The Small Memories

The calligraphy on the cover is by the writer Gonçalo M. Tavares.

As Pequenas Memórias is a book of memories covering the period between the four and fifteen years of José Saramago's life: «I wanted readers to know where the man I am came from»

"Small Memories" is a book of recollections covering the period between the ages of four and fifteen in José Saramago's life. The author had "Small Memories" in mind for over 20 years, so the time to write it was now: "I wanted readers to know where the man I am came from.".

"Small Memories" is a book of recollections covering the period between the ages of four and fifteen in José Saramago's life. The author had "Small Memories" in mind for over 20 years, so the time to write it was now: "I wanted readers to know where the man I am came from.".

Circle of Readers

2007

In seinen feinfühligen Prosaminiaturen zeichnet José Saramago eindrückliche Bilder vom Leben auf dem portugiesischen Land, wohin er auch nach dem Umzug nach Lissabon immer wieder zurückkehrt. Er erzählt von schwächlichen Ferkeln, die nachts im Ehebett schlafen dürfen, von aufgeschlagenen Knien, Steinschleudern oder der Jagd nach Fröschen, aber auch vom geliebten Großvater, davon, wie er sich selbst das Schreiben beibrachte und in der Schule zum Klassenbesten wurde. Unter die privaten Erlebnisse mischen sich poetische Reflexionen und Betrachtungen über Gott und die Welt, die diese kleinen Erinnerungen zur großartigen Lektüre machen.

Der Literaturnobelpreisträger José Saramago stammt aus ärmlichen Verhältnissen in der portugiesischen Provinz Ribatejo und wuchs dort und in Lissabon auf. Die «kleinen Erinnerungen» schildern seine Kindheit und Jugend, ein bewegtes, farbiges Leben zwischen städtischer und ländlicher Kultur, und sie beschreiben – durchzogen von poetischen Reflexionen, historischen Betrachtungen und privaten Reminiszenzen – den Werdegang und künstlerischen Reifeprozess eines der größten lebenden Autoren Europas.

Der Literaturnobelpreisträger José Saramago stammt aus ärmlichen Verhältnissen in der portugiesischen Provinz Ribatejo und wuchs dort und in Lissabon auf. Die «kleinen Erinnerungen» schildern seine Kindheit und Jugend, ein bewegtes, farbiges Leben zwischen städtischer und ländlicher Kultur, und sie beschreiben – durchzogen von poetischen Reflexionen, historischen Betrachtungen und privaten Reminiszenzen – den Werdegang und künstlerischen Reifeprozess eines der größten lebenden Autoren Europas.

«Let go of the child you were.» Book of advice

José Saramago (Azinhaga, 1922), Nobel Prize for Literature 1998, is one of the best-known and most appreciated Portuguese writers in the world.

From the first publication of El ano de la mueret de Ricardo Reis, in 1985, his literary work deserves the best support from readers and critics. In addition to this volume, other works of his are Manual of Painting and Calligraphy, Case of an Object, History of the Siege of Lisbon, The Ferry of Stone, Memorial of the Convent, El Evangelio Según Jesucristo, Todos los Nombres, Raised from the Ground, Essay on Blindness, The Cave, El Dumbre Duplicate, Essay on Lucidity, The Intermittences of the death, Complete poetry and Notebooks from Lanzarote I and II.

Alfaguara has also published the travel book Viaje a Portugal and the brief report «The account of the unknown island».

The calligraphy on the cover is by the writer Gonçalo M. Tavares.

In The little memories, In this book, José Saramago puts into practice his long-standing project of composing an autobiographical account. These are family stories, sometimes joyful, sometimes heartbreaking, about the writer's first fifteen years of life.

