I haven't read this book, but I have friends who have. Each has said that it is so terrifying that it's hard to finish! Can't wait!

this looks intense

Ya, i read the book! it was AMAZING, really intense, and hard to read in that he doesn't use any punctuation at all so its just one dramatic intense experience. i am hesitant about the film, because this book plays with your senses in a way that is hard to accomplish through film. but then again, fernando meirelles is an amazing director, so hopefully he won't screw this one up!

I tried reading the book, problem is that is has absolutely no sentence structure, use of punctuation, there are paragraphs that go on for 3 pages with no break. heres a little tidbit from the book, but imagine 5 pages like this:

all the images in the church had their eyes covered, statues with a white cloth tied around the head, paintings with a thick brushstroke of white paint, and there was a woman teaching her daughter how to read, and both had their eyes covered, and a man with an open book on which a little child was sitting, and both had their eyes covered, and another man, his body spiked with arrows, and he had his eyes covered, and a woman with a lit lamp, and she had her eyes covered, and a man with wounds on his hands and feet and his chest, and he had his eyes covered, and another man with a lion, and both had their eyes covered, and another man with a lamb, and both had their eyes covered, and another man with an eagle, and both had their eyes covered, and another man with a spear standing over a fallen man with horns and cloven feet, and both had their eyes covered, and another man carrying a set of scales, and he had his eyes covered, and an old bald man holding a white lily, and he had his eyes covered, and another old man leaning on an unsheathed sword, and he had his eyes covered ...

maybe the movie will make more sense

Oh no...that does look difficult to read! I plan on reading this closer to when the movie comes out so I can do a book to film write up, but I might struggle with that book by the looks of it...

This is one of my all-time favorite books, so needless to say I did not take it well that it was being made into a movie. However, the teaser doesn't look bad (it doesn't quite look like the book, but I really don't see how they can adapt the book fully).

I absolutely LOVE this book and can't wait for the movie! But I am at the airport and the Wifi connection sucks so I can't see the trailer.

Okay, it finally loaded. Yay! I so can't wait to see this!

The book IS terrifying. And challenging to read. But I think everyone should read it anyway.

Maybe a future Book Club selection? Both the book and the movie sound intense.

Read the book about two years in for my book discussion group. I really liked it. Definitely a book that makes you think - what if. I hear his other book "Seeing" is also very good. My group is planning on going to the premier once it opens. Can't wait.

Ooh, good idea, Linda! This should definitely be a Book Club selection!

it's one of my favorite books and writers. it is such an original and intense book. i'm portuguese so i read it in the original language...it's soooo good.everyone should read it.

I haven't read it [yet]..

A friend of mine recommended the book to me after Hurricane Katrina. I was really scared and saddened by the complete breakdown of society down in NO, when the lootings, etc. were going on, and my friend said that I should read Blindness because it was about the same type of breakdown. Very intense and scary.

I found the novel difficult to read, but not for its lack of punctuation and sentence structure. For me, it was difficult to get through some parts of the book because it was so hard to take in the horror of the events. One section of the novel in particular was just too much for me, and I frequently had to put the book down to get some emotional distance from the story. I know it sounds melodramatic but it really did affect me that much.

As for the movie, I have serious doubts it will work. The effectiveness of the novel lies in its unflinching look at what humanity becomes when social order breaks down: society is no longer bound by lawfulness and civility. Most importantly, I think the novel tackles what happens when one's interior sense of dignity has been stripped away by forces beyond their ability to control. What does being human mean at that point? It's absolutely heart wrenching to see the characters struggle to maintain some semblance of what they once thought was humanity in a world that has gone haywire.

Will the movie actually show Saramago's frequent descriptions of the actual corruption of the human body? The act of defecation, and its smells are all over the novel. Will the dog be included? The church scene? Will the movie show the exchange of the women's sexual degradation for food, and how what our society understands as appalling (rape), the characters see as the only way to survive?

I really feel strongly about this novel, it made me think about many things, and it questioned many ideas I had about humanity. I suppose it opened me up to my own 'blindness.' It would be a terrible injustice to such a literary masterpiece if the movie failed to be truthful to the novel for fear of offending audiences or avoiding a Restricted rating.

This sounds very similar to The Day of the Triffids which is also based on a book of the same name. Weird. It looks pretty freaky

I can't wait to see this movie. Mark Ruffalo and Gael Garcia Bernal, sign me up.

I have just watched Blindness and was wondering if anybody who has read the book could help me. I am curious about the scene where Jullian Moore is leading her blind group though the streets and they pass a sign that says ‘piano lessons’, two of the characters turn to hear a piano playing softly in the background. Is this scene taken directly for the book or is it a small homage to Day of the Triffids?