Customer Reviews

The Cave

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Jose Saramago is, quite possibly, the best living author. It is strange that I have such a varying reaction to his books: some I find fascinating ("The Cave", "Blindness") and others I find long-winded and difficult ("All the Names"). As with most authors, this can usually be attributed to the characterizations found in the books. Saramago's style remains the same - long sentences with tons of commas. It's endearing when it's working.

I feel no need to summarize the plot, for you can read that summary directly above. And I do not wish to wreck the ending by revealing what this allegory addresses (it directly links to a very old allegory by a very well-known and respected philosopher). What I will say is that this book is simply priceless.

I cannot understand the opinion of the reviewer who gave it three stars - attempting to find fault with the factual nature of the story is silly. I suggest that reader seek out a different author. Saramago is one of the last masters of the fable. Try reading his "The Tale of the Unknown Island", or "Blindness". He is not concerned with sci-fi or alternate-future reality; he is concerned with giving us strong characterizations, internal monologues, and dialogues which lead to a conclusion he wishes us to see. It is a waste of time to discuss whether or not "El Centro" is an accurate depiction of a monolithic shopping center. It is the foil on which the tale is built. Stories must at times be melodramatic to make a point. Certainly "El Centro" is a bit fanciful, but it is also hauntingly familiar.

This is the fastest I've ever read a book by Saramago, and I enjoyed every second of it. Cipriano Algor is a strong character (as is his dog Found) who will remain with me.

I heartily recommend the book to anyone who enjoys a good anti-unification tale. Unification provides comfort and security ... but at what cost?

The story starts out in a simple fashion, Cipriano Algor, a widower in his sixties and a potter by trade, is on the verge of losing his livelihood. He lives with his daughter, Marta, and his son-in-law, Marcal, who is a security guard at the Centre, a huge complex in the city where people live, work, and most importantly shop and consume without ever having to go outside. For quite awhile the Centre had been Cipriano's only buyer of his earthenware crafts, their contract with him demanding that he sell to the Centre exclusively, and then one day his contract is abruptly cancelled. At the same time, his son-in-law is expecting a promotion to resident guard which would involve leaving the pottery and moving the family into the Centre, but even so Cipriano and Marta make a last attempt to save the pottery from extinction. More than just a story about aging, or traditional ways versus modern life, the suspense builds throughout this short novel as the reader is drawn into the lives and feelings of very realistic human beings..

The close to nature life of the village and the globalized Centre are in total contrast and the drive from the village to the Centre is unforgettable, first passing the so-called green belt where nothing is green (and the insides of the strawberries grown there are white), then through the industrial belt, then the shanty town where the poor live, then through the city itself to the impenetrable fortress called the Centre. Consumers are barraged with advertising slogans and expect to find everything (or a copy of everything) that can be bought from anywhere in the world as well as every imaginable form of entertainment including a casino, a racing track for cars, a beach with waves - even sensations, like being in a tornado, or a blizzard can be experienced inside the Centre. Most of the apartments in the Centre do not even have windows that look out, many of the residents prefer a view of the inside of the Centre itself, and half the dwellings have no windows at all.

I had never before heard of Plato's story of the cave, but I have learned about it since finishing this novel and once seen the connection is striking, just the way the people in the cave are able to see only shadows on the wall which they mistake for reality, so the people in the center see and experience only artificial life, all in all quite a comment on global capitalism. This was my fourth book by Jose Saramago and once again I am struck by his slow and subtle but very powerful style as a writer.

I would just like to comment on one or two aspects of Saramago's The Cave, which I adored. I had just read Blindness--a brilliant book, certainly, but so bleak and cruel (in these cruel times, when the news constantly comments on brutal rapes, torture and inhumanity, the bleakness was even more hard to take!) so I was a bit hesitant to read The Cave. However, as a ceramist and teacher of ceramics history, I was completely enchanted by the detailed descriptions of the workings of the old pottery. Saramago truly understands the work of country or small-scale potteries. The fact that the once-common product of small-scale manufacturers has all-but disappeared from our lives contributes, no doubt, to the confusion that met many readers (perhaps they are like the consumers in The Centre, who preferred plastic to hand made earthenware?) Ceramics, clay and pottery are used throughout as metaphors--as strong as any other metaphors and as legitimate. Even if you do not understand or find interesting all of the details on pottery production, the sensitivity with which the emotional lives of the family members are described is incredibly tender and engaging. I found no difficulty with the style--it was very easy to fall into and follow, if you responded to the emotional states of the characters. And, for me, one of the best parts of all was the luminous dog, Found, whose thoughts and unconditional love provided humour and a very positive aspect of the book (countering the bleakness of Blindness.) Some readers did not like the diversions, but I found them wonderful--the use of language, the multiple ideas played with by the author made reading the book more like having a rich conversation with a closer friend. I loved it!

Disappointing. This book is extremely tedious. The narrative, just like Gabriel Garcia Marquez, is comprised of long sentences, with many commas and no paragraphs. However, unlike Marquez, this book seems to stretch into a 300 page novel a story that could be written as a 10 page short story. I would venture to guess that no less than 50 pages are dedicated to describe the dog's thoughts...