While writing *Memorial do Convento* (Memorial of the Convent), the book that brought him worldwide fame, José Saramago began to consider an autobiographical account. He spent more than twenty years developing the project, the result of which is *As Pequenas Memórias* (Small Memories). The book covers the first fifteen years of his life, from his birth in 1922 in the village of Azinhaga, Ribatejo, to his studies at the industrial school in Lisbon, from which he would graduate as a mechanical locksmith. He recalls his relationship with his peasant grandfather, a wise and illiterate man, from whom he learned to care for pigs and observe the Milky Way. He speaks of the move to Lisbon, where his father went to work as a public security guard, and the provincial family began to live in small rooms in working-class neighborhoods, always on the top floor, with cheaper rent. In Lisbon, the shy boy becomes a contemplative teenager who never misses a film at the Piolho cinema in Mouraria. He was a good student but interrupted his studies early due to his family's financial difficulties. Saramago remained very attached to the boy he once was, and was surprised by the profusion of memories he retained from his childhood and adolescence. He speaks of the day he was attacked by the neighbor's dog, of the women who resorted to witchcraft when things went wrong, of his mother who every winter would pawn the blankets in exchange for a little money, of the day he threw away the map where he followed the Spanish Civil War, disappointed with the Portuguese newspapers that only announced General Franco's victories. But digging into the intricacies of memory was not always easy. Saramago reveals that he suffered while writing certain passages of this book, "because some of the things I recount are painful. Family memories that are not pleasant, that affected me negatively; I could have omitted them, but I couldn't give an idyllic view of times that were anything but idyllic. This caused me pain. And sometimes it blocked me.".

Male uspomene spomenar su nostalgije i prvorazredna lirska memoaristika, suptilan album sjećanja na djetinjstvo i ranu mladost portugalskog nobelovca Joséa Saramaga. Iako je za najranijeg dječaštva s roditeljima preselio u Lisabon, Saramago je ostao neraskidivo vezan za Azinhag, svoje rodno selo. Zbog slabog imovnog stana budući nobelovac seoskih korijena čak i prekida srednjoškolskoobrazovanje. Prije nego što je stekao književnu slavu on se u životu bavio brojnim zanimanjima: bio je bravar, činovnik, crtač, zdravstveni radnik, prevoditelj, urednik i novinar. U romanima kao što su Terra do sin (1947.) i Levantado do chao (1980.) Saramago iz vlastitog iskustva progovara o teškom životu i izrabljivanju seljaka u portugalskoj provinciji. Male uspomene stoga nisu tek puki memoari, već komentar »malih« događaja iz doba koje je Saramaga odredilo kao pripovjedača prepoznatljivog stila i lijevo orijentiranog intelektualca. Opozvavši prvotnu zamisao da ovu svoju knjigu nazove Knjiga iskušenja, José Saramago u svom kaleidoskopu sjećanja priča nam svoju, i ne samo svoju priču, posve empatičan prema selu koje ga je, čini se, podučilo životu više negoli život u glavnom gradu.

General Egyptian Book Organization

2008

Las pequeñas memorias, a literary joy that recovers childhood and adolescence memories of José Saramago.

«I'm interested in knowing my relationship with that child I was. That child is with me, he has always been there and he will always be there.

An adult writes adult memories, perhaps to say: “Miren is important, I am”. He hecho memorias de niño, y me he felt niño haciéndolas; I wanted the readers to know where the man I am came from. That’s how I centered myself in a few years, from four to five years.»

Foundation

With a sencillo and naked style, Saramago describes the hechos, big and small, that never, since those last years, managed to disappear in the fabric of the memory. Of all of them, the most vivid will be those that accompanied the awakening of his vocation as a writer: the long hours spent at the crossroads of the rivers that bathed the village's cultivation levels, the paths between the olive trees, the contemplation of the sunset, the brightest moon that had ever reached see while you lead your brains to the festival together with your uncle Manuel, the happiness of finishing the task ordered by your abuelo under a torrential rain, the magic of the cinemas in the neighborhood of Lisbon, the contemplation of the sky starred together with your abuela at the end of your life, the roots on earth, the meditative solitude of the teenager...

Las pequeñas memorias, a literary joy that recovers childhood and adolescence memories of José Saramago.

«I'm interested in knowing my relationship with that child I was. That child is with me, he has always been there and he will always be there.

An adult writes adult memories, perhaps to say: “Miren is important, I am”. He hecho memorias de niño, y me he felt niño haciéndolas; I wanted the readers to know where the man I am came from. That’s how I centered myself in a few years, from four to five years.»

