![]() Jealous of Abel because his burnt offering of meat found God’s favor while his own offering of grain did not, he kills his brother. Even here, unable to avoid amused indulgence, he makes Him a bumbler as well. It is the Old Testament God (In “The Gospel According to Jesus Christ,’’ published 20 years ago, it was the God of the New Testament), and Saramago writes Him as a bloodily capricious tyrant. Saramago, a militant atheist, drives hard against Him. In “Cain,’’ his last, posthumously published novel, God himself is a principal character. Not only did he create them, but he interposed himself continually, sending them on outlandish though oddly sensible errands, and admonishing or encouraging them with a skeptical impatience softened by wit. ![]() ![]() The Portuguese novelist José Saramago, who died last year at 87, was particularly godlike with his characters. Like God, novelists scratch together a pile of dust - in their case the cloudy detritus thrown up when tattered inspiration collides with writer’s block - and attempt to blow it into life. It is common enough to liken novelists creating their characters to the Genesis story of God making man. ![]()
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