#BookReview Narrated by H., a portrait painter, José Saramago's first novel depicts an artist's struggle to capture the real person behind the face and the frustration of being unable to do so.
H. has no illusions about the kind of work he turns out. His portraits show his clients as they want to be portrayed, but when S., a businessman, commissions a portrait H. also paints a secret second portrait to show the real S., but is dissatisfied with that one too. He then turns to words to capture S. as he is.
He begins by writing about their interactions and quickly expands to writing about his own life, politics, and artistic philosophy. What's most fascinating about this book is watching a great writer in the process of unfurling his new writerly butterfly wings.
First published in 1977, Manual of Painting and Calligraphy was published in the US in 2012 translated by Giovanni Pontiero.