Foundation

With a sencillo and naked style, Saramago describes the hechos, big and small, that never, since those last years, managed to disappear in the fabric of the memory. Of all of them, the most vivid will be those that accompanied the awakening of his vocation as a writer: the long hours spent at the crossroads of the rivers that bathed the village's cultivation levels, the paths between the olive trees, the contemplation of the sunset, the brightest moon that had ever reached see while you lead your brains to the festival together with your uncle Manuel, the happiness of finishing the task ordered by your abuelo under a torrential rain, the magic of the cinemas in the neighborhood of Lisbon, the contemplation of the sky starred together with your abuela at the end of your life, the roots on earth, the meditative solitude of the teenager...

Las pequeñas memorias, a literary joy that recovers childhood and adolescence memories of José Saramago.

«I'm interested in knowing my relationship with that child I was. That child is with me, he has always been there and he will always be there.

An adult writes adult memories, perhaps to say: “Miren is important, I am”. He hecho memorias de niño, y me he felt niño haciéndolas; I wanted the readers to know where the man I am came from. That’s how I centered myself in a few years, from four to five years.»

Foundation

With a sencillo and naked style, Saramago describes the hechos, big and small, that never, since those last years, managed to disappear in the fabric of the memory. Of all of them, the most vivid will be those that accompanied the awakening of his vocation as a writer: the long hours spent at the crossroads of the rivers that bathed the village's cultivation levels, the paths between the olive trees, the contemplation of the sunset, the brightest moon that had ever reached see while you lead your brains to the festival together with your uncle Manuel, the happiness of finishing the task ordered by your abuelo under a torrential rain, the magic of the cinemas in the neighborhood of Lisbon, the contemplation of the sky starred together with your abuela at the end of your life, the roots on earth, the meditative solitude of the teenager...

Las pequeñas memorias, a literary joy that recovers childhood and adolescence memories of José Saramago.

«I'm interested in knowing my relationship with that child I was. That child is with me, he has always been there and he will always be there.

An adult writes adult memories, perhaps to say: “Miren is important, I am”. He hecho memorias de niño, y me he felt niño haciéndolas; I wanted the readers to know where the man I am came from. That’s how I centered myself in a few years, from four to five years.»

Foundation

With a sencillo and naked style, Saramago describes the hechos, big and small, that never, since those last years, managed to disappear in the fabric of the memory. Of all of them, the most vivid will be those that accompanied the awakening of his vocation as a writer: the long hours spent at the crossroads of the rivers that bathed the village's cultivation levels, the paths between the olive trees, the contemplation of the sunset, the brightest moon that had ever reached see while you lead your brains to the festival together with your uncle Manuel, the happiness of finishing the task ordered by your abuelo under a torrential rain, the magic of the cinemas in the neighborhood of Lisbon, the contemplation of the sky starred together with your abuela at the end of your life, the roots on earth, the meditative solitude of the teenager...

In these memories of childhood and adolescence, José Saramago recovers his past month of childhood and shows his inner life: he is part of his life and formed with the persona Ambús de Raó. Repàs i homage to their humble rural origins, Petites memòries constitutes a claim to the record with the source of personal connection and saviesa that stems from a secular tradition linked to the land. The disappearance or physical transformation of the indrets passed through their first consciousnesses of life —between four and fifteen— in the only obstacle that left the experiences of those times transcending mere literature and covering the life of the reader as he had to live for the author at the moment of posing them on paper.

A cavall between his petit poor native in Lisbon, on va anar the widower of petit amb la familia, aquestes Petites memòries ens revelen tot l'enfilall de primeras discoveries del món d'un infant com qualsevol de nosaltres, descrits amb la mastery de l'writer en què aquest infant s'ha final convertint.

In these memories of childhood and adolescence, José Saramago recovers his past month of childhood and shows his inner life: he is part of his life and formed with the persona Ambús de Raó. Repàs i homage to their humble rural origins, Petites memòries constitutes a claim to the record with the source of personal connection and saviesa that stems from a secular tradition linked to the land. The disappearance or physical transformation of the indrets passed through their first consciousnesses of life —between four and fifteen— in the only obstacle that left the experiences of those times transcending mere literature and covering the life of the reader as he had to live for the author at the moment of posing them on paper.

A cavall between his petit poor native in Lisbon, on va anar the widower of petit amb la familia, aquestes Petites memòries ens revelen tot l'enfilall de primeras discoveries del món d'un infant com qualsevol de nosaltres, descrits amb la mastery de l'writer en què aquest infant s'ha final convertint.

