Raised from the Ground - Hardcover

José Saramago

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1846557062 ISBN 13: 9781846557064

Publisher: Random House, 2012

Synopsis

First published in 1980, Saramago's prizewinning novel "Raised from the Ground" follows the changing fortunes of the Mau-Tempo family - poor, landless peasants not unlike the author's own grandparents. Set in Alentejo, a southern province of Portugal known for its vast agricultural estates, Saramago charts the lives of the Mau-Tempos as national and international events rumble on in the background - the coming of the republic in Portugal, the First and Second World Wars, and an attempt on the dictator Salazar's life. Yet, nothing really impinges on the grim reality of the farm labourers' lives until the first communist stirrings. Finally published for the first time in English, "Raised from the Ground" is highly political yet full of Saramago's characteristic humour and humanity, and his most autobiographical and deeply personal novel. As full of love as it is of pain, it is a vivid, moving tribute to the men and women among whom Saramago lived as a child, and a fascinating insight into the early work of this literary giant.

About this title

From the Inside Flap:

A multigenerational family saga that paints a sweeping portrait of twentieth-century Portugal

First published in 1980, the City of Lisbon Prize–winning Raised from the Ground follows the changing fortunes of the Mau Tempo family—poor landless peasants not unlike Saramago’s own grandparents. Set in Alentejo, a southern province of Portugal known for its vast agricultural estates, the novel charts the lives of the Mau Tempos as national and international events rumble on in the background—the coming of the republic in Portugual, the two World Wars, and an attempt on the dictator Salazar’s life. Yet nothing really impinges on the grim reality of the farm laborers’ lives until the first communist stirrings.

Finally available in English, Raised from the Ground is Saramago’s most deeply personal novel, the book in which he found the signature style and voice that distinguishes all of his brilliant work.

Translated from the Portuguese by Margaret Jull Costa

From the Back Cover:

Praise for José Saramago

“With parables sustained by imagination, compassion, and irony, José Saramago continually enables us once again to apprehend an illusory reality.” — Nobel Prize committee

“Saramago is a writer, like Faulkner, so confident of his resources and ultimate destination that he can bring any improbability to life.” — John Updike

“José Saramago will be a permanent part of the Western canon . . . In all of his wonderful meditations upon the ruefulness of our lives, there is always the spirit of laughter beckoning us in the art of somehow going on. His achievement is one of the enlargements of life.” — Harold Bloom

“He got ahead of us; he is ahead of us. His work belongs to our future.” — Ursula K. Le Guin

About this edition

• Publisher: Random House
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 1846557062
• ISBN 13: 9781846557064
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 387