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3.92 of 5 stars
Pubblicato nel 1904, Il fu Mattia Pascal, il più famoso dei romanzi di Pirandello, riveste un'importanza fondamentale nella letteratura italiana de... read full description

reviews

Jul 28, 2010
mp rated it: 4 of 5 stars
Have you ever thought about going to a place where nobody knows you and starting a new life as an entirely new person?

Luigi Pirandello makes Mattia Pascal live out this fantasy. Great misery has befallen Mattia Pascal and there is no silver lining in sight. Unable to think of anything else to do, he runs away leaving everyone and everything behind. A few days later on his way back home, he discovers that while he was away a dead body was mistaken for his and he has been declared dead More...
4 comments like (6 people liked it)
Apr 18, 2011
Praj rated it: 4 of 5 stars

R.I.P.
Mattia Pascal.


Mattia Pascal was a man born to endure adversities in every walk of life. He was a dutiful son who saw his family affluence ruined by a benefactor after his father’s death and his mother’s existence fading into rueful shadows. He was a concerned husband and a doting father even in the thorniest situations that brought demoralizing repercussions in his marital life. The only thing Mattia was ever sure about in his burdensome life was his name-Mattia More...
2 comments like (5 people liked it)
Dec 05, 2011
Tyler rated it: 4 of 5 stars
Even in so-called literary circles, the name of Luigi Pirandello is connected primarily with his innovative work as a playwright. Almost entirely forgotten, at least outside of the Italian speaking world, are the early novels which launched his literary career. The Late Mattia Pascal, published in 1904 could certainly lay claim to being one of the most unjustly under-appreciated books of the Twentieth Century. It is a psychological meditation grafted on to a rollicking comic adventure. Perhaps t More...
Jun 11, 2011
Ben rated it: 4 of 5 stars
Mattia Pascal narrates the story of his life prior to his "third, last, and definitive death" in which he is (incorrectly) declared dead and uses the opportunity to become a new person. Pascal is no existentialist hero: he struggles with his new found lack of a past as well as the fact that he is still the same person he was prior to his death. He spends the novel searching for freedom, which manages to elude him frequently.

Pirandello doesn't dig as deep into the concepts More...
0 comments like (1 person liked it)
Dec 15, 2011
Marco rated it: 4 of 5 stars
«Se noi riconosciamo,» pensavo, «che errare è dell'uomo, non è crudeltà sovrumana la giustizia?»

Discutendo riguardo "Il diavolo in corpo" di Raymond Radiguet, l'altro giorno, è saltato fuori, detto da qualcuno, che si trattava di un libro con una trama tutto sottomato banale, ma scritta con uno stile talmente sublime da renderlo un piccolo gioiello. Ora, io sono d'accordo in parte. Ma lasciamo stare. Credo che sia una definizione che si potrebbe appioppare anche a questo ro More...
2 comments like (5 people liked it)
Mar 22, 2011
Alberto rated it: 5 of 5 stars
Ennesimo libro che secondo me va letto fuori dalle mura scolastiche. Si rischia infatti di essere proiettati un mondo troppo complesso per non essere introdotto con i tempi giusti e quindi di arrivare addirittura ad odiare le trame e sottotrame di questo magnifico romanzo.

