The notebook

Summary: Provocative and lyrical, The Notebook records a year in the life of José Saramago, beginning on the eve of the 2008 US presidential election, the author started jotting down his reflections on the world in which he lives. In these pages, he evokes life in his beloved city of Lisbon, revisits conversations with friends, and meditates on his favourite authors. Precise observations and moments of arresting significance are rendered with pointillist detail, and together demonstrate an acute understanding of our times. Characteristically critical and uncompromising, Saramago dissects the financial crisis, deplores Israel's bombardment of Gaza, traces the ongoing inquiry into the execution of the Brazilian Jean Charles de Menezes on the London Underground, and charts the transition from the era of George W. Bush to that of Barack Obama.