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M Andrew mandrewlee — All the Names by Jose Saramago This is a difficult book to like, let alone understand. It’s told from the viewpoint of Senhor Jose (no family name given), who labors as a lowly clerk recording births and deaths in a monstrously named bureaucracy called The Central Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages in an unnamed city in an unnamed country. It’s a place where the essentials of every soul are noted on index cards that are then filed away, sometimes never to be found when searching for them. It’s a dark, gloomy,Kafka-esque tale, replete with literary ironies. E.g., though the title of the book is “All the Names,” the only name given in the entire book is that of Senhor Jose. This man, who has no wife, girlfriend, child or even friend, lives in a house that is physically attached to the Central Registry, and embarks on a quest to find out about one of the names in the Registry, that of a young woman whose card comes into his hand quite by accident. By the end of the book, even sometimes obtuse readers (like me) will realize that Senhor Jose is everyman on a futile quest to understand the mystery of life and death. And the head of the Central Registery, simply called The Registrar, austere, omnipotent and unknowable, is, if not God, someone who enjoys playing God. There is (some) dark suspense in the book but not enough to overcome the difficulties of Saramago’s style, which is to pile on descriptive nouns and adjectives ad infinitum, and what’s more, to write in paragraphs that frequently go on for two or three pages before a new paragraph begins. In the end, all of this becomes disorienting and wearying, dulling the reader’s ability to appreciate the profundity that doubtless lies within these pages. Saramago, a Portugese writer, won the Nobel Prize for Literature but on the basis of this book, at least, I can’t count myself among his fans. Efrem Sigel, 4/1/09, www.efremsigel.com

Sunny Green sunnygreen45e4 — Was a simple read that I got at a $1 bookstore but I liked how there was no romance in it. Like everyone else, I love romance and the supernatural but this didn't have and it was still fun. This was a very easy read but funny in parts. I recommend this to elementary students

Aurora Pintado mellamopersona — I did enjoy this book, and equally so on this re-read. This book is firmly in the "gothic fiction" tradition, although I think it tries almost too hard to be there. The clue of Jane Eyre is dropped so many times it started feeling contrived. But that is my only quibble. It is certain that Setterfield understands and want to connect with Readers: “I never read without making sure I am in a secure position. I have been like this ever since the age of seven when, sitting on a high wall and reading The Water Babies, I was so seduced by the descriptions of underwater life that I unconsciously relaxed my muscles. Instead of being held buoyant by the water that so vividly surrounded me in my mind, I plummeted to the ground and knocked myself out. I can still feel the scar under my fringe now. Reading can be dangerous.” So right there, readers who have ever been totally engrossed in a story will identify and sympathize with the main character. And she later defines Vida Winter as a master storyteller, one who could never even tell the story of her own life without huge embellishments and fabrications. The story unfolds at a leisurely pace, but caught an held my attention completely. I was pleased with the ending.

Geoffrey Imperatore _oo_any_oobs — An engaging story that chronicles a bizarre family history and the journey of generations from Eastern Europe to America, plus a compelling modern coming-of-age tale with a mystical twist. Charming use of language and voice. People with a deeper understanding of Jewish culture and Yiddish phrases will appreciate it even more than I did!