Oh this book... I was certain I would love it. In my mind I had already given it 5 stars before I even started it. By the first few pages I was sure this is the book for me. But... what a disappointment this was! I loved the concept of the story, the ideas, the many provocative and intriguing themes and questions that make us to consider about our human nature, the origin of our feelings and human sentiments and how these might get disrupted and change when we are faced with a horror that to survive one might get in the position to do awful things that would never even think of doing under different circumstances, about what is humanity and what makes some people to take advantage and exploit a human tragedy while others might sacrifice themselves to help others, and of course, what makes them go blind and what's different, if anything, about the one who can see, and so much more to explore....

Unfortunately, however, as much as I liked the story, that much and more I disliked the writing style, so I couldn't fully enjoy the reading. For about 50% of my reading time, and especially during the last 70-100 pages, the writing was incredibly tiresome and verbose. Moreover, because of this verbosity, the disturbing graphic scenes of violence and gore that could have been incredibly powerful, emotional, and impactful, for the most part didn't leave an impact beyong a gross feeling of the images presented, but without the emotion that should have touched the reader. They had a powerless effect to connect the reader with the message that the author wanted to convey through these gruesome images. Unlike Corman McCarthy's disturbing dystopian post-apocalyptic novel, The Road, that became one of my favorite books, Blindness by Jose Saramago didn't touch me the same way. I loved the story, but the writing took away my enjoyment of the process of reading it. Nevertheless, I look forward to one day read something else by Saramago in hope that I would love not only the story, but also the manner of his writing. The storyline and the themes are excellent, so you still might want to try it. I'm still glad I read it, but I can't say I enjoyed it.