Life without Death. It’s a good thing, right? WRONG. If you’ve ever fantasized about immortality, José Saramago’s « Death with Interruptions » will have you rethinking your wish. Saramago introduces us to a country where death decides to take an indefinite leave of absence, and the result is nothing short of chaos wrapped in a paradox, with a side of existential dread.
Imagine waking up to the news that nobody can die anymore. Initially, it sounds like a dream come true. Healthcare professionals could take up knitting, and life insurance companies might as well sell unicorn insurance. But as Saramago unfolds the story, the dream quickly turns into a logistical nightmare and an existential crisis on a national scale. The government panics, religious leaders are baffled, and families realize that eternal life with family members in what they called a state of « arrested death » is hell. Thats when the maPHia comes in (not to be confused with the maFia).
But here’s where Saramago really cranks up the volume. Just when society begins to adjust to its new immortal status, death (who, by the way, is a woman which I love because she’s so badass) decides it’s time to clock back in. However, she’s changing the rules of the game: now, she sends people a purple letter a week in advance of their scheduled departure from life.
The story takes a turn when these damn purple letters start arriving. People are faced with the ultimate deadline, and the reactions are a mix of panic, acceptance, and sometimes, bizarrely, relief (also orgies?? but we don’t have to talk about that). But then there’s our protagonist, a cellist who, through a twist of fate or a clerical error on death’s part, doesn’t die when his letter’s due date comes around. This glitch in the matrix leads to an unexpected relationship between death (who’s trying to figure out why her system failed) and the cellist (who’s as puzzled as he is intrigued by his new pen pal).
As the book winds down to its conclusion, the tone shifts from societal satire to a more introspective exploration of what it means to truly live and confront our mortality. Saramago really uses the absurd to peel back layers of human experience, revealing the complexities of love, the pursuit of meaning, and the inevitability of death.
If you couldn’t tell, I really enjoyed this book. It was actually interesting and brought up moral issues and moral questioning and just made me think a lot about whether immortality (which so many people seek) is such a good thing after all, or if I was to die would I want to know in advance?
Discussion question: After reading this book, what are your thoughts about immortality? If you were to die would you want to know in advance?
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