OK, so I mentioned this book earlier in the summer--and it has taken me that long to finish it. I was forced to take long breaks in which I read other things and looked at pictures of baby pandas in an effort to rekindle my spirit and perspective on humanity. But finally, last night, I finished.
Here's the basic premise: An epidemic of blindness has broken out in a major city (what city? you ask, it could be any...)--people are struck with a white blindness for no apparent reason. The government panics and attempts to quarentine the blind into an old mental institution. One woman who is not blind goes along, not wanting to leave her husband, and what she sees is extremely disturbing. The basic need for survival will change people into something they never dreamed they could be.
This book was intense and intensely depressing, but the prose is beautifully written (it is a Portugese translation, none the less), and I did experience redemption upon completing the narrative. There is hope in this story, if only in the fact that people can survive horrible situations with the help and support of others. The movie is coming out sometime in the near future, and based on the read, I'm not sure I can see it. Plus, it looks really scary.
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