All the Names
by Jose Saramago, Margaret Costa

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Book Reviews of All the Names

Book Review: Still a good read though not up to par of Blindness
Summary: 4 Stars

Senhor José finds solace in collecting news clippings of the country's famous, notorious and elite. One night, seized by an impulse and despondence over the inadequacy of his collection, José scuttles across the threshold of the communicating door that parts his lodging from the Registry and pilfers from the file drawer five precious records cards of the famous people. No sooner has he finished copying carefully and returned the cards to their rightful places than he spots the extra card, the unwanted one that belongs to an unknown, ordinary woman. Until then José's tepid and quiet life is no longer the same as he becomes morbidly obsessed with this unknown woman.

What follows is our protagonist's exhaustive (and somehow preposterous) quest for the unknown woman through the clues that trail behind from the record cards: her most recent address, her last records from school, her neighbor from 33 years ago, and her parents. His anxiety and curiosity for this unknown woman tightens the grip to the point he doesn't feel right to resign himself. The obsession of the search in no time takes its toll. It inevitably manifests in mistakes at work, in lack of attention, in wane of precision, in sudden bouts of drowsiness during the day. The Registrar deems such poor standard of work can only be justified by some grave illness. Little does the Registrar know that José's irrepressible trembling is not the result of illness but panic, as he has committed an offense against the ethics of the Registry-infringement of privacy and forgery of credentials.

I'll most certainly leave the readers to learn the outcome of José's investigation. One common theme has surfaced in this novel. Like Saramago's other books such as Blindness, The Stone Raft and The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis, the notion of loneliness (isolation vs. connection) prevails and governs the shaping of Saramago's characters and the actions they take. José is a loner who only takes interest in people's birth certificate. Those whom he encounters and indebted upon, especially the woman who lives on the ground floor, suffers from loneliness as she purposely engages in a circuitous conversation with José since she has nobody to talk to. José's peers at work, who treats him with scornful commiseration, as they are jealous at the Registrar's unmerited favoritism toward José upon his recovery from illness, are lonely as well.

A sound quote from the book has always resonated in my mind, "I don't believe one can show greater respect than to weep for a stranger." (205) All The Names evokes the moment of recognition in the lives of the living and dead. Through the search for this woman to whom José has neither a personal or sentimental attachment, Saramago evokes in us the unbeatable and redemptive power of compassion, something that surpasses life and death and the vast interval of time that separates us from the most remote dead.

Saramago's writing is thought provoking as usual, richly marinated with philosophical overtones such as "[registry] routine presupposes unconscious certainty" and "we do not make decisions, decisions make us." (29) Throughout the book José engages in some importunate inner fantasy dialogues as well as conversation with the plaster ceiling. This book is not to be taken lightly. The richness and obscurity of the prose forbid you to rush through it but to let it seep through slowly. The shift in prose styling (from more taut, crisp and direct prose to a slightly more sating prose with cumbersome sentences) from Blindness and The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis makes All The Names a more difficult, arduous read. The embedded paragraphs and the omission of punctuation are signatures of Saramago that require readers to practice some patience. The premise of the story is still tantalizing but not quite up to par to the aforementioned titles. 4.2 stars.

Summary of All the Names

one poor researcher became lost in the labyrinthine catacombs of the archive of the dead, having come to the Central Registry in order to carry out some genealogical research he had been commissioned to undertake. He was discovered, almost miraculously, after a week, starving, thirsty, exhausted, delirious, having survived thanks to the desperate measure of ingesting enormous quantities of old documents that neither lingered in the stomach nor nourished, since they melted in the mouth without requiring any chewing.

A recurring theme in many of Saramago's novels is the very human struggle between withdrawal and connection. Whether it is the Iberian peninsula literally breaking off from the rest of Europe in The Stone Raft or an entire country afflicted by a devastating malady in Blindness, he is fascinated by the effects of isolation on the human soul and, correspondingly, the redemptive power of compassion. All the Names continues to mine this rich vein as the repressed clerk follows his unknown Ariadne's thread out of the labyrinth of his own strangled psyche and into life. Readers will find here Saramago's trademark love of the absurd, his brilliant imagery and idiosyncratic punctuation, as well as the unflinching yet tender honesty with which he chronicles the human condition. --Alix Wilber

Literary Books

• Subjects > Literature & Fiction > Literary
• Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Thrillers > Psychological Thrillers