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The Tale of the Unknown Island |  | Author: Jose Saramago
Creators: Peter Sis, Margaret Jull Costa
Publisher: Mariner Books
Category: Book
List Price: $10.95
Buy New: $3.83
as of 9/3/2010 08:19 PDT details
You Save: $7.12 (65%)
Seller: books24seven
Rating:  29 reviews
Sales Rank: 64290
Media: Paperback
Edition: Reprint
Pages: 51
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 6.6 x 4.8 x 0.2
ISBN: 0156013037
Dewey Decimal Number: 869.342
EAN: 9780156013031
ASIN: 0156013037
Publication Date: October 5, 2000
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Features:
| • | ISBN13: 9780156013031 | | • | Condition: New | | • | Notes: BUY WITH CONFIDENCE, Over one million books sold! 98% Positive feedback. Compare our books, prices and service to the competition. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com Review
"A man went to knock at the king's door and said, Give me a boat." Even without the "Once upon a time," it's clear from the opening sentence of José Saramago's mischievous and wise The Tale of the Unknown Island that we have entered a somewhat fractured fairy tale. Of course, it could be argued that all of his works are, in some form or another, fairy tales, from the whimsical, revisionist History of the Siege of Lisbon to the darker dystopia of Blindness. Originally published as a short story in Portugal, Unknown Island contains all of the elements Saramago is famous for--dry wit, a seemingly simple plot that works on many levels, and an idiosyncratic use of punctuation, among other things. It begins as a satire concerned with the absurdity of bureaucracy as supplicants arrive at the king's door for petitions while the king himself waits by the door for favors: Since the king spent all his time sitting at the door for favors (favors being offered to the king, you understand), whenever he heard someone knocking at the door for petitions, he would pretend not to hear, and only when the continuous pounding of the bronze doorknocker became not just deafening, but positively scandalous, disturbing the peace of the neighborhood (people would start muttering, What kind of king is he if he won't even answer the door), only then would he order the first secretary to go and find out what the supplicant wanted, since there seemed no way of silencing him. On this particular occasion, the man at the door asks for a boat so that he can search for an unknown island. When the king assures him that all the islands have already been discovered, he refuses to believe it, explaining that one must exist "simply because there can't possibly not be an unknown island." A palace cleaning woman overhears the conversation, and when the king finally grants his supplicant a boat, she leaves the royal residence via the door of decisions and follows the would-be explorer. Saramago then moves from satire to allegory as his two dreamers prepare for their voyage of discovery--and nearly miss the forest for the trees. The Tale of the Unknown Island packs more charm and meaning into 50 tiny pages than most novels accomplish at five times the length. Readers already familiar with the Nobel Prize-winning Saramago will find everything they love about his longer works economically sized; for those who have not yet experienced the pleasures of his remarkable imagination, Unknown Island provides a charming introduction. --Alix Wilber
Product Description
A man went to knock at the king's door and said, Give me a boat. The king's house had many other doors, but this was the door for petitions. Since the king spent all his time sitting at the door for favors (favors being offered to the king, you understand), whenever he heard someone knocking at the door for petitions, he would pretend not to hear . . ." Why the petitioner required a boat, where he was bound for, and who volunteered to crew for him, the reader will discover in this delightful fable, a philosophic love story worthy of Swift or Voltaire.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 29
 Meanders before completely petering out January 22, 2010
JustinWrites (Los Angeles)
A short fable by Portuguese writer Jose Saramango (it could hardly be called a novel at a scant 51 pages... with illustrations) that starts strongly, but meanders, becomes less interesting, and then finally peters out before the big "revelation" of The Unknown Island. I like the tone, the flavor of this harkens-back-to-olden-times-of-storytelling piece, but the author's run-on sentences and paragraphs, his dialogue that is smooshed into the narrative action, just becomes tiring and not as effective a stylistic device as I think he intended. The drawings by Peter Sis are not nearly as inspired or as evocative as the ones he did for Dominguez's "The House of Paper," which adds to the disappointment I had with this book. Short, but definitely not sweet.
 Sweet Tale July 14, 2009
Terri Moon
I give this book as a gift every chance I get. It is nicely translated from Portugese to English, and the story is captivating with an old world flavor. In the end it is a testament to the real value in life's acquisitions.
Servitude and Freedom June 8, 2009
Juan del Valle (USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
The fable can be read in different ways. For example, we can interpret the protagonist's efforts to sail off to the discovery of the Unknown Island as an impulsive, yet human need--we need to cast off in order to arrive to a place where no kings will rule us from their distant domains. Additionally, we can also see Saramago's empathic treatment of the cleaning woman as a symbolic reminder of the prevalence of class even in mythical creations. Furthermore, the end of the fable suggests the redeeming value of love to our understanding of freedom and, thus, of our humanity.
Without being an expert in Levinas, I hear in this story some echoes of his idea of seeing and recognizing the other in front of us in order to transcend. From this perspective, I am more inclined to assign the role of protagonist to the cleaning woman, who abandons her servitude to the king and gives herself to another human being as if she understood that there can be no personal freedom without the other's freedom, without recognizing his needs and struggles.
 Haunting mythic poetic story March 22, 2008
Harriet M Welsch (Northern California, USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This beautiful little fable has been compared to Antoine de Saint-Exupery's "The Little Prince." It can easily be read in one short sitting, but skip the jacket blurb, which detracts from the impact of the book itself. A man goes to the door of petitions to ask the king for a boat so that he can find the unknown island. The king is busy waiting at the door of favors for boons from his subjects, so the door of petitions is finally answered by the cleaning woman. When the persistent petitioner finally receives his boat from the king, his destiny becomes linked with that of the cleaning woman. The peculiar punctuation of this book makes the reader search within for meaning and adds to the book's poetry, depth, and wisdom.
If you've already read this book and want more in this vein, try Snow : A Novel.
Wonderful read May 7, 2007
Booker Jane
This is an excellent book. It is a very fast read as it is quite small. However, the story shines through its imaginative plot and fantastic characters. Saramago's style lets you escape instantly into the fantasy being unwound. Recommended to all. I can't imagine a person I know who wouldn't enjoy this tale.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 29
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