Seeing is a sequel of sorts to Blindless (which is easily up there among my favorite books), set four years after that mysterious plague. Here, we experience a different sort of blindness--on election day, after the votes have been counted, it's discovered that 83% of them were blank. 
 I'm tempted to say that the cast of characters and their decisions are satirical and ridiculous, but at the same time, our cast of characters is those politicians at the top of the food chain. The government and the police force retreat from the city as a form of punishment, an attempt to prove that the people cannot live without them, but the people... do absolutely nothing. Thievery doesn't break out; no one is being murdered. In fact, life is exactly the same, and the politicians spend most of the book wondering why. 
 It's humorous because of its validity. The politicians are waiting for the city to collapse, and also looking for a scapegoat to explain the blank votes. Because it can't be their fault, surely, and someone must be responsible for it, and even if they can't find the culprit they'll find someone to blame. Guilty until proven innocent, or because there are no other available options. 
 Honestly, not a lot happens here until the end. I was three-quarters of the way through when I realized nothing had happened, but I was still absorbed by the lack of action. Politicians spend a lot of time talking. They spend a lot of time ordering other people around. They spend a lot of time talking about how they could do it better themselves. 
 Much like this review: I'm doing a lot of talking, but not telling you anything. That about sums up this book, but in a more attractive manner. Saramago is a genius wordsmith; I don't know any other writer who can get away with a hundred pages of nothing and capture his audience so well. There's a part of you that wants to laugh and say, "this story is ridiculous; people don't act this way," and then a larger part doesn't laugh at all because you know that isn't true.