I recommend reading a couple of chapters before buying it. I read a few pages and found it quaint---Two thirds of the way through it remained quaint but never hit on 'entertaining'. However, if you're having trouble getting to sleep...

sentimental, trite, puerile and tedious

Nobel Prize meets The Matrix in Saramago's parable of modern capitalism, which urges the reader to reject the materialist worldview increasingly embraced around the world and forge their own path. The only other book of his I've read is Blindness (which is an outstanding work), and this novel shares that one's setting of an unnamed country in the near future. Outside an unnamed city, an old man makes pottery, which he brings into town to tell at "The Center"óa kind of megalith mall which is slowly enveloping the city around it. A combination Walmart and Mall of the Americas, The Center sells everything one needs (one of their creepy slogans is "We Have What You Need, But We Prefer You Need What We Have), and houses apartments, amusements, and everything one needs to enjoy life, including simulated snow storms. Almost everyone aspires to live in the Center, so as to be closer to all these attract/distractions.

The framework of the sparse story is that The Center cancels their standing order with the potter, forcing him to confront his dying trade. Without any other market to sell to, he and his daughter try to convince The Center to buy ceramic dolls instead. When they agree and order 1,200 dolls, the duo must race to mass produce this new item in their old-fashioned workshop. An additional tension is added by the daughter's husband, who wants them all to move to The Center, where he works as a security guard. Other subplots include the appearance of a stray dog and a local widow's interest in the potter. The story is a something restrained critique of consumerist culture, with sharp digs and jabs here and there, and an overarching reference to Plato's Cave (if you don't know what that is, you'll want to read up on it online), but Saramago seems somewhat more interested in the small family and how they interact. It's a warm portrait of a group of people struggling to keep their heads above water in a mildly dystopian future. Especially endearing are the passages written from the dog's perspective.

The satire of The Center is pretty straightforward, with its control of what gets bought and sold, creepily cheery slogans, and officials who are masters of doublespeak (one line from a buyer goes something like "There is no secret of the bee, but we know what it is."). What is somewhat interesting (as Saramago is well known Communist) is that the same satirical points can (and have) been made against planned economies such as that of the former Soviet Union. The ending is appropriately ambiguous, leaving open the question as to whether or not there is any future in such a world.

It should be noted that the writing style is very distinctive, with little punctuation, no quote marks to delineate speech versus thought, no breaks to indicate who the speaker is, and paragraphs that run for pages and pages. You're either going to love it or hate it in that it'll either make for labored reading or complete immersion reading (our book group split right down the middle on this). Altogether, it's a solid bit of craft, it's not as brilliant as Blindness.

I know, those who love Saramago unconditionally will be upset at this assessment, but this book could easily have been a short story or novella and got the same points across while being more to the point and powerful.

I guess coming straight off Blindness, which, to me, is one of the best books ever written, this one just came up short (or long, actually).

Also, and everyone has commented on this aspect of the book, but glowingly, the comment on modern capitalism and the contrast between the center and the potter are making points so OBVIOUS that they almost make no point at all. Capitalism bad. Little guy good. It's that simple. I think he could've been a little more subtle.

I will say, I loved the character development and the idea of the "Center" (although, like I said, it's significance was painfully overt). What I didn't like was the ending, because I think it was cryptic for its own sake and didn't make the rest of the story add up.

THE CAVE is not my favorite Saramago work, but there's no denying it's masterful. I loved its premise as well as Saramago's trademark insight and wit.

THE CAVE began wonderfully and it moved along nicely for about 1/4 of the book. At that point, however, it bogged down and remained bogged down until the final fifty pages or so. Saramago is a writer who demands much concentration and contemplation from the reader. He's definitely a writer with something important to say. After I finished the book, I thought about it for many days and I reread Plato's allegory. Since THE CAVE is, in my mind, Saramago's most complex work to date, I asked myself if the book really did bog down or if the problem was me? Did I miss the point? Or at least part of it? Was I being too critical?

After much contemplation, I come to the conclusion that, for me at least, there was simply too much detail about the making of the clay figurines. I realize, given the ending of the book, that some of this detail was absolutely necessary, but I know I would have enjoyed the book much more had Saramago not lingered so long over the intricacies of firing and painting the dolls.

The characters in THE CAVE are wonderful and for me, they were the best thing about this book. They are warm and beautifully-drawn and I don't see how any reader could not care about them and their situation. All of them...Marta, Marcal, Isaura and especially Cipriano were "real" people; it was impossible not to love them and want the best for them.

When I began writing this review, I intended on giving THE CAVE only four stars...for the simple reason that it does bog down in the middle. After a bit more reflection, however, I decided the book deserved five stars instead. A reader would have to search far and wide to find a book as complex and erudite...and as entertaining. And, even though the book bogged down a bit for me, it might not for you. You might find all the detail about the figurines more interesting than I did.

All in all, I found THE CAVE to be a masterfully-crafted, complex book peopled with warm, lovable characters. It's a book any intelligent reader simply can't afford to miss.

I would give "The Cave" 5 stars were it not for the exceedingly complicated writing style. This is the first Saramago I have read and, aside from the (to me) unnecessarily difficult style, I thought it was brilliant, for all the reasons so eloquently expressed by other reviewers. I loved the characters and the way Saramago put us inside their thoughtful, humorous, and very human minds.

My only contribution is to bring readers' attention to parallels with the arena complex proposed this week for Brooklyn. It happened that I was reading "The Cave" as the media told us about how "eminent domain" will be used to deprive people of their homes and businesses so that private developers can build a huge, artificial, and tax-exempt commercial enterprise! Is anyone else reminded of the Center?