Very unusually, I am giving up on this book as of page 76. I found a copy in a library sale and bought it based entirely on the pretty cover. (I think there is an aphorism that applies here.) The novel centres on a clerk named Alphonso. The problem is, his life is not very interesting. His job involves copying out letters, which he finds dull and onerous. He vaguely wants to meet women and move up socially, but doesn’t know how to. He considers himself artistic, in a non-specific way that includes no actual displays of creativity. All this would be fine if written beautifully. However, the translation from Italian doesn’t appeal to me. Paragraphs are generally short and clipped, while the dialogue does not flow. I am aware that all of this could well be a matter of stylistic choice. Nonetheless, I am moving house in a week and my book priorities at the moment are, a) to read involving and distracting books that will keep me calm and b) to get rid of any books I don’t absolutely want to keep. Thus, ‘A Life’ is going to the charity shop unfinished. It is rare for this to happen. Unfortunately, reading this novel feels like a tedious chore. It doesn’t seem enjoyable, beautiful, or indeed to be going anywhere. Perhaps my state of mind is partially to blame, perhaps the writing is much better in the original Italian. Who knows. I still think the cover is lovely, though.
E’ un libro che mi ha colpito molto, e mi ha segnato. Più che altro perché non è difficile per me riconoscermi in parte in Alfonso Nitti e in tanti suoi comportamenti. Inettitudine, malattia di vivere, incapacità di inserirsi e stare con gli altri. Dove non sono tanto i condizionamenti esterni a pesare, che in ogni modo ci sono sempre, ma quelli interni: non v’è nulla da fare quando si è affetti da questa malattia interna, questa senilità precoce. Immobilità dell’animo, indadeguatezza nei confronti della realtà, che si crede di dominare, ma dalla quale alla fine sempre e comunque si riceve una sconfitta. Rimanendone consapevoli.
What do You think about Una Vita (1989)?
The beginning was slow, but story built up as it went on. Basically the main character die of a broken heart - he committed suicide.
—Sam
Ca ilustru reprezentant al verismului (varianta italiană a naturalismului și realismului), Italo Svevo descrie viața unui funcționar la bancă din secolul al XIX-lea. Ușoara tentă psihanalitică, în contrast cu o femeie (fiica șefului său), redau statutul moral al omului singuratic și meditativ. Problemele de conștiință îl aruncă, în schimb, în mrejele sinuciderii. Eu unul am simțit o voluptate când am văzut că, în final, Svevo - la fel ca Shakespeare- își ucide eroii. O fi ceva psihologic și asta, căci studiind opera, mă studiez pe mine...
—Tamaş Andrei
