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From the Land of the Moon
An young unnamed woman reflects upon the life of her grandmother, a bewitching and eccentric figure whose abiding search for love spans much of the twentieth century. In 1943, as American bombs fall on the city of Cagliari, the young woman’s grandmother is thirty and already considered an old maid, unmarried and still living at home with her parents. But when the bombing ceases, and despite her protests, her father forces her to marry the first man to propose, an older widower she doesn’t love. After suffering several miscarriages, she is sent for treatment at a spa on the mainland, where she falls in love with an injured Italian army veteran and nine months later gives birth to a son. Attributing the pregnancy to her spa treatment, she returns to her husband and never reveals the affair. Decades later, she returns to the mainland and travels to her former lover’s hometown of Milan. Dressed in her finest coat and shoes, she wanders the streets in search of the elusive veteran.
108 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2006
About the author
Milena Agus
27 books85 followersMilena Agus was born in Genoa to Sardinian parents, and now lives in Cagliari, a recurrent setting for the action in her novels. She used to teach Italian and History at a secondary school, and is now at the Liceo Artistico of Cagliari "Foiso Fois". “The House in Via Manno" (originally published in Italy as “Mal di pietre"), her second novel, won three Italian literary awards, and has been a bestseller in Italy, France, and Germany. In December 2008, Milena Agus was awarded the prestigous Zerilli-Marimò Prize in New York. A film adaptation of the novel is to be directed by Nicole Garcia. Her work has been translated into 18 languages.
Nata a Genova da genitori sardi, vive e lavora a Cagliari, dove insegnava italiano e storia all'Istituto Tecnico "Meucci". Ora lavora presso il Liceo Artistico di Cagliari "Foiso Fois". È un'esponente della Nuova letteratura sarda. Il suo primo romanzo, “Mentre dorme il pescecane” (Nottetempo, 2005) ha avuto due ristampe in pochi mesi, ma è stato “Mal di pietre” il libro che l'ha rivelata al grande pubblico (tradotto in cinque lingue, è stato in testa alle classifiche in Francia, dove è stata promossa a notorietà internazionale). “Mal di pietre” ha vinto il Premio Forte Village e il Premio Elsa Morante, e si è segnalato fra i finalisti del premio Stresa di Narrativa, del Premio Strega e al secondo posto nel Campiello. È tradotta in diciotto lingue.
Nata a Genova da genitori sardi, vive e lavora a Cagliari, dove insegnava italiano e storia all'Istituto Tecnico "Meucci". Ora lavora presso il Liceo Artistico di Cagliari "Foiso Fois". È un'esponente della Nuova letteratura sarda. Il suo primo romanzo, “Mentre dorme il pescecane” (Nottetempo, 2005) ha avuto due ristampe in pochi mesi, ma è stato “Mal di pietre” il libro che l'ha rivelata al grande pubblico (tradotto in cinque lingue, è stato in testa alle classifiche in Francia, dove è stata promossa a notorietà internazionale). “Mal di pietre” ha vinto il Premio Forte Village e il Premio Elsa Morante, e si è segnalato fra i finalisti del premio Stresa di Narrativa, del Premio Strega e al secondo posto nel Campiello. È tradotta in diciotto lingue.
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March 28, 2023
‘Because in love, perhaps, in the end you have to trust magic…’
Exploring family history is a unique narrative of the self, examining the legacy we have sprouted from and piecing together details in a way that is often as much self-mythologizing as it is historical record. Because the emotions that went into the forging and fostering of family are an essential element, but one we can only infer. The Land of the Moon by Milena Agus, wonderfully translated from Italian by Ann Goldstein (known for her work with Elena Ferrante), is a story of family mythologizing, one centered on love. This packs a deep emotional impact, easily instilled through prose that is ‘astonishingly rich’ and full of heart. The narrator recounts the tales her grandmother has told of a loveless life that found a spark in the most unlikely places, a spark of love that fulfilled her even if nobody believes her story to be true. Through detailing the grandmother’s past this story becomes not just one of memory but also of the life of a writer and creator as we must question layers of narration and sift through to wonder if the truth lies somewhere in the middle of these stories. From the Land of the Moon is a charming novella deeply entrenched in people and places and is achingly gorgeous in it’s examinations of yearning be it for love, to create, or to remember.
