70
something Jose Saramago has
become
Portugal
’s most distinguished living
writer, winning the Nobel Prize
for literature in 1998.His newest work The Cave
is now available in a
translation by Margaret Jull
Costa from Random House.
The
Cave could hardly be called science fiction or fantasy yet it touches on
themes familiar to both genres. Cipriano Algor is a none too sprightly
elderly potter who lives with his daughter and her husband close to the
sinister “Centre”, a huge conglomerate organisation, the time is never
really specified but it’s obviously somewhere in the near future, the
husband Marcal works at the Centre and is only home for three days in
every 14.
Cipriano’s livelihood also depends on the
Centre who buys all the goods he produces under an exclusive deal, his
troubles begin when the Centre stops wanting his pottery, forcing him to
actually move into the Centre.
Prone
to exploring Cipriano digs deep
and learns the terrible secret
of “The Centre” (which of
course you will have to discover
yourself).
Saramago
has an easy going engaging style
and the story certainly keeps
you interested, carrying with it
a sense of the gothic and a
definite touch of the George
Orwell’s with his dystopian
vision of beurocracy gone mad.
Recommended.
