Nobel Prize–winning author Saramago departs from his usual dense, linguistic style to write a "mischievous and thoughtful satire on ruling elites and bold dreamers, cast in the form of revisionist fairy-tale" .
"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 , 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.
Nobel Prize–winning author Saramago departs from his usual dense, linguistic style to write a "mischievous and thoughtful satire on ruling elites and bold dreamers, cast in the form of revisionist fairy-tale" .
"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 , 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.