All the Names (Magill’s Literary Annual 1991-2005)
At a glance:
- Author: José Saramago
- First Published: 1997
- Type of Work: Novel
- Time of Work: The twentieth century, unspecified
- Setting: An unnamed city
- Principal Characters: Senhor José, The unknown woman, The registrar, The unknown woman’s godmother, A shepherd, Headmaster, The unknown woman’s mother
- Genres: Long fiction, Magical Realism
- Subjects: Twentieth century, Identity, Bureaucracy or bureaucrats, Quest
In an unnamed city conjured up by novelist José Saramago, all the names of the inhabitants, living and dead, are cataloged in the massive central registry of births, marriages, and deaths. Each birth means the creation of a new document, and each death means shifting the document from one vast section to an even vaster one. A hapless researcher who ventures into this archival morass does not find his way out again for days. Periodically, the ancient municipal building which houses the records must be expanded to accommodate all the names.
All the Names was originally...
[The entire page is 1832 words long]
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