The Stone Raft


The Stone Raft is a novel by Portuguese writer José Saramago. It was written in 1986, and was translated into English by Giovanni Pontiero in 1994. The premise of the novel is that the Iberian Peninsula has broken off the European continent and is floating freely in the Atlantic Ocean; bureaucrats around the world are forced to deal with the traumatic effects, while five characters from across Portugal and Spain are drawn ever closer to one another, embarking on a journey within the peninsula as the landmass journeys itself.
A Spanish-language film version entitled La Balsa de Piedra was released in 2002. A Dutch, Spanish and Portuguese co-production, it was directed by Dutch director George Sluizer.