|
|
🦋 The Third Author
That would be just punishment, said the fat woman, in payment for all the misery they have caused our people, Scarceley in payment, rejoined the café-owner, since for every outrage commited against us, we have paid back in kind at least a hundredfold, But my eyes are like dead doves that will never more return to their senses, said the muezzin.
Are the scenes in The History of the Siege of Lisbon that take place in Moorish Lisbon part of the book Raimundo is writing? I got the strong sense during the first such scene that it was happeing in Raimundo's imagination; he had not started writing his book at this point, but it could certainly works to think of it as a precursor to that. But his book is about the crusaders -- I don't see room in it for the close portraits of what's happening among the Moors. Are they part of the book Saramago is writing about Raimundo writing his book? Obviously in a sense yes, but Saramago's book is set in modern Lisbon. I was thinking of saying this is a third book being written by a third author, one who shares attributes of both Saramago and Raimundo. Raimundo lives in a historically-Moorish section of Lisbon and a part of his imagination identifies with its inhabitants. The blind muezzin is the interface between his story and Saramago's.
 This idea needs heavy revision. Of course much of the book Raimundo is writing will take place in Moorish Lisbon; it is the History of the Siege of that town after all. Once the crusaders have refused to help King Afonso and left, he will need to write a lot about events in Lisbon. I think the author's voice in these sections sounds different, more confident, than the voice narrating the meetings between Afonso and the crusaders -- perhaps that is because Raimundo is more familiar with the world of daily affairs in Lisbon than with the world of noblemen planning warfare against Lisbon.
posted afternoon of Saturday, June 27th, 2009
➳ More posts about The History of the Siege of Lisbon
➳ More posts about José Saramago
➳ More posts about Readings
| |
|
Drop me a line! or, sign my Guestbook.
•
Check out Ellen's writing at Patch.com.
| |
Les Plages d'Ã?gnes opens this week! A.O. Scott has a wonderfully evocative 
Some 