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Kalliope's Reviews > A Jangada de Pedra
A Jangada de Pedra
by
As I was getting ready to travel around the Iberian Peninsula and fly to Porto, I pulled out this book detaching it from the bookshelves to which it belonged. Since it had been in my shelves for quite a few years, I dreaded that in its immobility it had petrified and that it had lost its nature as a book. But no, there it was, flexible as a thin stack of paper, and with the pages printed, ready for my eyes to scan its graphics. And ready for travel too.
Saramago’s novel chronicles how the Iberian Peninsula, by detaching itself from the European continent along the middle of the Pyrenees departed on a journey, and narrates the wandering of a few Iberian individuals--both Portuguese and Spanish, around the floating Peninsula, no longer a geographic entity, but a huge stone floating and mobile raft.
These individuals have been united in their shared perplexity at the extraordinary phenomenon, and by their suspicion that they are jointly but independently responsible, and in a most esoteric chain of eccentric causality, for the detachment of their countries from Europe.
My edition is in Portuguese, although I had borrowed a Spanish version to keep on the side and help me in case I felt I was drowning in Portuguese (afogar � ahogar). But no, I floated in Portuguese (flutuar � flotar) and I enjoyed the different waters � less salty. And this wavering between the two languages was suitable, since Saramago, who obviously wrote it in his language, had settled in Spain (in Tenerife, one of the Canary islands). The book has many references and comparisons between the two languages using Spanish ones whenever he thinks they are more suitable, and Saramago rings the echoes of various Spanish and Portuguese literary figures. The wandering chevaliers are literary heirs of Don Quixote, and the featured donkey can only be named Platero Platero and I, and the characters have expressed concern about where Antonio Machado was buried. And of course there is Pessoa's shadow.
Saramago was of the opinion that the two countries should be united and this was written when they entered the EEC on Janurary 1st, 1986. And that is the year when this novel was written.
In his delightful and inimitable style Saramago concocts his idiosyncratic mixture of the absurd and the common sense. With his pen the absurd becomes common and the common sense has an absurd tone to it. What he calls the ±õ²Ô²õó±ô¾±³Ù´Ç and the ³§Ã³±ô¾±³Ù´Ç (and the latter is an invented word, and so his comparison becomes more goofy). This is Saramago’s stamp.
Saramago, together with the story of his quixotic and diverse wanderers of this floating raft—which, in contrast to Odysseus, moves away from home rather than towards it, and in so doing distances itself from the Mediterranean as it advances West onto the Atlantic--, has also developed a parallel story-line with the geopolitical implications on an international scale. The balance of powers is dislocated as this floating island moves towards the Americas and Lisbon is getting ready to become a facing neighbor to Atlantic City. What are the responses of the other Europeans; what happens with Gibraltar; how the tensions between Canada and the US increase as the latter seems to be calling the shots in the new North-Atlantic allegiance... Or once it seems the stone raft is heading South, the concern of the US President with their missiles grounded in Iberia and whether they will have to deploy them against the penguins...And a long and rich and entertaining etcetera.
But with all the wit, and the humour, and the irony and the absurdity, there is also a loving tone when addressing cherished human subjects, such as love, companionship and loyalty.
And beneath all this absurdity on a geographical, political, personal level, there is the understated question of the nature of identity.
And in this Saramago remains provocative. But that could be another review.
------
I dedicate this review to the citizens of Greece, hoping that they will not detach themselves from Europe.
by
As I was getting ready to travel around the Iberian Peninsula and fly to Porto, I pulled out this book detaching it from the bookshelves to which it belonged. Since it had been in my shelves for quite a few years, I dreaded that in its immobility it had petrified and that it had lost its nature as a book. But no, there it was, flexible as a thin stack of paper, and with the pages printed, ready for my eyes to scan its graphics. And ready for travel too.
Saramago’s novel chronicles how the Iberian Peninsula, by detaching itself from the European continent along the middle of the Pyrenees departed on a journey, and narrates the wandering of a few Iberian individuals--both Portuguese and Spanish, around the floating Peninsula, no longer a geographic entity, but a huge stone floating and mobile raft.