Se preso con la voglia di leggerlo, di capire, di divertirsi e di riflettere, non si potrà che rimanere basiti davanti alla profondità di questo racconto che, in comune con </i>Uno, Nessuno, Centomila</i>, mette al More...
Mar 09, 2010
Fabio rated it: 5 of 5 stars
Mattia Pascal thinks he has a chance to cut all the laces that bounds him to the world, and live in a state of complete freedom. But soon he discovers there's no full life and no freedom outside the boundaries imposed by society, unless you accept a life of fear and solitude.
A classic, timeless novel (that I probably should have read in high school...).
On my edition there's a post-scriptum from Pirandello in which he reports of a real case he found in a newspaper, 20 years after pub More...
1 comment like (1 person liked it)
Aug 15, 2010
Billy rated it: 2 of 5 stars
This just goes to show that a self-obsessed, neurotic narrating voice is not the sole province of mid-to-late twentieth century New York males. I liked the nihilistic lament in the preface, and the exploration of how much of identity is socially-constructed, meaningful only as reflected in others. Made me think of The Passenger, for obvious plot reasons. Read on vacation, and in English, of course, as my Italian is only strong enough to allow me to participate in stilted tea party conversatio More...
Feb 13, 2011
Donato rated it: 5 of 5 stars
Before you read another book (or finish the one you're reading), before you see another movie, before you contemplate any work of art, get yourself to the nearest bookstore or library or wherever you prefer to look at books, and find Pirandello's Il fu Mattia Pascal (The Late Mattia Pascal), wherein you will find "Avvertenza sugli scrupoli della fantasia" ("A Warning on the Scruples of the Imagination"). Just read those 4 or 5 pages, which are not actually part of the novel, More...
0 comments like (3 people liked it)
Apr 06, 2009
Brian rated it: 4 of 5 stars
In The Late Mattia Pascal, Luigi Pirandello crafts a compelling tale of a man caught between life and death, and his struggles to regain control over himself. Trapped in a marriage he doesn’t want with an overbearing mother-in-law, Mattia Pascal’s life seems to be on a never-ending downward spiral, until he runs away for a couple days and returns to discover that he was found dead, an apparent suicide. Pirandello cleverly emphasizes just how pathetic Mattia’s life is: he has a lazy eye, and al More...
Oct 23, 2009
William rated it: 4 of 5 stars
An enjoyable and thought provoking story. A man, mistakenly declared dead seeks freedom in death but finds only a different prison. Coming back from the dead however is not a easy as it might seem. The book reflects on many things - provincialism, manners, honour etc. It finishes with a reflection on the paradox by which fiction must be more believable than reality if the author is to be considerred credible.
Worth a read.
Dec 16, 2009
علی rated it: 3 of 5 stars
One of the most progressive writers of our time with a wonderfull revolutionary look on human and history.
لوئیجی پیراندللو یکی از پیشروان نمایش نامه نویسی و ادبیات معاصر جهان است. در هر صفحه و صحنه از آثار او نگاهی و حرف تازه ای ست که هنوز هم پس از هفتاد، هشتاد سال از اهمیت آن کاسته نشده است. متاسفانه بعد از بهمن محصص که چند کار پیرآندلو را در دهه ی چهل به فارسی برگرداند، چندان کار زیادی از او به فارسی ترجمه نشده است.
این نمایش نامه با نام "مرحوم ماتیا پاسگال" توسط بهمن More...
Aug 27, 2011
Alessandro rated it: 2 of 5 stars
Non sono riuscito a finirlo. E' noioso sia nella lettura (scritto piuttosto male, con continue sospensioni) che nella storia. Lo valuto 'due stelle' perché può comunque essere apprezzato dagli amanti della letteratura verista (quale io non sono).

Deprimente (nel senso che la storia porta alla depressione del lettore in quanto è triste).
Aug 25, 2011
Lorenzo rated it: 5 of 5 stars
Un classico che non perde mai la sua attualità, ci interroga sul significato della nostra identità. Chi siamo veramente? Se per perdere la propria identità basta un nome ed un cadavere irriconoscibile ad esso associato, inevitabilmente emerge l'effimera consistenza del nostro io. La nostra persona è il nostro essere all'interno degli schemi sociali, mentre al di fuori di essi perdiamo il gruppo di appartenenza. Il simbolo regge la maschera della vera struttura dell'essere, magmatica, fluida, in More...
Dec 01, 2011
Ayan rated it: 5 of 5 stars
What if suddenly you had a chance to live a new life ... your past wiped away, clear. You have a chance to be someone else, to start again. What then ? What would your thoughts be ? Who would you chose to be ? Could you chose ? And were would this bring you ?