José Saramago was eighteen months old when he moved from the village of Azinhaga with his father and mother to live in Lisbon. But he would return to the village throughout his childhood and adolescence to stay with his maternal grandparents, illiterate peasants in the eyes of the outside world, but a fount of knowledge, affection, and authority to young José. Shifting back and forth between childhood and his teenage years, between Azinhaga and Lisbon, this is a mosaic of memories, a simply told, affecting look back into the author's boyhood: the tragic death of his older brother at the age of four; his mother pawning the family's blankets every spring and buying them back in time for winter; his beloved grandparents bringing the weaker piglets into their bed on cold nights; and Saramago's early encounters with literature, from teaching himself to read by deciphering articles in the daily newspaper, to poring over an entertaining dialogue in a Portuguese-French conversation guide, not realizing that he was in fact reading a play by Molière.

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 odds, as one of the world's most respected writers.

In this limpid and poetic writing, José Saramago nous livre une mosaïque de souvenirs d'enfance et d'adolescence. Entre Azinhaga, la terre de ses grands-parents, où il est né, et Lisbonne, où il a grandi, images, sensations, anecdotes reviennent pêle-mêle à la mémoire du grand écrivain: une famille de paysans pauvres, une grand-mère analphabète, un père devenu fonctionnaire de police à force de travail, et un enfant qui court dans les oliveraies, pass de longues heures sur les rives du Tage, contemplate les beautés d'un ciel nocturne, marche pendant plusieurs jours en compagnie de son oncle pour aller vendre des cochons à une foire aux bestiaux, s'évade, solitaire, dans la lecture, ou cède à la magie des cinemas Lisbon.

José Saramago was born in 1922 in Azinhaga, Portugal. Écrivain majeur de la littérature portugaise, son œuvre, qui comprend des romans, des essais, de la poésie et du théâtre, est traduite dans le monde entier. It received the Camõens prize in 1995, the highest distinction among Portuguese letters, and the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1998. It was released in Lanzarote in 2010.

Οι Μικρές αναμνήσεις είναι η εξιστόρηση των δεκαπέντε πρώτων χρόνων της ζωής του νομπελίστα συγγραφέα Ζοζέ Σαραμάγκου. Χρειάστηκαν είκοσι χρόνια ώστε να ολοκληρωθεί η πρώτη και μόνη -σύμφωνα με το συγγραφέα- αυτοβιογραφία του που θα διαβάσουμε ποτέ. Ανάμεσα στην Αζινιάγκα και τη Λισαβόνα εξιστορούνται οι περιπέτειες, η οικογενειακή ζωή, τα πρώτα σινεμά, η σχέση με τη θρησκεία, με το σχολείο, οι πρώτοι έρωτες και οι πρώτες απογοητεύσεις. Η αφήγηση είναι γεμάτη από τη διαύγεια και την τρυφερότητα ενός ανθρώπου που συνεχίζει να διατηρεί την επαφή του με το παιδί που κάποτε υπήρξε. Οι Μικρές αναμνήσεις είναι ένα απολαυστικό κείμενο για τους αναγνώστες που «πιθανώς δεν διαβάζουν το μυθιστόρημα, αλλά το μυθιστοριογράφο».

Jarenlang had José Saramago het aangekondigd: het grote boek over zijn kinderjaren. In veel van zijn romans is een citaat uit dat niet-bestaande Boek der bekoringen opgenomen als motto. Maar het kwam er niet van en de tijd verstreek. In 1998 ontving hij de Nobelprijs en naarmate hij meer rondreisde en overal ter wereld over de meest uiteenlopende Onderwerpen sprak, kwam dat eeuwig uitgestelde project hem steeds hoogdravender voor. Hij besloot het eenvoudiger te houden: een simpel relaas van herinneringen uit zijn eerste vijftien levensjaren. Daaruit is dit boek, Kleine herinneringen, voortgekomen. Bescheidener van opzet, maar het is een flonkerend juweel geworden. Saramago vertelt over zijn leven in de grote stad en in het dorp waar hij al zijn vakanties doorbrengt bij zijn ongeletterde maar wijze grootouders.

Kleine herinneringen laat zien hoe een kind alles in zich opzuigt wat als stof zal dienen voor de man die op late leeftijd romans begint te schrijven en uitgroeit tot een van de grootste hedendaagse schrijvers.

