Small Memories

With Jose Saramago (1922-2010), I begin at the end, which is also his beginning. The autobiographical Small Memories is the first of his books I've read; it's among the last he wrote; and it covers his childhood. "Luminous" is a word that appears on too many dust jackets, but there isn't a better word to describe the opening pages of this brief memoir. Even when it settles in to a more matter-of-fact account of Saramago's childhood, Small Memories is studded with poetical hooks that catch the reader. The use of long parentheticals, generally an annoyance, here takes on a conversational aspect that is entirely pleasing. I will have to move forward and go back into Saramago's earlier works.