68 Commas!

Well, today is the day I have decided to crack the covers of the latest Jose Saramago book, Seeing.
It’s like coming home.
No, it’s like coming home and finding that your mother has made a huge turkey supper for you [complete with mounds of mashed potatoes and gallons of gravy] and there is nothing for you to do but commence feasting. Tearing into that succulent bird! [NOTE: My apologies to all vegans who take offense at my choice of analogy there... I can't help it though, I am carnivorous as hell!]
Right from his first sentence, a hefty 57-word run-on, completely out-of-control beauty… I said to myself, “Here we go. The guy would have already failed his writing course right there. But ya gotta love it. Ya gotta love it.”
He is so good. So authoritatively good.
When I grow up I want to be Jose Saramago.
[The above picture is a rare shot of his venerable hand signing a book!]

Often [in reviews and blogs] I have spoken of his inimitable style.
There is really no one like him.
But what do I really mean by that? Well, anyone who has read Saramago does not need me to elaborate.
But for anyone else, I present [below] just a random passage from this current book.
This is from page 23-24.
Now keep in mind…. what you are about to read, is [ahem]… ONE SENTENCE!
And no, there are no typos!

Were this innocent man to be interrogated tomorrow, we tremble at the mere thought of what could happen to him, Do you admit that you said to the person you were with Well, I suppose it was bound to happen some time, Yes, I do, Now, think carefully before answering, what were you talking about when you said that, About my separation from my wife, Separation or divorce, Divorce, And what were or are your feelings about that divorce, Half-angry, half-resigned, More angry or more resigned, More resigned, I guess, Don’t you think, in that case, that the natural thing would have been to utter a sigh, especially since you were talking to a friend, Well, I can’t be sure I didn’t sigh, I really don’t remember, Well, we know that you didn’t, How can you know that, you weren’t there, Who told you we weren’t there, Maybe my friend remembers hearing me sigh, you’d have to ask him, You obviously don’t care much for your friend, What do you mean, Summoning your friend and getting him into all kinds of trouble, Oh, I wouldn’t want that, Good, Can I go now, Certainly not, don’t be in such a hurry, you still haven’t answered the question we asked you, What question, What were you really thinking about when you said those words to your friend, But I’ve already told you, Give us another answer, that one won’t do, It’s the only answer I can give because it’s the true one, That’s what you think, Unless you want me to make one up, Yes, do, we don’t mind at all if you come up with answers which, with time and patience, could be made to fit the proper application of certain techniques, that way, you’ll end up saying what we want to hear, Tell me what the answer is then, and let’s be done with it, Oh, no, that wouldn’t be any fun at all, who do you think we are, sir, we have our scientific dignity to consider, our professional conscience to defend, it’s very important to us that we should be able to demonstrate to our superiors that we deserve the money they pay us and the bread that we eat, Sorry, you’ve lost me, Don’t be in such a hurry.

That wonderful monstrosity contains 68 commas!
I could have chosen even lengthier ones. Some of his sentences are an entire page, or more.
I love it.
No proper quotation marks are provided, as speakers take their turns.
Did you get a bit lost in the mayhem?
I didn’t.
But this is because I have been sort of baptized into the Kingdom!
This is the ninth of his books I am reading.

I am only on page 68, but already I want to heartily endorse it to all and sundry! It is sort of a sequel to 1997’s [English Translation] Blindness, so you should read that one too.
Then you should read everything else Saramago has written, and ever shall write!
Amen!

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