The Double (Saramago novel)

The Double (Portuguese: O Homem Duplicado) is a 2002 novel by Portuguese author José Saramago, who won the Nobel Prize for literature. In Portuguese, the title is literally "The Duplicated Man." It was translated into English and published as The Double in 2004.

Tertuliano Máximo Afonso is a divorced high school history teacher who spends his nights reading about Mesopotamian civilizations. One day Tertuliano rents a movie recommended by a colleague and sees a bit actor who looks exactly like him. Tertuliano becomes obsessed with meeting the actor and spends weeks discovering the actor's name. Posing as a film student and using his girlfriend's address, he sends a letter to the production company asking to be put in contact with the actor. His relationship with his girlfriend, Maria da Paz, suffers because he refuses to disclose his motives to her. After acquiring the actor's phone number and address, Tertuliano stalks his double, António Claro, and eventually telephones him. António's wife answers and mistakes Tertuliano's voice for her husband's. Initially, António dismisses Tertuliano and refuses to meet, but later contacts him and agrees. They decide to meet at António's country home in a week.

Tertuliano buys a fake beard and goes to meet António. Upon arrival, the men strip down and find that they are indeed physically identical. They have the same birth date. Their voices are identical and they share the same scars and moles. António asks Tertuliano to clarify one more thing: the exact time he was born. He wants to know which of them is the "original" and which the copy. Tertuliano says that he was born at two in the afternoon. António smugly informs Tertuliano that he was born a half-hour earlier, making him the original. Tertuliano gets up to leave, saying that he at least has the compensation of knowing that António will be the first to die, and that he will become the original in turn. To this António responds, "Well, I hope you enjoy those thirty-one minutes of personal, absolute, and exclusive identity, because that is all you will enjoy from now on." The men agree that they have no reason to ever meet again, and Tertuliano leaves.

Tertuliano sends the fake beard to António, who has not been able to stop thinking about their encounter. Meanwhile, Tertuliano and Maria get engaged to be married. António wonders how Tertuliano acquired his phone number and address. He visits the production company office and retrieves the letter Tertuliano authored and sent in Maria's name. Donning the fake beard, António stakes out Maria's apartment and, finding her very attractive, he follows her to work. António realizes that Tertuliano has not told Maria about his double.

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