These individuals have been united in their shared perplexity at the extraordinary phenomenon, and by their suspicion that they are jointly but independently responsible, and in a most esoteric chain of eccentric causality, for the detachment of their countries from Europe.
My edition is in Portuguese, although I had borrowed a Spanish version to keep on the side and help me in case I felt I was drowning in Portuguese (afogar � ahogar). But no, I floated in Portuguese (flutuar � flotar) and I enjoyed the different waters � less salty. And this wavering between the two languages was suitable, since Saramago, who obviously wrote it in his language, had settled in Spain (in Tenerife, one of the Canary islands). The book has many references and comparisons between the two languages using Spanish ones whenever he thinks they are more suitable, and Saramago rings the echoes of various Spanish and Portuguese literary figures. The wandering chevaliers are literary heirs of Don Quixote, and the featured donkey can only be named Platero Platero and I, and the characters have expressed concern about where Antonio Machado was buried. And of course there is Pessoa's shadow.
Saramago was of the opinion that the two countries should be united and this was written when they entered the EEC on Janurary 1st, 1986. And that is the year when this novel was written.
In his delightful and inimitable style Saramago concocts his idiosyncratic mixture of the absurd and the common sense. With his pen the absurd becomes common and the common sense has an absurd tone to it. What he calls the ±õ²Ô²õó±ô¾±³Ù´Ç and the ³§Ã³±ô¾±³Ù´Ç (and the latter is an invented word, and so his comparison becomes more goofy). This is Saramago’s stamp.
Saramago, together with the story of his quixotic and diverse wanderers of this floating raft—which, in contrast to Odysseus, moves away from home rather than towards it, and in so doing distances itself from the Mediterranean as it advances West onto the Atlantic--, has also developed a parallel story-line with the geopolitical implications on an international scale. The balance of powers is dislocated as this floating island moves towards the Americas and Lisbon is getting ready to become a facing neighbor to Atlantic City. What are the responses of the other Europeans; what happens with Gibraltar; how the tensions between Canada and the US increase as the latter seems to be calling the shots in the new North-Atlantic allegiance... Or once it seems the stone raft is heading South, the concern of the US President with their missiles grounded in Iberia and whether they will have to deploy them against the penguins...And a long and rich and entertaining etcetera.
But with all the wit, and the humour, and the irony and the absurdity, there is also a loving tone when addressing cherished human subjects, such as love, companionship and loyalty.
And beneath all this absurdity on a geographical, political, personal level, there is the understated question of the nature of identity.
And in this Saramago remains provocative. But that could be another review.
------
I dedicate this review to the citizens of Greece, hoping that they will not detach themselves from Europe.
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Reading Progress
November 26, 2012
– Shelved
November 26, 2012
– Shelved as:
fiction-portuguese
May 21, 2015
–
Started Reading
May 22, 2015
–
4.24%
"On the inability of writers to deal with simultaneity... brilliant paragraph."
page
14
May 22, 2015
–
8.18%
".. mas as palavras, assim nós as fizemos, têm muito de bom, ajudam, só porque as dizemos exageradas logo alivia os sustos e as emoções, porqué, porque os dramatizam."
page
27
May 23, 2015
–
13.33%
"â€�. alguns paÃses membros chegaram a manifestar um certo desprendimento, palavra sobre todas exacta, indo ao ponto de insinuar que se a PenÃnsula Ibérica se queria ir embora, então que fosse, o erro foi tê-la deixado entrar."
page
44
May 24, 2015
–
15.15%
".. praia do norte do Portugal, talvez Afife, a das pedras enigmáticas, talvez A-Ver-o-Mar, esta melhor seria, por ter o mais perfeito nome de praia que se poderia imaginar, poetas e romancistas de livros não o inventariam."
page
50
May 24, 2015
–
16.36%
"Por esse caminho, depois de examinarem os casos insólitos, terão de passar a os caso sólitos. Casos quê, ³§Ã³±ô¾±³Ù´Çs. Que quer dizer essa palavra, ³§Ã³±ô¾±³Ù´Ç e o contrario de insólito, o seu antónimo."
page
54
May 24, 2015
–
17.88%
"... lhe coça o testuz entre os olhos, a palavra é castelhana, mas usa-se aqui por fazer falta em português."
page
59
May 24, 2015
–
21.52%
"Quem conto um conto, de não contar outro se dará desconto.
