Blindness

This is the story of what happens when a "white" sickness hits the world rendering everyone blind. The story follows the first person who gets it and then goes into how quickly it spreads. The catch is that one person, a doctors wife, does not go blind. So, other characters and the reader are following this story through what she sees.

There are no character names but it didn't matter because this was so incredibly well written that it was easy to keep track of the group of people the author zeroes in on. It added to the notion that everyone, when blind, is pretty much in the same boat.

Of course I liked it because it was disturbing. It shows people at their very worst and it was very much a thriller because I didn't know where this author was going next. Imagine not being able to find your way home? Suddenly going blind while working? Not being able to find food? There is no cure because all the scientists go blind too..as do doctors. The military tries to contain the disease by putting the people first sickened by the blindness is a compound..but that leads to violence, rape, and unsanitary conditions (its not like anyone can clean).

Apparently, there was a movie made based on this book that got terrible reviews (people walked out of the theater), so if you are interested..don't think of the movie as your basis of whether you read it or not! Plus, it has a spectacular ending.

I loved this book and I think this was my favorite of the year (I also loved The Lonely Polygamist which ironically was one of the first books I got into when 2011 started).