READIN

🦋 Giovanni Pontiero's Epigraph

I got in touch with the friend to whom I loaned Blindness; she sent me the authorized translation of the epigraph I've been wondering about for the past few days.

If you can see, look.
If you can look, observe.

This is just right -- "If you can see" makes much better sense as an opening phrase than "If you can look"; and then on the second line, "If you can look" reads alright because you already have the structure set up to understand it in.

Saramago attributes this line to the "Book of Exhortations", which if I'm understanding right is Deuteronomy. It would be interesting to find out where it is in that book and see how e.g. the King James translation renders it. ...Looking further, it seems like "Book of Exhortations" is a pretty generic term -- it can refer to a lot of different prophetic writings. I wonder what Saramago's source for this line is.

posted morning of Friday, March 6th, 2009
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I hated this book. I really wanted to like it, but I just couldnt.

I just assumed it was my own failing.

posted afternoon of March 8th, 2009 by will

Sorry you did not like it -- tastes vary though, likely it is not a failing either on your part or the books. What was it that you did not care for, the story or the syntax? (or both?)

posted afternoon of March 8th, 2009 by Jeremy

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