Jarenlang had José Saramago het aangekondigd: het grote boek over zijn kinderjaren. In veel van zijn romans is een citaat uit dat niet-bestaande Boek der bekoringen opgenomen als motto. Maar het kwam er niet van en de tijd verstreek. In 1998 ontving hij de Nobelprijs en naarmate hij meer rondreisde en overal ter wereld over de meest uiteenlopende Onderwerpen sprak, kwam dat eeuwig uitgestelde project hem steeds hoogdravender voor. Hij besloot het eenvoudiger te houden: een simpel relaas van herinneringen uit zijn eerste vijftien levensjaren. Daaruit is dit boek, Kleine herinneringen, voortgekomen. Bescheidener van opzet, maar het is een flonkerend juweel geworden. Saramago vertelt over zijn leven in de grote stad en in het dorp waar hij al zijn vakanties doorbrengt bij zijn ongeletterde maar wijze grootouders.

Kleine herinneringen laat zien hoe een kind alles in zich opzuigt wat als stof zal dienen voor de man die op late leeftijd romans begint te schrijven en uitgroeit tot een van de grootste hedendaagse schrijvers.

Jarenlang had José Saramago het aangekondigd: het grote boek over zijn kinderjaren. In veel van zijn romans is een citaat uit dat niet-bestaande Boek der bekoringen opgenomen als motto. Maar het kwam er niet van en de tijd verstreek. In 1998 ontving hij de Nobelprijs en naarmate hij meer rondreisde en overal ter wereld over de meest uiteenlopende Onderwerpen sprak, kwam dat eeuwig uitgestelde project hem steeds hoogdravender voor. Hij besloot het eenvoudiger te houden: een simpel relaas van herinneringen uit zijn eerste vijftien levensjaren. Daaruit is dit boek, Kleine herinneringen, voortgekomen. Bescheidener van opzet, maar het is een flonkerend juweel geworden. Saramago vertelt over zijn leven in de grote stad en in het dorp waar hij al zijn vakanties doorbrengt bij zijn ongeletterde maar wijze grootouders.

Kleine herinneringen laat zien hoe een kind alles in zich opzuigt wat als stof zal dienen voor de man die op late leeftijd romans begint te schrijven en uitgroeit tot een van de grootste hedendaagse schrijvers.

Rendhagyó Saramago-könyvet tart a kezében az olvasó: nem regény, nem fikció, hanem könnyedén folyó, mesélõ kedvvel írt. Emlékirat. Az író gyermekkorából hozza felszínre emlékeit. Ennek az izgalmas idõszaknak a megidézésével egy letûnt világ képeit tarja elénk, belekóstolunk a portugál falusi életbe, ízeibe, hangulatába, értékeibe, de megismerjük szegénységének, elmaradottságának természetét is. És persze elkalauzol bennünket a 20-as, 30-as évek Lisszabonjába – emlékezésének másik színterére. Mint minden tisztességes emlékirat, ez sem mellõzheti az elsõ szexuális-szerelmi élmények, régi nagy és beteljesületlen álmok elbeszélését, iskolai emlékeket. Éppúgy hangsúlyt kapnak az elsõ nagytársadalmi összeütközések – a „gazdagok” világával való sokféle találkozás, vagy a Salazar-rezsim cenzúrája… Vázlatosan felsejlik a család krónikája is: tíz költözés tizenöt év alatt, egy diftériában korán eltávozott fivér, el-eltûnõ, majd felbukkanó, élõ-haló rokonok, és sok más. E töredékekbõl kirajzolódik egy tehetséges gyerek arcképe azokban az években, amikor figyelme kinyílik a világra. Egy nagy író kedves, derûs, életvidám, neha szomorú, megkapóan õszinte tarja elénk a múlt egy szeletét, amíg még lehet. A Nobel-díjas portugal szerzõ eddigi utolsó mûve valódi irodalmi gyöngyszem.

