BLINDNESS

Listeners who are easily depressed or those fearful that society is near collapse may want to hold off listening to this tale of blinded, quarantined citizens by the winner of the 2008 Nobel Prize for Literature. Jonathan Davis provides a dry, removed narration of this disturbing, challenging audiobook—an allegorical story best summed up in the words of its heroine: "If we cannot live entirely like human beings, at least let us do everything in our power not to live entirely like animals." Activists for the blind have protested Saramago's portrayal of the sightless—a particularly unfortunate turn for this audiobook, considering its excellent execution as well as the audiobook industry's original connection with the vision impaired. But BLINDNESS is all that one can expect from a Nobel winner—a "what if" premise (what if a city went blind?) that exposes the flaws and strengths of the human condition. R.W.S. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine [Published: NOVEMBER 2008]