![]() The tone is light, even humorous and Saramago indulges himself in some linguistic jokes which he so loves. Since the primary form they take in this early part of the synoptic gospels is of angels appearing, Saramago allows thereĪre angels, but disguises them as beggars or other more human forms, even as Herod's soldiers. Throughout much of this first third Saramago seems reluctant to allow miracles to occur in any obvious fashion. I was reminded of the character Tevya in Fiddler on the Roof. He fills his days with the traditional blessings for virtually every act one can imagine and stays in frequent discourse with his God. Joseph is deeply religious, interrupting his work of carpentry to sit at the temple of Nazareth as often as he can. ![]() As we meet them Joseph and Mary are a young married couple, he barely 20 she in her mid-teens. The opening third of the novel is dominated by the question of guilt and features a brilliant tactic of Saramago's, the construction of a coherent historical tale surrounding the traditional Biblical story which becomes more compelling than the sketchy gospel account. This is the gospel according to Jose Saramago and it is an irreverent, profound, skeptical, funny, heretical, deeply philosophical, provocative and compelling work. ![]() New York: Harcourt Brace and Company, 1994 Translated from the Portuguese by Giovanni Pontiero from the 1991 O EVANGELHO SEGUNDO JESUS CRISTO. The Gospel According to Jesus Christ by Jose Saramago THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO JESUS CHRISTīy Jose Saramago. ![]()
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