyorDeath) is a thick philosophical read on values that stands alone in it's genre. Definitely worth an introspective reader's time.

I'd second David Sedaris' "Naked" and "Me Talk Pretty One Day" if you want a sarcastic and sardonic take on one guys struggle through life (credit /u/rmill3r).

/u/markofoz mentioned "This Present Darkness", by Frank Peretti. This is Christian fiction that tells a story of struggle from the human perspective and the supernatural perspective of Angel's/Demon's fighting the unseen spiritual battle as well (kind of like an extension on Screwtape Letters). I read the series in high school and remember really enjoying them. It's a shallow, quick fun fantasy read.

Blindness by Jose Saramago - I couldn't put this book down.

Blindness. Disturbing x10 but memorable.