Baltasar And Blimunda (Panther Series)

Description: When King and Church exercise absolute power what happens to the dreams of ordinary people? In early eighteenth century Lisbon, Baltasar, a soldier who has lost a hand in battle, falls in love with Blimunda, a young girl with visionary powers. From the day that he follows her home from the auto-da-fe where her mother is condemned and burned at the stake, the two are bound body and soul by a love of unassailable strength. A third party shares their supper that evening: Pardere Bartolemeu Lourenco, whose fantasy is to invent a flying machine. As the inquisition rages and royalty and religion clash, they pursue his impossible, not to mention heretical, dream of flight. Review: 'A mighty novel, variously bawdy, elevated, angry and tender, combining erudition, comedy, heresy, surreal science fiction and countless good stories' Robert Farren, Sunday Independent; 'Original and brilliant. It is filled with wonder at man's ability to invest and achieve as well as an aversion to the oppression of state faith... Lovers of Marquez and magical realism will be enchanted by the wonder of this novel, for the colour and vivacity of Saramago's imagination inspires and entertains' Kate Figes, Sunday Times Author Biography: Jose Saramago was born in Portugal in 1922 and has been a full time writer since 1979. His work embraces plays, poetry, short stories, non-fiction and several novels and has been translated into more than twenty languages. He has long been regarded as Portugal's most influential living writer for his novels, The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis, The History of the Siege of Lisbon, The Gospel According to Jesus Christ and most recently, Blindness. In 1998 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature.