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Manual of Painting and Calligraphy

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( 1,842 ratings, 252 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Manual of Painting and Calligraphy is José Saramago's debut novel, following the story of H., a struggling artist commissioned to paint a portrait of a prominent industrialist. As H. embarks on an illicit affair with the industrialist's secretary, the portrait begins to falter, mirroring the turmoil in his life. Seeking inspiration, H. travels to Italy to study the masterpieces of great painters, but his journey is cut short when his friend is arrested by Salazar's secret police in Portugal. The narrative explores the intersections of art, passion, and politics under an oppressive regime.
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Format: Paperback / softback
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

This novel is ideal for readers interested in literary fiction that combines artistic introspection with political themes, particularly those who appreciate thoughtful, reflective writing.

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H. is a struggling artist with a commission to paint a portrait of a well-known industrialist. Whilst the industrialist sits for the portrait, H. For inspiration H. takes a trip to Italy to contemplate the works of the great artists, but when his friend back home is arrested by the secret police of Salazar’s regime, H.

The very first novel written by the Nobel Prize-winning novelist Saramago

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

The very first novel written by the Nobel Prize-winning novelist Saramago.

H. is a struggling artist with a commission to paint a portrait of a well-known industrialist. Whilst the industrialist sits for the portrait, H. begins an affair with his subject's secretary. Meanwhile, the painting starts to fail. For inspiration, H. takes a trip to Italy to contemplate the works of the great artists, but when his friend back home is arrested by the secret police of Salazar's regime, H. is pulled back to Portugal.

Art, sexuality, and politics collide in Manual of Painting and Calligraphy, Saramago's first novel.

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Kirkus praises Saramago's work as beautifully written with a ruminative style, appealing to readers who enjoy finely wrought, meditative prose.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781784872915

Publisher: Vintage Publishing

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 20 September 2018

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Vintage Classics

Contributors:

  • Translated by Dr Giovanni Pontiero

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 19.0mm

Width: 129.0mm

Height: 198.0mm

Weight: 244g

Pages: 304

About the Author

Jose Saramago is one of the most important international writers of the last hundred years. Born in Portugal in 1922, he was in his sixties when he came to prominence as a writer with the publication of Baltasar and Blimunda. A huge body of work followed, translated into more than forty languages, and in 1998 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. Saramago died in June 2010.

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