La lucidité

Jose Saramago

Publié par Seuil

355 pages

Résumé

Despite the heavy rain, the presiding officer at Polling Station 14 find it odd that by midday on National Election day, only a handful of voters have turned out. Puzzlement swiftly escalates to shock when the final count reveals seventy per cent of the votes are blank - no spoiled, simply blank. National law decrees the election should be repeated eight days later. The result is worse; eighty-three per cent of the votes are blank. The authorities, seized with panic, decamp from the capital and declare a state of emergency.In his new novel, Jose Saramago has deftly created the politician's ultimate nightmare: disillusionment that renders the entire democratic system useless. Seeing explores how simply this could be achieved and how devastating the results might be.