I gave up on a book last night.  I hate it when that happens, and I tend to dwell on it and wonder why.  So now you all get to "dwell on it" right along with me.  This was a book by a Nobel prizewinning author, so I'm supposed to like it.  I know this wasn't the author's best-known book, but I still expected more.  Saramago's style is unusual -- a bit like Salman Rushdie -- so yes, you have to work at it a bit.  I came to this book after a string of fantastic reads in July, and 5 of my last 6 books were written by women.  Did this make a difference?  Who knows ... but I've now moved on to another book by one of my favorite female authors:  Isabel Allende's Paula.  So what follows is my non-review of Baltasar and Blimunda ....
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Baltasar and Blimunda
Jose Saramago 


In Portugal during the 1700s, Baltasar returned home from war and fell immediately in love with Blimunda, a woman with the power to "see inside" others. They encounter a priest on a quest to build a flying machine, and begin working for him in pursuit of the same goal. And then it all got a bit far-fetched.

I wanted to like this book, and I gave it a good try by reading more than halfway through. However, the characters lacked depth. Baltasar and Blimunda, supposedly deep in love, seemed like two people going through the motions of life, let alone their relationship. Saramago uses the story to take satiric shots at the church and the monarchy, which provided mild amusement, but overall I was disappointed in this book.

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