Como é que o seu burro se chama, Um burro não se chama, chamam-lhe, Então, como é que chama ao seu burro, Platero, E vão de viagem, Platero e yo."
page
71
Como é que o seu burro se chama, Um burro não se chama, chamam-lhe, Então, como é que chama ao seu burro, Platero, E vão de viagem, Platero e yo."
May 24, 2015
–
22.73%
"A mais fácil das coisas difÃceis do mundo seria salvar Veneza, bastava fechar a laguna, ligar as ilhas umas à outras de modo a não poder entrar o mar à vontade, se os italianos não forem capazes de dar conta do recado sozinhos, chamem-se os holandeses, é gente para pôr Veneza em seco enquanto o diabo esfrega um olho."
page
75
May 27, 2015
–
24.85%
".. é de humano costume declarar o que somos antes de dizer o que vimos.."
page
82
May 27, 2015
–
30.61%
"Saramago playing with homonyms..
..a ele tanto lhe importa que a penÃnsula navegue como não, não será por ela...
As crianças sujas sujam muito..."
page
101
..a ele tanto lhe importa que a penÃnsula navegue como não, não será por ela...
As crianças sujas sujam muito..."
May 27, 2015
–
32.42%
"O homem é um ser inteligente, sem dúvida, mas não tanto quanto seria desejável, e esta é uma verificação e confissão de humildade que sempre deverá começar por nos próprios, como da caridade bem compreendida se diz, antes que no-lo atirem à cara."
page
107
May 29, 2015
–
35.76%
"Estes procedimentos comuns não são incompatÃveis com o espÃrito resoluto, dê-se o exemplo de Otelo, que, estando constipado e sem dar pelo que fazia ridiculamente se assoou antes de matar Desdémona,"
page
118
May 29, 2015
–
40.0%
"Salvo se, afinal, és muito mais maquiavélico do que mostras fazendo de conta que querer provar o contrario do que de facto pensas ou sentes para que eu julgue que o que sentes ou pensas é precisamente o que só pareces querer provar..."
page
132
June 3, 2015
–
42.12%
"..mas um italiano, ainda que muito menos sábio, porém reforçado pelo precedente histórico e cientÃfico murmurou, mas não tão baixo que o não ouvisse aquele providencial ser que tudo escuta, E pur si muove."
page
139
June 3, 2015
–
44.55%
"Não terá sido tanto por causa dos insólitos a que estão ligados, mas porque os vi como pessoas separadas da lógica aparente do mundo, e assim precisamente me sinto eu..."
page
147
June 3, 2015
–
52.12%
"A palavra juntos não se diz da mesma maneira em castelhano e em português."
page
172
June 3, 2015
–
57.27%
"As notÃcias são palavras, nunca se chega bem a saber se as palavras são notÃcias."
page
189
June 6, 2015
–
60.0%
"Os homens também choram, não é vergonha nenhuma e só lhes fax bem."
page
198
June 6, 2015
–
62.12%
".. esta frase, que obviamente ofende a gramática e a lógica por excesso de lógica e talvez de gramática, deverá ficar sem correção, tal qual foi dita, acaso se lhe encontrará um particular sentido que a justifique e absolva, quem de palavras tenha experiência sabe que delas se deve esperar tudo."
page
205
June 6, 2015
–
64.85%
"Portugal e Espanha terão de resolver os seus problemas locais, menos os espanhóis do que nós, que a eles sempre a história e o destino trataram com mais do que evidente parcialidade"
page
214
June 6, 2015
–
72.42%
"Carpe Diem, o mérito destas velhas citações latinas está em conterem um mundo de significações segundas e terceiras, sem contar com as latentes e indefinidas, que quando a gente vai a traduzir."
page
239
June 9, 2015
–
74.85%
"Um por todos e todos por um, gritaram no seu tempo os três mosqueteiros, que eram quatro, e agora são cinco, sem falar no cão."