Pirandello is concerned with the nature of identity, a thought which is an all time modern dilemma.
Sep 08, 2011
Mara rated it: 5 of 5 stars
Ho riletto “Il fu Mattia Pascal” dopo tantissimi anni , trovandolo un libro di una modernità sconcertante, considerato che e’ stato pubblicato nel 1904. La solitudine in una società creata dall’uomo, ma che non è a misura d’uomo e’ un tema sempre attuale, e l’ironia di Pirandello l’ enfatizza, soprattutto nel bellissimo finale.
“….Fuori dalla legge e fuori di quelle particolarità, liete o tristi che siano, per cui noi siamo noi, caro signor …., non è possibile vivere….” , ovvero chi More...
Oct 22, 2008
Elena rated it: 5 of 5 stars
Another school-days burden for most Italians, yet (in my opinion, of course!) a very enjoyable reading. The protagonist wants to escape a unhappy life, and he succeeds when he's considered dead by his family due to a misunderstanding. He now can change his identity and live a completely new life, but he soon realises that in life of lies, there's no place for love and true feelings. He would like to get back his 'old' identity, but he can't, because everything has changed in his family. He ends More...
Jun 28, 2011
Ambra added it
A very interesting idea for a plot, as I'm sure most people (including myself) have at least once wondered what it would be like to "start over". I read the original italian version and the writing was eloquent and flowed well.
Aug 25, 2011
Nemesis rated it: 5 of 5 stars
A parer mio il romanzo simbolo della letteratura italiana.
E’ anche uno dei più complessi, nonostante l’abbia letto tre volte non sono riuscita a capirlo fino in fondo, c’è sempre qualcosa che mi sfugge, un significato recondito che non riesco ad afferrare.
Quello di Mattia Pascal è il sogno che tutti noi abbiamo quando ci troviamo davanti a delle difficoltà: crearci una nuova identità, scappare e iniziare così una nuova vita.
Ma, come Pirandello c’insegna, è tutto inutile, per qu More...
May 23, 2011
Elise rated it: 3 of 5 stars
It was just okay, but once I discussed it with someone I liked it more. And I think the introduction ruined a lot of the story for me. Read the introduction at the end!
Mar 10, 2011
Linda rated it: 5 of 5 stars
..libro interessantissimo!!
Da leggere assolutissimamente...affascinante il discorso della doppia vita...ma che poi alla fine...
Feb 13, 2011
Katlyn rated it: 4 of 5 stars
This was my first novel by Pirandello. It was a bit hard to read, but the plot was interesting and had its funny moments. The author also uses the book to put forth some of his philosophy, which was interesting. I don't have much to say about it, now. I enjoyed reading it and think there are a lot of things to consider. But I hated the main character's treatment of his former wife at the end, which seemed to negate all of the things that he had learned from his experiences and express Pirand More...
Jul 28, 2009
Fede added it
las peripecias de un hombre al q todos los q lo conecen lo creen muerto
Nov 14, 2011
Douglas rated it: 2 of 5 stars
A fine beginning wasted, I'm afraid.
Aug 05, 2011
Manecita_1972 rated it: 4 of 5 stars
Muy pero muy entretenido
Jan 15, 2012
Cristina rated it: 4 of 5 stars
Alla fine non è stato poi così tanto male. Dovrebbero abolire le letture antologiche, me lo avevano fatto sembrare brutto e noioso.
0 comments like (1 person liked it)
Oct 10, 2011
Fabio rated it: 4 of 5 stars
Romanzo formidabile. Scritto in una prosa formidabile, esprime a pieno il concetto pirandelliano del "viandante della vita". Mattia Pascal, uscito fuori dagli schemi in cui è imprigionato, non si rende conto della grande fortuna che ha avuto, e ingenuamente cerca di farvi ritorno, sotto forma di Adriano Meis. Resosi conto dell'errore commesso assume il ruolo del viandante, di colui che sa e guarda da lontano in maniera disillusa, ironica. Un grande testo umoristico da leggere assolutam
Jan 21, 2008
Eric rated it: 4 of 5 stars
When things get me down, I sometimes fantasize about packing a bag or two, booking a flight, disappearing to another part of the world and starting from scratch in a completely new world. In The Late Mattia Pascal, Pirandello has us live out this fantasy to its bitter end, making us realize just how easy it would be to do, and how impossible it would be to accomplish. A great meditation on identity, death, and rebirth, without being overbearing or grandiose.
Jan 23, 2012
Georgiana rated it: 5 of 5 stars
E' la terza volta che lo leggo, ma ogni volta mi diverto da morire!
Adoro Pirandello, la sua ironia,le sue storie assurde che si rivelano poi non così assurde quanto la realtà: ogni volta che leggo la postfazione dell'autore, 'Avvertenza sugli scrupoli della fantasia', non riesco a credere che 17 anni dopo la prima pubblicazione del libro ciò che è accaduto a Mattia Pascal sia capitato davvero ad Ambrogio Casati!
Aug 25, 2011
Temperamente added it
Lui è un uomo. È nessuno. È centomila. Più precisamente è Mattia Pascal, ma non per molto. Il nostro protagonista è un’ ombra che insegue se stessa e cerca semplicemente di cambiare nome per trovare un’ unità sognata, ma mai raggiunta.


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