THE CAVE by José Saramago ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Saramago is Portugal’s patron saint of Literature, and now I know why.

I started this right before leaving Porto, big blocks of text with almost no indentation or full period stops to be found on any page. To find the rhythm and strategy takes a minute longer than some, but eventually the long sentences pull at the voice in your head and your brain reads the prose naturally, almost as if it’s no longer your voice reciting the words in there, but his.

I found myself recognizing so many of the little things he so easily slips in: musings on how fathers can be and how dogs might think, how old men can be stubborn in that familiar and classically expectant way, and how regular people’s hopes are often dashed on their own before the world can do it for them. Many, many more thoughtful ideas lie within, and I’ll let the work speak for itself.