page
247
June 9, 2015
–
76.97%
"O que são as coisas, tÃnhamos nos deixado um Dois Cavalos e agora vamos viajar noutro, proponho que a galera passe a chamar-se Dois cavalos, de facto et de jure, como parece que em latim se diria, que eu latim não aprendi, é só de outiva, como dizia um avô meu que também não conhecia a lÃngua desses seus antepassados."
page
254
June 17, 2015
–
86.67%
"Uma palavra, quando dita, dura mais que o som e os sons que a formaram, fica por aÃ, invisÃvel e inaudÃvel para poder guardar o seu próprio segredo, uma espécie de semente oculta debaixo da terra, que germina longe dos olhos até que de repente afasta o torrão e aparece à luz, um talo enrolado, uma folha amarrotada que lentamente se desdobra."
page
286
June 17, 2015
–
88.48%
".. o peito de saudade, ou añoranza, para usar o vernáculo castelhano."
page
292
June 17, 2015
–
90.0%
"O tÃtulo que maior impressão causou produziu-o um jornal português, Precisa-se Novo Tratado de Tordesilhas."
page
297
June 17, 2015
–
90.61%
"Foi no âmbito destas negociações que os Estados Unidos fizeram saber a Portugal, numa audiência urgente pedida pelo embaixador Charles Dickens ao presidente da República.... o facto de o senhor embaixador ter escrito David Copperfield ao o autoriza a vir dar ordens na pátria de Camões e dos LusÃadas."
page
299
June 17, 2015
–
93.33%
"Talvez devesse ser sempre assim, onde estivesse um homem estar um animal com ele, um papagaio pousado no ombro, uma cobre enrolada no pulso, um escaravelho na lapela, um escorpião embolado, dirÃamos mesmo um piolho na cabeça se o anopluro não pertencesse à aborrecida espécie dos parasitas, que nem em insetos se atura, embora, coitados, não tenham culpa, foi a vontade divina."
page
308
June 17, 2015
–
96.36%
"..porque de mais nos tem ensinado a experiencia quanto são insuficientes as palavras à medida que nos aproximamos da fronteira do inefável, queremos dizer amor e não nos chega a lÃngua, queremos dizer quer e dizemos não posso, queremos pronunciar a palavra final e percebemos que já tÃnhamos voltado ao principio."
page
318
June 18, 2015
–
Finished Reading
Comments Showing 1-29 of 29 (29 new)
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Yoanna
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Jun 10, 2015 12:29PM
Deu a vontade de tentar ler esse livro em portugues :)
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Yoanna wrote: "Deu a vontade de tentar ler esse livro em portugues :)"Vale a pena. Eu realmente gosto do seu estilo.
I love those satellite images--they do have a way of giving one a new perspective on things. You've convinced me (as you so often do!) to add this one to my list though I'll have to rely on the English translation.Meanwhile, Kalliope, if your Stone Raft makes landfall near Boston drop me a line and we'll go the Museum of Fine Arts together ;)
If your book is as interesting as your excellent review then I might well take a look at it.
Hana wrote: "I love those satellite images--they do have a way of giving one a new perspective on things. You've convinced me (as you so often do!) to add this one to my list though I'll have to rely on the Eng..."LOL, yes.. the idea of the Peninsula attaching itself to the Eastern coast of North America was very funny... but then it moved south... which made the US president think that in that case they could only deploy their misiles (grounded in Iberia) on the penguins... May be I should add this to the review.
Just did.. that was rather funny.
Andrew wrote: "If your book is as interesting as your excellent review then I might well take a look at it."Thank you, Andrew... if you enjoyed the themes of the review, then you should read the book.. And Saramago's prose is captivating.
LuÃs wrote: "This book I haven't read yet."You would like this, LuÃs.. I want to read more Saramago soon.. Got one more book in Porto.. about Lisbon... My next Portuguese destiny.
LuÃs wrote: "Greece citizens would be very thankful!"These are difficult times...
LuÃs wrote: "..."Yes, I've been to Lisbon (for work also), but time to go back - soon... But loved Porto.
Another resplendent review, Kall! I ain't sure I possess a wild travel streak as you do but I think there should enough punch to get drowned in the Saramago sea ;)
Seemita wrote: "Another resplendent review, Kall! I ain't sure I possess a wild travel streak as you do but I think there should enough punch to get drowned in the Saramago sea ;)"Thank you, Seemita... Saramago's writing is as refreshing as a good swim in the sea...
