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Jose Saramago is one of the most important international writers of the last hundred years. Born in Portugal in 1922 in the small rural village of Azinhaga, he was in his fifties when he came to prominence as a writer with the publication of Baltasar and Blimunda. A huge body of work followed, which included plays, poetry, short stories, non-fiction and over a dozen novels, translated into more than forty languages, and in 1998 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. He died in June 2010.
An introduction by the translator Pontiero will help readers to approach this somewhat daunting major novel by 1998's winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature. Saramago himself suggested that his ambitious philosophical and political novel might be fully appreciated only by someone who is Portuguese. Ricardo Reis was one of the pseudonyms used by the poet Fernando Pessoa (1888-1935), who believed that everybody possesses multiple personalities. A compelling alliance of wit and serious intention, the novel, which is set in the lively and colourful port of Lisbon in 1936, moves between philosophical abstraction and knockabout humour. This is a demanding but ultimately rewarding read exploring a rich pattern of interwoven themes at all levels of society. (Kirkus UK)
