In 'Death with Interruptions', Jose Saramago presents an imagined scenario where death goes on strike, leading to social chaos in an unspecified year and country. The plot revolves around Death resuming her work with a new twist of sending advance notification letters, introducing philosophical reflections on life and death. The writing style combines dark humor, satire, and political commentary, with long, convoluted sentences creating a unique reading experience.

Characters:

Characters mainly serve as societal archetypes rather than individualized personas, with the titular character of death given a unique and evolving personality.

Writing/Prose:

The writing style is characterized by lengthy, complex sentences lacking standard punctuation for dialogue, requiring close attention from readers while delivering a continuous narrative.

Plot/Storyline:

The plot revolves around a nation's initial joy when death halts, which swiftly transitions to chaos and societal dilemmas. As death resumes, she introduces a notice system, leading to further personal and societal reflections on mortality.

Setting:

The unnamed country setting serves as a backdrop for exploring societal, political, and religious themes related to death's functionality within human life.

Pacing:

Pacing varies between slow, reflective periods and moments of heightened urgency as the narrative explores both societal and personal themes.

Although it had immediately been ridiculed by rival newspapers, which had managed to draw on the inspiration of their principal writers for the most diverse and meaty of headlines, some dramatic, some...

Notes:

Death with Interruptions is set in an unnamed, landlocked country.

The story begins on New Year's Day when no one dies anymore.

Initially, people celebrate the end of death, but chaos soon ensues.

Hospitals and nursing homes become overcrowded with the aging and infirm.

Funeral homes go out of business due to a lack of deaths.

Families start taking their dying members to neighboring countries where death still exists.

The government partners with the mafia to smuggle people across the border to die.

Death decides to send violet letters to people, giving them a week's notice before they die.

One letter to a cellist returns undelivered, prompting Death to investigate.

Death, personified as a woman, develops an emotional attachment to the cellist.

The book satirizes institutions like the government and the Catholic Church.

Saramago's writing features long, flowing sentences without traditional punctuation, which can be challenging to read.

The narrative blends dark humor with profound philosophical questions about life and death.

Has Romance?

There is a medium level of romance, particularly between death and the cellist, which serves as a significant plot element.

From The Publisher:

Nobel Prize-winner Jose Saramago's brilliant novel poses the question-what happens when the grim reaper decides there will be no more death?

On the first day of the new year, no one dies. This of course causes consternation among politicians, religious leaders, morticians, and doctors. Among the general public, on the other hand, there is initially celebration-flags are hung out on balconies, people dance in the streets. They have achieved the great goal of humanity: eternal life. Then reality hits home-families are left to care for the permanently dying, life-insurance policies become meaningless, and funeral parlors are reduced to arranging burials for pet dogs, cats, hamsters, and parrots.

Death sits in her chilly apartment, where she lives alone with scythe and filing cabinets, and contemplates her experiment: What if no one ever died again? What if she, death with a small d, became human and were to fall in love?

Ratings (5)

Incredible (1)
Loved It (3)
Liked It (1)

Reader Stats (15):

Read It (6)
Currently Reading (1)
Want To Read (6)
Did Not Finish (1)
Not Interested (1)

1 comment(s)

ddaane061

Liked It

11 months

sharp commentary on society

What can you read after
Death with Interruptions?

See the list (100 books)

About the Author:

JOSÉ SARAMAGO (1922-2010) was the author of many novels, among them Blindness, All the Names, Baltasar and Blimunda, and The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis. In 1998 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature.MARGARET JULL COSTA has established herself as the premier translator of Portuguese literature into English today.

Meet New Books is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a way for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to products and services on amazon.com and its subsidiaries.
When you click the Amazon link and make a purchase, we may receive a small commision, at no cost to you.

Activity

Recommendations

My Stuff

Account

More