chingyee23

This is really an extraordinary book, and I can't believe it isn't better well known in the U.S. Morante does an excellent job of showing how large-scale political maneuverings affect everyday people. Her focus is on one impoverished Roman family, a single mother and her two sons, during and after World War II, but Morante uses their experiences and interactions to paint a broader tableau of the war's effects on poor Italians. Morante's style of realism is exquisite. She paints the environments, events, and behaviors and inner thoughts of her characters precisely, without any extraneous details. While the book is engrossing and easy to read, I found myself slowing down to savor it, and to postpone the tragic ending. While it was written in 1974, I can't help but compare her writing stye to earlier Italian neorealist films. In fact, I think I am going to go back and re-watch some of my favorites, because I'm having such a hard time letting go of this book.

2020-09-08 09:25