LuÃs wrote: "Alentejo is also referenced in several books of Saramago."Thank you, Luis. I should look for this. He is critical of the overdevelopment in the Algarve.
I enjoyed that, Kalliope! Trust Saramago to look at pan-european identity from an original angle - and trust you to pick up on it and carry it even further! In any case, bem feito for reading this in Portuguese - Saramago is one writer I would love to be able to read in the original - I always think I'm missing some of his exquisite ironies in translation.;
Fionnuala wrote: "I enjoyed that, Kalliope! Trust Saramago to look at pan-european identity from an original angle - and trust you to pick up on it and carry it even further! In any case, bem feito for reading this..."
LOL.. yes, as I was writing my review, I became aware that I was departing from my original path as I realised that Saramago's story had an ominous tone to it, given what is happening these days....
I'm thinking that, so far anyway, the question is only if Greece will remove itself from the Euro, not from Europe? No?A nice symmetry: on the strength of your recommendation, even without the delicious review, I bought this in Óbidos. In a beautiful bookshop inside an old church.
Terrific reviewing, Kalliope. Good you read it in the original with Spanish side by side. Something of his intricate writings must be lost in the English idiom. Though that aside I enjoy how his premises often have a broader allegorical background to them.
·°²¹°ù±ð²Ô· wrote: "I'm thinking that, so far anyway, the question is only if Greece will remove itself from the Euro, not from Europe? No?A nice symmetry: on the strength of your recommendation, even without the de..."
Yes, but if in Saramago's world, a line drawn on the ground somewhere in Portugal could cause the split of the Pyrenees... who knows what a Grexit could cause?
Jibran wrote: "Terrific reviewing, Kalliope. Good you read it in the original with Spanish side by side. Something of his intricate writings must be lost in the English idiom. Though that aside I enjoy how his pr..."I have only read two Saramago's but your sense, on the allegorical aspect, sounds the right one.. I had wanted to develop more the search of identity issue, but realising the coincidence of this novel being written as these two countries entered the EEC and now Greece possibly leaving the Eurozone, made me park the exploration of the notion of identity to other of his works - since I suspect it was an ongoing preoccupation with Saramago.
Thank you for your comment, Jibran, since I know you are a fan of Saramago. I have enjoyed your reviews and they pave my way for further reading.
Likely they [Greeks] will 
Outstanding review! I need to read this, Saramago is brilliant (as is this review).
Owlseyes wrote: "Likely they [Greeks] will "deteach" ,I mean, detach, I mean they'll withdraw from the Euro; I mean, Grexit. They surely have other teachers,I mean,... lenders; I mean eastwards...."Any new lender will include tougher conditions...
s.penkevich wrote: "Outstanding review! I need to read this, Saramago is brilliant (as is this review)."Thank you, SPenk... My worry with this novel is that it could appeal only to those readers who have some interest in either/both of these two countries..., but Saramago's prose and subtle irony should make it interesting to other readers too.
Marita wrote: "As ever, an excellent review, Kalliope. And I share your hopes re Greece."Thank you, Marita....
I spent the morning reading the depressing news reports from Greece. From what we're hearing in the U.S. unless the creditors will take a haircut, the Greeks won't have any alternative but to exit. They can't withstand more austerity. Your excellent review provided a much needed diversion. I particularly liked your contrasts of the languages.
Loved your review, as always. And both the book and your review have been published in perfect timing with (then and now) current events! LOL
Gary wrote: "I spent the morning reading the depressing news reports from Greece. From what we're hearing in the U.S. unless the creditors will take a haircut, the Greeks won't have any alternative but to exit..."Very sad indeed. The tragic also is that Greece was beginning to grow, at a rate of about 3% when they changed government. In other countries, like those in this novel, the austerity measures have been painful but are bringing in the results. Porto seemed to be booming and I talked with a RE agency.
Linoca wrote: "Loved your review, as always. And both the book and your review have been published in perfect timing with (then and now) current events! LOL"Thank you, Linoca.
A beautiful review. If you want to help Greece, there's a kickstarter!
Wonderful review Kalliope.
