“Memories of a Monastery” is usually compared with “The Name of the Rose” by Umberto Eco, released at the same time; Saramago’s novel was also translated into dozens of languages and became an international bestseller; moreover, it was for it that Saramago received the Nobel Prize in 1998. Against the backdrop of medieval Portugal, the epic love story of Balthasar Seven Suns and Blimunda Seven Moons unfolds, “for it has long been said: where there is a sun, there must be a moon, because only the harmonious combination of both, called love, makes our earth habitable.” Federico Fellini said that this was one of the most interesting novels that he had ever read, and planned a film adaptation of “Memories ...” - alas, which did not happen. And in 1990, based on “Memoirs ...”, the opera “Balthasar and Blimunda” was staged at the La Scala Theater in Milan.