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This title in other editions

The Cave

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The Cave Cover

ISBN13: 9780156028790
ISBN10: 0156028794
Condition: Standard
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Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

A Los Angeles Times Best Book

A New York Times Notable Book

"[The Cave] is yet another triumph . . . for Portugal's, or even the world's, greatest living novelist. Read it."-The Washington Post Book World

Cipriano Algor, an elderly potter, lives with his daughter Marta and her husband Marçal in a small village on the outskirts of The Center, an imposing complex of shops and apartments to which Cipriano delivers his wares. One day, he is told not to make any more deliveries. Unwilling to give up his craft, Cipriano tries his hand at making ceramic dolls. Astonishingly, The Center places an order for hundreds. But just as suddenly, the order is cancelled and the penniless three have to move from the village into The Center. When mysterious sounds of digging emerge from beneath their new apartment, Cipriano

and Marçal investigate; what they find transforms the family's life. Filled with the depth, humor, and extraordinary philosophical richness that marks each of Saramago's novels, The Cave is one of the essential books of our time.

"As with Proust, to be drawn into a Saramago sentence is to be drawn into a world that takes shape out of a maze. . . . His human voices wake us and we live."-The New York Times Book Review

JOSÉ SARAMAGO is one of the most acclaimed writers in the world today. He is the author of numerous novels, including All the Names and Blindness. In 1998 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. -Chicago Tribune

MARGARET JULL COSTA has established herself as the premier translator of Portuguese literature into English today, and her previous renderings of Saramago's novels are highly acclaimed.

Review:

"An unassuming tour de force."Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel

Synopsis:

Cipriano Algor, an elderly potter, lives with his daughter Marta and her husband Marçal in a small village on the outskirts of The Center, an imposing complex of shops, apartments, and offices to which Cipriano delivers his pots and jugs every month. On one such trip, he is told not to make any more deliveries. Unwilling to give up his craft, Cipriano tries his hand at making ceramic dolls. Astonishingly, The Center places an order for hundreds, and Cipriano and Marta set to work-until the order is cancelled and the three have to move from the village into The Center. When mysterious sounds of digging emerge from beneath their apartment, Cipriano and Marçal investigate, and what they find transforms the family's life. Filled with the depth, humor, and the extraordinary philosophical richness that marks each of Saramago's novels, The Cave is one of the essential books of our time.

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About the Author

Born in Portugal in 1922, José Saramago is one of the most acclaimed writers in the world today. In 1998 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. He lives in the Canary Islands.

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What Our Readers Are Saying

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Average customer rating based on 1 comment:
julieb43, March 9, 2012 (view all comments by julieb43)
A darkly comic philosophical allegory about the deplorable state human beings are currently in (although written a decade ago, the novel is still relevant today).

The novel focuses on an aging potter and his daughter and son-in-law living in a rural village. Cipriano Algor has always taken pride in his craftsmanship but discovers that the huge corporation that governs everyone in the city (the Center) no longer requires his pottery because they have turned to selling plastic pottery instead. He and his daughter then come up with another idea which they hope will prove successful, otherwise they will have to move to the Center. Cipriano vehemently dislikes the Center and does not want to move there but may have to when his son-in-law gets promoted.

Saramago's leftist beliefs are in full play in this novel, as well as his dark sense of humour and astonishing capacity for dialogue and philosophical insight.

Beautifully written and darkly foreboding.
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Product Details

ISBN:
9780156028790
Translator:
Costa, Margaret Jull
Publisher:
Mariner Books
Translator:
Costa, Margaret Jull
Author:
Saramago, Jose
Author:
Costa, Margaret Jull
Subject:
Literary
Subject:
Potters
Subject:
Widowers
Subject:
General Fiction
Subject:
General Fiction
Subject:
Domestic fiction
Subject:
Literature-A to Z
Copyright:
2003
Edition Description:
Trade Paper
Publication Date:
20031015
Binding:
Paperback
Language:
English
Pages:
320
Dimensions:
8 x 5.31 in 0.64 lb
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Related Subjects

Featured Titles » Nobel Prize Winners
Fiction and Poetry » Literature » A to Z
Fiction and Poetry » Literature » Sale Books

The Cave Used Trade Paper
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$6.95 In Stock
Product details 320 pages Harvest/HBJ Book - English 9780156028790 Reviews:
"Review" by , "An unassuming tour de force."
"Synopsis" by ,
Cipriano Algor, an elderly potter, lives with his daughter Marta and her husband Marçal in a small village on the outskirts of The Center, an imposing complex of shops, apartments, and offices to which Cipriano delivers his pots and jugs every month. On one such trip, he is told not to make any more deliveries. Unwilling to give up his craft, Cipriano tries his hand at making ceramic dolls. Astonishingly, The Center places an order for hundreds, and Cipriano and Marta set to work-until the order is cancelled and the three have to move from the village into The Center. When mysterious sounds of digging emerge from beneath their apartment, Cipriano and Marçal investigate, and what they find transforms the family's life. Filled with the depth, humor, and the extraordinary philosophical richness that marks each of Saramago's novels, The Cave is one of the essential books of our time.
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