DC Books

2019

“"Le piccole memorie. Sì, le memorie di Quando ero piccolo, semplicemente"”

A sensitive and delicate script that contains the wind and water, materializes the clay clay of the fire and the tint of a disseminated olive field. And then I restituisce i sogni ei colori della vita quotidiana di un ragazzino nel Portogallo degli anni trenta, e le prima esperienze sessuali dell'adolescenza tra piccole prohibitioni ed episodi gustosi. Ecco i ricordi dell'infanzia e dell'adolescenza di Saramago, ma anche del suo surname, bizarrely affibbiatogli da un impiegato dell'anagrafe ubriaco. Il grande scrittore portoghese rievoca con man semper felice quei luoghi ormai spariti, non solo per l'inevitabile e corrosivo oblio del tempo, ma soprattutto per l'azione disstruttrice degli uomini. From the native country of Azinhaga, in Ribatejo, very early in the popular quarter of Lisbon, it is an intimate and very personal Saramago that appears on this page. Your familiar story, such a joyful and sometimes moving story, its primi quindici anni di vita dello scrittore, vera e propria matrice sentimentale di tutti i suoi futuri romanzi.

Ecco ciò che sono questi ricordi dell'infanzia e dell'adolescenza, inlle parole del grande scrittore portoghese. José Saramago makes it indietro at a time until he can tell us what he sees in his own way: it comes with a common story that gives him a new focus that is an ambitious autobiography. From the country of Azinhaga, in Ribatejo, very early in the popular quartier of Lisbon, it is an intimate and very personal Saramago that ricorda persone and luoghi di a tempo passato che, transported to the bottom of her memory, borne on this page. Sono storie familiari, sometimes joyful and sometimes commoventi, its first quindici anni di vita dello scrittore, ma anche, and è important sottolinearlo, la font d'ispirazione per i suoi futuri romanzi. Le piccole memorie (which originally came from the author's intitolare Il libro delle tentazioni) è un libro di ricordi d'infanzia che abbraccia il periodo fra i quattro ei quindici anni di vita dello scrittore: «non è letteratura su ciò che ho vissuto, bensì quello che ho vissuto. If otherwise, it would form letteraria all my life, it will come out over 500 pages,» Saramago says in an interview. Dalla was born, in 1922, in the country of Azinhaga, in Ribatejo, agli studi in the industrial school of Lisbon. He lives with a non-contact person, a very wise and illiterate person, with what seems like a bad thing there and ad observing La Via Lattea. Before the transfer to Lisbon, the priest goes to work as an agent of the pubblica sicurezza, and leaves the family and lives in a small square in the popolari quarter, always at the last piano, on a good footing. Lisbona, the shy bambino, turns into a contemplative teenager, who doesn't lose in the cinema film «Piolho», in the quarter of Mouraria. He's a brave student, but he quickly interrupts his studies causing difficulties in financing his family. Saramago è rimasto very legato al bambino che era, ed egli stesso si surprise della quantità di ricordi che serba dell'infanzia e dell'adolescenza: il giorno, per esempio, in cui venne assalito dal cane di un vicino; le donne che ricorevano alla fattucchiera when he sews andavano male; the mother who was fine in the winter walked ad impegnare le coperte per qualche spicciolo; The il giorno in cui gettò nella spazzatura the southern geographic chart which followed the civil war of Spain, deluso dai giornali portoghesi che annunciavano solo le vittorie del generale Franco. At the same time, I rivelano the source of the inspiration of the future novel, like the gita that comes to Mafra, that avrebbe dato lo spunto, mezzo secolo dopo, the Memoriale del convento; o le ricerche all'anagrafe, in approximately the news about the death of fratello Francisco, which avrebbero fornito materiale per Tutti i nomi.

