Published by Publicações Europa-América on November 12, 1955, this was José Saramago's first literary translation. The writer thus began his career as a translator, which would amount to more than 60 titles until 1983.
The Spark of Life by Erich-Maria Remargue was translated from the French edition with the author's permission. It is part of the 20th Century Collection and the cover is by Otelo Azinhais. The novel, published in German and English in 1952, is described in the preface of the Portuguese edition as "And this is undoubtedly the most tragic theme of this book, this spiritual spark always on the verge of being extinguished, dying and being reborn at every instant, fearfully protected by cornered men, constantly forced to resort to cunning in order to remain men."“
The copy held in the José Saramago Foundation Library in Lisbon was donated by the PT Foundation in June 2015.
In 1997, a re-edition was published as part of the Great Classics of the 20th Century collection with new artwork. This copy was also donated to the José Saramago Foundation and is part of our library in Lisbon.
