
Tertuliano Máximo Afonso, a history teacher, discovers a bit actor who looks exactly like him in a film, leading to an inner turmoil and behavioral shift with unintended consequences. The story delves into the confusion of identities and the existential dilemma of being replaced or being replaceable, all narrated in a unique style with un-punctuated sentences and a stream-of-consciousness approach.
Genres:
Tropes/Plot Devices:
Topics:
Notes:
Sensitive Topics/Content Warnings
The Double includes themes of existential dread, identity crises, and psychological distress which may be challenging for some readers.
From The Publisher:
The inspiration for the major motion picture "Enemy" starring Jake Gyllenhaal and directed by Denis Villeneuve
Tertuliano Máximo Afonso is a divorced, depressed history teacher. To lift his spirits, a colleague suggests he rent a certain video. Tertuliano watches the film, unimpressed. But during the night, when he is awakened by noises in his apartment, he goes into the living room to find that the VCR is replaying the video. He watches in astonishment as a man who looks exactly like him-or, more specifically, exactly like he did five years before, mustachioed and fuller in the face-appears on the screen. He sleeps badly. Against his better judgment, Tertuliano decides to pursue his double. As he roots out the man's identity, what begins as a whimsical story becomes a "wonderfully twisted meditation on identity and individuality" (The Boston Globe). Saramago displays his remarkable talent in this haunting tale of appearance versus reality.
Reader Stats (9):
Read It (1) | |
Want To Read (8) |
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.
When you click the Amazon link and make a purchase, we may receive a small commision, at no cost to you.