I believe The Cave came to me by way of my sister, Martha. I know it came a very long time ago. It has a big read sticker on the front that says 'Now Only $7.99'.
The Cave is one that I just slogged through for a variety of reasons. Jose Saramago is from Portugal and is a self described atheist and pessimist. I should have looked him up on Wikipedia before I started reading this. But he also won the Nobel Prize for literature. Maybe I could learn something.
The novel is translated from Portuguese. Dialogue is embedded in the text. It's one big paragraph so I found it very difficult to read. Cipriano and his daughter, Marta are very likable characters. They struggle to make an honest living as potters. Marta's husband Marcal works at The Center as a security guard. The family will all move to The Center as soon as Marcal's promotion comes through.
Frankly it took me awhile to understand what The Center really was all about. Or why Cipriano was so desperate to please the people there with his wares. The family didn't move until the last 50 pages and then immediately discovered the cave with the dead bodies. I didn't really get the symbolism so I skimmed through the last 100 pages or so. The family left The Center, went back home, picked up the dog and Cipriano's new girlfriend and drove off into the sunset. I didn't understand why they didn't just go back home.
In any event The Cave is now officially off my bookshelf. I rate it 2 out of 5. I think it does have some literary finesse even it it was over my head. Tomorrow morning I'm off to the library to make a donation. I'm sure there are plenty of intellectuals out there that would love The Cave.
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