Skylight (Vintage Classics)

A staggering read and journey through the understanding of man and his inner, as well as his outer, workings. I loved this work. Being a big José fan I galloped through this tale of lives interwoven in a time that no longer exist but still apply to our lives today. We fail we get up we disappoint each other we look out for each other. It is with sadness I say goodbye to Silvestré and Donna...you became part of my life, but sadly Don José is no longer with us to tell us if the wife returned to her husband, if Abel moved his lodgings, if the lady kept in leisurely luxury by using her beautiful body found another paying lover and if you sisters lived happily ever after. Brilliant and highly recommended read.

Compared with the epic social and political themes of José Saramago's later work in `Raised from the Ground', this early novel, lost for decades at the publisher, focuses on individual and family lives in a 1950s Lisbon apartment block. The strains and tensions of intimate personal hopes, family relationship, and wider social interaction are deeply examined and considered. Despite covering several families and persona, Saramago succeeds in weaving a compelling story between them which is memorable and captivating. Sexual desire, interwoven with financial circumstance, powerfully influences social, family, and employment outcomes. The one weak point is the closing dialogue on the hope for a strong role for love, which is somewhat unconvincing. Nevertheless, this is a great work. Its late publication sadly demonstrates publishers' focus on name recognition above content.

An eye opener for Saramago's early style. Really enjoyed it.

Contains a description of an assault which I found extremely offensive, otherwise rather dull with a rather annoying excess of adjectives

great read

A very good read

‘Skylight’ is a novel returned from publishing limbo. It was submitted to a publisher by Jose Saramago in 1953: they neither accepted it nor rejected it. He did not hear from the publisher again until 1989 when, after rediscovering the manuscript, they wrote to Saramago saying it would be an honour to publish it. Saramago refused, and, according to his wife, vowed that it would not be published in his lifetime. Jose Saramago died in 2010, and ‘Skylight’ was published in 2011.I read ‘Skylight’ in 2015. By then, I’d read ‘Blindness’ and ‘The Elephant’s Journey’ and was keen to read other Saramago novels (in English translation).‘Skylight’ is a very different novel from the other two I’ve read. It is more conventional in presentation, more focussed on what might seem to be on the ‘normal’ lives of six families living in apartments in an old Lisbon house during the 1940s. There are two apartments on each of the three floors, and we are introduced to each of the families during the first chapter. On the ground floor there’s an elderly cobbler and his wife. They take in a lodger. Opposite them is a Spanish woman, unhappily married to a Portuguese man. They have a ten-year-old son. On the next floor is another couple, a woman with a brutish husband. Opposite, a woman is kept as a mistress by a businessman who visits her three times a week. On the top floor is a couple with their 19-year-old daughter. The second apartment on the top floor is occupied by four women: two unmarried sisters in their thirties, their mother and their aunt. Each of the families struggles to make ends meet, while the woman kept as a mistress is imprisoned by a form of ownership and expectation.As the narrative moves between the apartments, we learn about the lives and loves, the jealousy and gossip of those who live inside. After learning about the occupants of each apartment, we start to see their interactions with each other: the joys and griefs of ordinary people.While I’m glad I read this novel, it did not move me in the same way as ‘Blindness’ or challenge me as did ‘The Elephant’s Journey’. Instead, it gave me a sense of a writer exploring structure, of considering ways in which to present his narratives. I wondered whether not hearing from the publisher for over 30 years influenced the way in which Saramago wrote his later fiction.Jennifer Cameron-Smith

Set in an apartment building, Skylight follows the trials and tribulations its inhabitants. Ranging from a crises of identity to sordid infidelity (and everything in between), this is a definite page-turner.This is one of Saramago’s early novels and those familiar with his work can see the beginnings of that razor sharp narrative eye capturing so succinctly the human condition and as always sprinkled with good humour. The chapters are short making it good for reading on the go. The ending is somewhat abrupt but he juggles so many storylines that something had to give way.In any case, this is a very engaging, timeless piece of writing and a guaranteed good read.