Blindness – José Saramago (1997)
A harrowing allegory of human fragility and resilience, Blindness depicts an unnamed city struck by a sudden epidemic of “white blindness.” As society collapses into chaos, a small group of survivors—including an ophthalmologist’s wife who inexplicably retains her sight—navigates the brutality and primal instincts of the newly blind. Saramago’s signature style (dense paragraphs, minimal punctuation) immerses readers in the disorienting darkness, while the novel interrogates power, morality, and what it means to see in a world stripped of humanity’s illusions.
If You Appreciated This, Try:
- The Plague (Albert Camus, 1947) – Another existential exploration of epidemic and societal breakdown.
- The Road (Cormac McCarthy, 2006) – A father and son’s journey through post-apocalyptic desolation.
- Station Eleven (Emily St. John Mandel, 2014) – A lyrical take on art and survival after collapse.
