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Original Title:	A Ordem Natural das Coisas
Edition Language:	Portuguese
Series:	Benfica #3

A Ordem Natural das Coisas (Benfica #3) Paperback | Pages: 332 pages

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"A labyrinth, my friend, a veritable labyrinth, just think of all the surprises in a labyrinth, there were even tree roots in the tunnels, trees are even worse than teeth, which reach through our gums to our ears and neck, as we all know, but we look at a tree and never dream how far it goes in search of the deceased and the world's silence that sprouts as fruit on its branches."- António Lobo Antunes, The Natural Order of Things

"Labyrinth" is the perfect word to describe this book's structure and storyline. Antunes is an amazing writer and I've already made a vow to read more of his books. He's not an easy read; he definitely requires your full attention but it's so worth it.

I'm always excited to come across a writer who writes in a style that I'm not familiar with, and this book fit the bill. It has a dreamlike quality and it's a story that reveals itself over time. It was definitely reminiscent of Proust due to its stream of consciousness style, and also its focus is on memory. Structurally, this book is very different; its very long sentences are further complicated by surrealism and sentences being divided up, the first half of the sentence being the thoughts of one person in one time and place, and the second half by another in another time and place, and you get an idea of how tricky this book might be to read.

The book's focus is also on history: personal history and world history, communism in Portugal, mining in South Africa, things happening in the former Portuguese colonies of Mozambique and Angola. There's a lot of travelling back and forth between time and place, and it's very clear that for many, their past and present are intertwined:

"There are those who fly in the air and those who fly under the earth, although they're not yet dead, and I, daughter, belong to the latter group, having flown at a depth of a thousand feet with a lamp on my forehead, surrounded by blacks, in the tunnels of the Johannesburg mines..."

I do wish I had some Portuguese history knowledge, at least as much as I do of Portuguese influence in Southern Africa. What I did pick up on was the discussion on colonialism, communism, war, migration, and how people in general are often pawns and are never really were appreciated for their sacrifices:

"Look around and all you see is indifference and selfishness, the way people have treated me, for instance, assaulting me on the street, insulting me, calling me a murderer and a scoundrel, spitting in my face, kicking me out wherever I go, leaving me homeless, penniless, friendless..."

Beautiful writing and imagery throughout, interesting and unique characters, very melancholy too. Ironically, in this book "The natural order of things" doesn't exist. Highly recommended!

Be Specific About Out Of Books A Ordem Natural das Coisas (Benfica #3)

Title	:	A Ordem Natural das Coisas (Benfica #3)
Author	:	António Lobo Antunes
Book Format	:	Paperback
Book Edition	:	1.ª edição
Pages	:	Pages: 332 pages
Published	:	1992 by Publicações Dom Quixote
Categories	:	Fiction. Cultural. Portugal. European Literature. Portuguese Literature. Literature. Novels

Rating Out Of Books A Ordem Natural das Coisas (Benfica #3)

Ratings: 4.11 From 453 Users | 41 Reviews

Weigh Up Out Of Books A Ordem Natural das Coisas (Benfica #3)

Verdadeiramente labiríntico, perturbador e fascinante!

Confuso, desafiante e recompensador em igual medida.

Incredible non-linear story that wallops you with rich, sensuous writing on every page. A gorgeous book that weaves 7 or 8 narratives (you're never quite sure) loosely together, the story takes you through a couple of decades and a couple of families who are linked sometimes closely, sometimes not so much. For me, the main question was in a world gone insane (Salazar's dictatorship, South African diamond mines, and the Portuguese occupation of Mozambique are all referenced, mostly obliquely),

It sags a bit in Book Four, but there is always so much going on that it's impossible to be bored. Ten different narrators share their life stories. There's something amiss in the lives of all of them: disease, torture, insanity, etc. The voices are mostly distinct and delivered in lengthy chunks with beautiful physical descriptions and odd paragraph breaks in the middle of sentences. In other words, Portugal comes alive, and it's full of humanity even when things are bleak. My favorite scene: a

Ich weiss ehrlich nicht mehr, ob ichs damals ganz fertig gelesen habe. Schwieriges Buch aber brilliante!Unvergleichlicher Stil, sowas findest du nirgends anderswo. Ellenlange Sätze. Du sitzt anfangs da wie vor den Kopf gestossen, bist aber fasziniert vom Fremden.So kann nur ein Portugiese oder Spanier oder einer aus den spanischen Kolonien schreiben, dachte ich mir. Dazu ist ein germanischer Engdenker nicht fähig!Das phantastische Werk beginnt damit, dass ein alternder Mann für seine blutjunge

Tener ídolos literarios es un vicio emocional muy nocivo. Es imposible no deslumbrarse ante el talento de alguien que sabe ponerle palabras a aquello inefable que sentimos: queremos repetir ese asombro y por eso buscamos todo lo que aquella persona haya escrito antes. Así llegué a El orden natural de las cosas, por el hueco que Acerca de los pájaros dejó en mí. Ya desde el primer libro advertía que Lobo Antunes no es un autor al cual sea sencillo acercarse, pero que su lentitud y densidad

He is currently my favorite, he is the master, the one to aspire to, poetic yet linear, I could get lost in his prose forever and not miss a thing. He should be much more well known than he is, it's almost criminal this neglect.