'Let yourself be led by the child you were' - "The Book of Exhortations". Born in Portugal in 1922 in the tiny village of Azinhaga, Jose Saramago was only eighteen months old when he moved with his father and mother to live in a series of cramped lodgings in a working-class neighbourhood of Lisbon. Nevertheless, he would return to the village throughout his childhood and adolescence, its river landscape and olive groves seeping deep into his memory. Shifting back and forth between Azinhaga and Lisbon, this touching book is ...
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'Let yourself be led by the child you were' - "The Book of Exhortations". Born in Portugal in 1922 in the tiny village of Azinhaga, Jose Saramago was only eighteen months old when he moved with his father and mother to live in a series of cramped lodgings in a working-class neighbourhood of Lisbon. Nevertheless, he would return to the village throughout his childhood and adolescence, its river landscape and olive groves seeping deep into his memory. Shifting back and forth between Azinhaga and Lisbon, this touching book is a mosaic of memories, a gathering together of the fragmented recollections that make up the idea of one's youth. Lust, love, humiliation, aspiration - the raptures and miseries of childhood are beautifully captured: Saramago's grandparents bringing the weaker piglets into their bed to keep them warm; the young Jose proudly carrying his first balloon on a string, only to be mocked by two strangers as it empties of air, the shrivelled remains dragging behind him; his first encounter with literature as he listens entranced to a friend's mother reading out weekly instalments of Maria, the Fairy of the Forest, and the seven-year-old Jose doggedly teaching himself to read by deciphering articles in the daily newspaper brought home by his father. Written with Saramago's characteristic wit and honesty, "Small Memories" traces the formation of an artist fascinated by words and stories from an early age and who emerged, against all the odds, as one of the world's most respected writers.
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Add this copy of Small Memories to cart. $4.97, good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Reno rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Reno, NV, UNITED STATES, published 2009 by Harvill Press.
Add this copy of Small Memories to cart. $16.10, very good condition, Sold by Halcyon Books rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from LONDON, LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2009 by Harvill Secker.
Add this copy of Small Memories to cart. $22.69, poor condition, Sold by Hay-on-Wye Booksellers rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Hereford, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2009 by Harvill Secker.
Add this copy of Small Memories to cart. $34.71, like new condition, Sold by Bookcase rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Carlisle, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2009 by Harvill Secker.
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Seller's Description:
Illus. with photos. Fine copy in fine dust jacket. 8vo, 199 pp., Translated from the Portuguese by Margaret Jull Costa., With the author's ex-libris stamped in blue ink on the title page.