Ecco ciò che sono questi ricordi dell'infanzia e dell'adolescenza, inlle parole del grande scrittore portoghese. José Saramago makes it indietro at a time until he can tell us what he sees in his own way: it comes with a common story that gives him a new focus that is an ambitious autobiography. From the country of Azinhaga, in Ribatejo, very early in the popular quartier of Lisbon, it is an intimate and very personal Saramago that ricorda persone and luoghi di a tempo passato che, transported to the bottom of her memory, borne on this page. Sono storie familiari, sometimes joyful and sometimes commoventi, its first quindici anni di vita dello scrittore, ma anche, and è important sottolinearlo, la font d'ispirazione per i suoi futuri romanzi. Le piccole memorie (which originally came from the author's intitolare Il libro delle tentazioni) è un libro di ricordi d'infanzia che abbraccia il periodo fra i quattro ei quindici anni di vita dello scrittore: «non è letteratura su ciò che ho vissuto, bensì quello che ho vissuto. If otherwise, it would form letteraria all my life, it will come out over 500 pages,» Saramago says in an interview. Dalla was born, in 1922, in the country of Azinhaga, in Ribatejo, agli studi in the industrial school of Lisbon. He lives with a non-contact person, a very wise and illiterate person, with what seems like a bad thing there and ad observing La Via Lattea. Before the transfer to Lisbon, the priest goes to work as an agent of the pubblica sicurezza, and leaves the family and lives in a small square in the popolari quarter, always at the last piano, on a good footing. Lisbona, the shy bambino, turns into a contemplative teenager, who doesn't lose in the cinema film «Piolho», in the quarter of Mouraria. He's a brave student, but he quickly interrupts his studies causing difficulties in financing his family. Saramago è rimasto very legato al bambino che era, ed egli stesso si surprise della quantità di ricordi che serba dell'infanzia e dell'adolescenza: il giorno, per esempio, in cui venne assalito dal cane di un vicino; le donne che ricorevano alla fattucchiera when he sews andavano male; the mother who was fine in the winter walked ad impegnare le coperte per qualche spicciolo; The il giorno in cui gettò nella spazzatura the southern geographic chart which followed the civil war of Spain, deluso dai giornali portoghesi che annunciavano solo le vittorie del generale Franco. At the same time, I rivelano the source of the inspiration of the future novel, like the gita that comes to Mafra, that avrebbe dato lo spunto, mezzo secolo dopo, the Memoriale del convento; o le ricerche all'anagrafe, in approximately the news about the death of fratello Francisco, which avrebbero fornito materiale per Tutti i nomi.

Sairyusha

2013

«An adult writes adult memories, perhaps to decide: “Miren is important so I am”. He hecho memorias de niño, y me he felt niño haciéndolas; I wanted the readers to know where the man I am came from. That’s how I centered myself in a few years, from four to five years.»

Najbardziej osobista opowieść noblisty, pełna magii i pikanterii. O dzieciństwie na idyllicznej portugalskiej wsi i młodości w mieście pokus – Lizbonie. José Saramago w dziewiątej dekadzie życia opublikował pamiętnik z młodych lat. Opisy wędrówki przez gaje oliwne, pola czy bagna i gallery barwnych postaci, przede wszystkim babci i dziadka, to jasna strona tej książki. Ciemną stroną są wspomnienia życia w Lizbonie, dokąd rodzice chłopca przeprowadzili się w poszukiwaniu lepszej pracy. Obraz ten nieco rozjaśniają wspomnienia pierwszych doświadczeń erotycznych nastolatka.

‘'Let yourself be led by the child you were.' The Book of Exhortations

Born in Portugal in 1922 in the tiny village of Azinhaga, José 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 neighborhood of Lisbon. However, 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 José 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 installations of Maria, the Fairy of the Forest, and the seven-year-old José 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.

Farime de memorii (2006) this is the carte de amintiri de pe vremea cind Jose Saramago, Zezito, cum il strigau acasa, era donate „o farima de om” care if adventure sa exploreze imprejurimile neintinate de civilizatie ale satului Azinhaga. Scriitorul descrie cu umor si tandrete relatia sa cu natural si oamenii, primele iubiri, attractia fata de cuvintele scrise, iar perspective copilului si felul sau de a intelege lumea, mijind in mijlocul unor vremuri grele, de saracie si illiteracy, sint corectate si completete cu ajutorul imaginatiei, singura unealta care aduce inapoi la viata lucrurile ce au incetat sa existe si pe cei ce au incetat sa mai fie. Povestea lui Zezito, part of frumoasa, part of emotionanta, this unusual family photography, with authored commentary. si deconstruct.„ (Mioara Caragea)

„Anumiti autori, printre care ma includ, privilegiaza, in povestile pe care le spun, nu istoria pe care au trait-o sau o traiesc (fugind astfel de capcanele confesionalismului literar), ci istoria propriei memorii, cu exactitatile si scaparile ei, cu minciunile ei care sint in acelasi timp adevaruri si adevarurile ei care nu se pot feri de a fi in acelasi timp minciuni. (Jose Saramago)

