The most gifted novelist alive in the world today. -- Harold Bloom
Saramago is one of Europe's most original and remarkable writers ... His writing is imbued with a spirit of comic inquiry, meditative pessimism and a quietly transforming energy that turns the indefinite into the unforgettable. -- Richard Eder * Los Angeles Times *
Saramago is a writer, like Faulkner, so confident of his resources and ultimate destination that he can bring any improbability to life. -- John Updike * New Yorker *
In the craft of the sentence, Jose? Saramago is one of the great originals. His prose is a voice that envelops all voices: it is like the universe's immanent murmur ... No one writes quite like Saramago, so solicitous and yet so magnificently free. -- Steven Poole * Guardian *
I'm hard pressed to think of another writer who makes me stop as Saramago does, to go back and discover the meaning of history or allegory in all its wild newness. -- Julian Evans * Financial Times *
Fascinating and smart and provocative, and a lot of fun to dip into. * New York Times *
The book presents an intelligent twist on the blogs-turned-books phenomenon, proving that the two mediums are compatible beyond social curios and cultural gimmicks ... The Notebook is a unique glimpse into the candid ruminations of one of the most talented living writers. * Flavorwire *
Impenitently enraged and tender. -- Umberto Eco
His blogs... reveal an often sharp, sometimes mischievous, engagement with the world. -- Maya Jaggi * Guardian *
A bittersweet delight. -- Boyd Tonkin * Independent *
The world is poorer without Saramago, but these notes are a testament to his energy. -- Tom Payne * Daily Telegraph *
Given that most blogs that make it to print seem to involve someone sharing too much information about their sex lives, there's something refreshing about Saramago taking the form to a more elevated plain, crafting apercus on all manner of subjects. * Metro *
A provocative miscellany of occasional pieces. * Financial Times *
Cogent, deft and brisk ... the deeper you delve, a broad, humane political philosophy begins to emerge. * Sunday Herald (Glasgow) *
Saramago enjoys picking up a passing thought or an incident and running with it, confident in his political outrage, calm in his appreciation of friends, considered in his aphoristic criticism of culture. * Times *
One of the fine things about The Notebook is that it prompts a reappraisal of Saramago's fiction ... One can admire the enormous risk Saramago has taken. Rather than place himself and his words above the collective shout, he let himself become a part of the roar, an equal standing and writing citizen. This is the gift he gives us in these blog essays. * Quarterly Conversation *
