José Saramago
January 7, 2015 at 6:01 pm
(This post was last modified: January 7, 2015 at 6:08 pm by 100 Years of Solitude.)
(Sorry in advance if there is already a thread about this)
If any fellow atheist (or religious) wants an author who highly criticises Christianity and the notion/concept of God then i recommend you the Portuguese Jose Saramago.
His writing style is hard at first but then as the poet Fenando Pessoa said (when he first tasted Coca Cola in 1927) "At first it's unfamiliar, then it strikes root."
![[Image: images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSXmzkpHLl6LNQlQDGVyRU...nXEgKgEYJo]](https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSXmzkpHLl6LNQlQDGVyRUnkGRn2B6qFpc9GB2LVKnXEgKgEYJo)
Here are some quotes from him (books,drafts..):
"... it is dreams that keep the world in orbit. But dreams also form a diadem of moons, therefore the sky is that splendour inside a man's head, if his head is not, in fact, his own unique sky." - Baltasar and Blimunda
"Perhaps only in a world of the blind will things be what they truly are." - Blindness
"God, the devil, good, evil, it's all in our heads, not in Heaven or Hell, which we also invented. We do not realize that, having invented God, we immediately became His slaves."- from an interview to El País (2009)
"Deep down, the problem is not a God that does not exist, but the religion that proclaims Him. I denounce religions, all religions, as harmful to Humankind. These are harsh words, but one must say them."- from an interview to Globo (2009)
Among his stellar work i recommend:
![[Image: 828__240x_baltasar-and_-blimunda-front_-cover_.jpg]](https://images.weserv.nl/?url=jamespreynolds.com%2Fwp-content%2Fgallery%2Fcache%2F828__240x_baltasar-and_-blimunda-front_-cover_.jpg)
Baltasar and Blimunda- a novel set in a time where the church had absolute and undisputed power and through inquisition sent thousands, man and woman, children acused of heresy to the stake. A man, whose left hand is missing, a woman, who has magical powers (it's not fiction but magic realism) and a priest, who questions the existance of God; defy the conventions of the time and dare to fly, dare to dream.
It details meticulously the barbarities perpetrated by the inquisition during the "autos de fé" (where the acused were executed, burning at the stake) through gritty irony, always present in his writing and denounces the excesses and hipocrisy of the monarchy and the cleric (Church).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baltasar_and_Blimunda
Thanks for devoting time to read all this.
If any fellow atheist (or religious) wants an author who highly criticises Christianity and the notion/concept of God then i recommend you the Portuguese Jose Saramago.
His writing style is hard at first but then as the poet Fenando Pessoa said (when he first tasted Coca Cola in 1927) "At first it's unfamiliar, then it strikes root."
Here are some quotes from him (books,drafts..):
"... it is dreams that keep the world in orbit. But dreams also form a diadem of moons, therefore the sky is that splendour inside a man's head, if his head is not, in fact, his own unique sky." - Baltasar and Blimunda
"Perhaps only in a world of the blind will things be what they truly are." - Blindness
"God, the devil, good, evil, it's all in our heads, not in Heaven or Hell, which we also invented. We do not realize that, having invented God, we immediately became His slaves."- from an interview to El País (2009)
"Deep down, the problem is not a God that does not exist, but the religion that proclaims Him. I denounce religions, all religions, as harmful to Humankind. These are harsh words, but one must say them."- from an interview to Globo (2009)
Among his stellar work i recommend:
Baltasar and Blimunda- a novel set in a time where the church had absolute and undisputed power and through inquisition sent thousands, man and woman, children acused of heresy to the stake. A man, whose left hand is missing, a woman, who has magical powers (it's not fiction but magic realism) and a priest, who questions the existance of God; defy the conventions of the time and dare to fly, dare to dream.
It details meticulously the barbarities perpetrated by the inquisition during the "autos de fé" (where the acused were executed, burning at the stake) through gritty irony, always present in his writing and denounces the excesses and hipocrisy of the monarchy and the cleric (Church).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baltasar_and_Blimunda
Thanks for devoting time to read all this.