„Putine personalitati literare de talia lui Jose Saramago s-au format intr-un astfel de mediu. Nascut in 1922, scriitorul portuguez a crescut intr-un satuc aflat la aproape o suta de kilometri departare de Lisabona. copilari muncind la cimp, taind lemne si scotind apa. Dar in discursul de receptie a Premiului Nobel, el spune despre bunicul sau, Jeronimo, ca era omul cel mai intelept pe care la cunoscut vreodata, isi aminteste scriitorul, dormiau amindoi sub un smochin, iar imaginatia. copilului was hranita ass «legend, fapturi fabuloase si spaime». Ast murmur neobosit al amintirilor a fost izvorul din care sa nascut universul sau literar.“ (The New York Times)

En bild av ett svunnet PortugalJosé Saramagos “Små minnen” utgörs av episoder och ögonblicksbilder från hans barndom och tonår. Han flyttade med föräldrarna till Lissabon från sin födelseby redan när han var två år gammal och växte upp dels i enkla hyresrum i stan — fadern var polis och familjen kom att flytta uncle gånger på uncle år — dels hos morföräldrarna på landet, där det också var fattigt men där han hade nära till floden Tagus och levde bland djur och olivlundar, majsfält, kärrmarker och skogar. Han berättar om hur han lärde sig läsa och snabbt övergick till “högre studier i portugisiska” genom att läsa tidningen som fadern hade med sig hem varje dag och troligen fick av någon tidningskioskägare på sitt pass. Att köpa tidningen hade man inte råd med.

Han skriver om kusiner och skolkamrater, om tidiga möten med det motsatta könet, om fiskafängen och trädklättring, om saker som vi alla varit med om på vår färd.

Minnena är inte kronologiskt ordnade utan strövar från en tid till en annan, som hågkomster kan göra. Saramago använder inte den stil och interpunktion vi känner från hans romaner utan skriver här en mer rak och lättillgänglig prosa. Eller som han själv säger: “Det är små minnen från när jag var liten, helt enkelt.”

På omisskännligt vackert språk och i en lite vemodig ton tecknar Saramago en bild av ett svunnet Portugal av korkekar, olivträd, våtmarker, godsägare och fattigfolk, diktatur och feodalism; ett Portugal som en gammal man kanske trots allt kände en viss saknad efter.

Evinin kapısında oturuyordun sen, anneanne, yıldızlı, uçsuz bucaksız geceye açılan kapısında evinin, hakkında hiçbir şey bilmediğin ve asla yolculuk yapamayacağın gökyüzünün altında, büyülü tarlaların ve ağaçların session öyle yanıyorum ki.“

Aynen böyle dedin. Ben oradaydım.

José Saramago, “küçüklüğümdeki küçük anılar” dediği türlü anı parçacıklarını birbiri ardına sıralıyor.

Bir amacı da var üstelik: aklın içindeki canavarları ve yine onun yarattığı yücelikleri ortaya çıkarmak.

Küçük Anılar, 1998'de Nobel Edebiyat Ödülü'ne değer görülen José Saramago'nun çocukluk ve ilkgençlik anılarından oluşuyor. Saramago, o kendine özgü şiirsel anlatımıyla ve hiç yakınmadan, büyük bir yoksulluk içinde geçen çocukluk çağını anlatıyor. Hayal gücünün genişliği dışında yazar Saramago'ya hiçbir gönderme yapmadan, yoksul bir çocuğun önce köyünde, sonra büyük kentin kenar mahallesindeki yaşamını betimliyor. Ama yine de, Küçük Anılar, sıkıntıları ve büyülü anlarıyla, Saramago'yu büyük bir yazar olmaya götüren kişisel zenginliği gözler önüne seriyor.Daha önce Umut Tarlaları, Ricardo Reis'in Öldüğü Yıl, Ressamın Elkitabı, Körlük ve Görmek adlı romanlarını yayınladığımız Saramago'yu, kısa bir süre önce yayınlanan bu otobiyografisiyle daha yakından ve içeriden tanıyacaksınız. Saramago'nun Küçük Anılar adını verdiği bu çok özel kitabını, İnci Kut'un Portekizce aslından yaptığı çeviriyle sunuyoruz.