José Saramago was a Portuguese writer and journalist who began writing novels later in life after 50 years old. He went on to win the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1998 and the Camões Prize, the most important literary prize of the Portuguese language. Saramago is known for his unique narrative style that uses long sentences and unconventional punctuation. He faced censorship from the Portuguese government and Catholic Church for his novel "The Gospel According to Jesus Christ", which portrayed Jesus as human. Saramago spent his later years living in Lanzarote, Canary Islands until his death in 2010 at age 87.

1. And it all happened in the
autumn…

2. A story about a man who
began everything later in his
life:
• to writer books (after 50
years old);
• to know his great love (63
years old);
• to win the Nobel of
Literature (after 70);
• to travel all the world
releasing his books (between
70 and 86 years old).
He came to Brazil with 86
years old. He said the
Portuguese Language is the
most beautiful language of
the world...

3. José Saramago
He was:
• Writer
• Argumentator
• Journalist
• Short story writer
• Novelist
• Portuguese poet

4. • a family of parents and grandparents farmers; economic difficulties prevent him from
entering the university;
• His life is spent largely in Lisbon, where the family moved in 1924 – he was a boy of only
two years old;
• He graduated from a technical school. His first job was a mechanic;
• Fascinated by the books, visited at night, with great frequency, the Central Public Library
-Galveias Palace.
The village
Azinhaga
in the
Ribatejo Province,
Portugal
On 1922,November 16

5. • At age 25, publishes first novel, “Terra do pecado” (Land of Sin -1947);
• At that time, Saramago was a government official.
• In 1955 to increase his income, began to make translations of Hegel, Tolstoy and
Baudelaire, among others;
• He was a member of the Portuguese Communist Party;
• Like journalist was director of the News Daily and Lisbon Daily, but he was fired by the
military (1975).

6. "(…) Estava à espera de que as pedras
do puzzle do destino – supondo-se
que haja destino, não creio que haja –
se organizassem. É preciso que cada
um de nós ponha a sua própria pedra,
e a que eu pus foi esta: "Não vou
procurar trabalho",
Dismissed, Saramago decides to dedicate himself solely to the literature,
replacing the journalist by the novelist:
"(...) I was waiting for the stones of the puzzle of the fate were to organize
itself - assuming there is fate, do not think there is. It’s necessary that each
one of us put his own stone, and that I put was this: "I'm not looking for
work,"
Saramago said in an interview with Playboy magazine in 1995.

7. Great love
In 1988, he married a Spanish journalist and translator Maria del Pilar
del Río Sánchez, who met in 1986 and lived until his death.

8. Books
(and others)

9. In the book “O Evangelho segundo Jesus Cristo” (1991) Saramago rewrites the holy book
from the perspective of a Christ is not God and rebels against his fate . Christ is human and
has carnal relations with Maria Madalena.
He denounces the religions, all religions. He uses hard words: the religions are noxious to
humanity.
The book was considered offensive by many sectors of the Catholic community; he suffered
religious persecution in his own country;
The Portuguese government , pressured by the Catholic Church, vetoed this book from a list of
candidates for a novel Portuguese European literary prize for "undermining Christian morality."

10. In response to this act of the Secretary of State, which he considered censorious, Saramago
abandoned Portugal, moved to the island of Lanzarote, Canary Islands, where he remained
until his death.

11. • He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1998.;
• He also won the Camões Prize, the most important
literary prize of the Portuguese language.
• Saramago was considered responsible for the effective
international recognition of prose in Portuguese language.

12. • José Saramago was known for using an oral
style, where communication is more important
than the correction of a written language.
• He uses long phrases and sentences, using
punctuation in an unconventional way;
• The dialogues of the characters are inserted in
individual paragraphs, no indents on its books.
• Many of his sentences occupy more than one
page, using commas where most writers would
end points.
• Therefore, if the reader becomes used to his
style, his reading is very nice because its pace is
very close to oral eloquence of the Portuguese
people.

13. ("My daughter and future queen, don’t take the time which
should be of prayer, time in vain thoughts, such are those, the
real will of your father and Our Lord wanted that raised the
convent, the same real will want that you go to Spain and
convent don't see, only the will of The King prevails, the rest is
nothing. So this infant is nothing, nothing the men who go to
the front, nothing this cart leads us, nothing that officer who
goes to rain and look at me, nothing. This is so, my daughter
and more for extending your life, better you will see that the
world is like a big shadow that is going on inside of our hearts,
so the world becomes empty and the heart cannot resist. Oh,
my mother, what it is to be born? To be born is to die, Maria
Barbara.
The best of these long trips are philosophical discussions.”)
Minha filha e futura rainha, não retires ao tempo o que deve ser de
oração, o tempo de vãos pensamentos, tais são esses, a real vontade
de teu pai e senhor nosso quis que se levantasse o convento, a mesma
real vontade quer que vás para a Espanha e o convento não vejas, só a
vontade de El rei prevalece , o resto é nada. Então é nada esta infante
que sou, nada os homens que vão além, nada este coche que nos leva,
nada aquele oficial que ali vai à chuva e olha para mim, nada. Assim é
minha filha e quando mais se for prolongando a tua vida, melhor verás
que o mundo é como uma grande sombra que vai passando para
dentro do nosso coração, por isso o mundo se torna vazio e o coração
não resiste. Oh, minha mãe, que é nascer. Nascer é morrer, Maria
Barbara.
O melhor das viagens longas são estes filosóficos debates."
My sin is
greater than Saramago!

14. • Saramago died on June 18, 2010 with 87 years old, at his home in Lanzarote where he
lived with his wife Pilar del Rio, a victim of chronic leukemia;
• His funeral has honors of state, having his body was cremated at the cemetery of St.
John's High in Lisbon.