The story revolves around the life of a woman known only as ‘grandmother’. Thought by her family to suffer from mental illness, she grows up abused and neglected, finding solace in writing poems while locked up in the barn when overcome with fits of despair. To her, love is ‘the principal thing in life’ but the local boys are repelled by her almost immediately upon interacting despite her overwhelming beauty, which leaves her all the more lonely and immersed into her writing, wondering ‘why God, when it comes to love, which is the principal thing, organizes things in such a ridiculous way.’. At the age of 30 she is forced into a loveless marriage in Cagliari and eventually sent off to the thermal baths to treat her numerous ailments. Here she meets ‘the veteran’ and her and this man scarred by war have a brief but fulfilling love affair, resulting in a child nine month later.
Or so this is the story she tells.
This is a novel of love, beautiful love that can sustain even if one is to live a ‘life of ashes after that one spark.’ Love figures into the lives of each character throughout the three generations, and not only romantic love as familial love is tested through finding ways to best respond and care for those closest to them. Especially when they think that person may be unstable, such as the grandmother. But we are all, like the grandmother, seeking beauty, and the answer to that beauty is a truth we can only hold within ourselves. As a poet, she was a keen observer of outward life as well as the inward tides of her heart and, like in poetry, sometimes the poem of life is more powerful than the truth.
‘She had to begin to live. Because the Veteran was a moment and grandmother's life was many other things.’
The narration is quite nuanced here, with Agus deftly blurring the edges of the novel’s elements into an enchanting tale where everything could be questioned but doing so risks breaking the enrapturing spell. There’s almost a fable-like quality to this story, especially in the mirrored lives of the narrator’s two grandmothers. Each has a child outside of marriage, each is a writer, each loses that loved one almost in unison, and each carries on in their own way with a story keeping their hearts beating.
Place is also a key theme in the book. Set in Sardinia, the sweep of history covers the bombings of WWII by American planes and the longing for the lost landscapes of youth, to periods of rebuilding and remembering as change inevitably blooms in every corner of life. The seasons and weather seep into the tone of the novel as well, with the affair seeming much like a passing storm of passion that evaporates into memory once the grandmother must carry on with her loveless marriage. All of this is gorgeously rendered through Agus’ poetic touches.
This all culminates into a glorious ending that drops the floor from under the reader and leaves us to reflect upon it. While I don’t tend to enjoy surprise twist endings, this one is earned and well executed. It’s built up well and it also serves a function beyond mere plot and conclusion, not betraying the themes but enhancing them by recontextualizing what we know and causing us to pause and consider the nature of love, and of truth and storytelling. This latter part is especially crucial for those who love literature and wonder if fiction can truly import truth into the world. This is a fantastic little novel that moved me and I hope it can move you with it’s beauty as well.
4/5
‘Never stop imagining. You’re not mad. Don’t ever believe anyone who tells you a thing so unjust and spiteful. Write.’
Exploring family history is a unique narrative of the self, examining the legacy we have sprouted from and piecing together details in a way that is often as much self-mythologizing as it is historical record. Because the emotions that went into the forging and fostering of family are an essential element, but one we can only infer. The Land of the Moon by Milena Agus, wonderfully translated from Italian by Ann Goldstein (known for her work with Elena Ferrante), is a story of family mythologizing, one centered on love. This packs a deep emotional impact, easily instilled through prose that is ‘astonishingly rich’ and full of heart. The narrator recounts the tales her grandmother has told of a loveless life that found a spark in the most unlikely places, a spark of love that fulfilled her even if nobody believes her story to be true. Through detailing the grandmother’s past this story becomes not just one of memory but also of the life of a writer and creator as we must question layers of narration and sift through to wonder if the truth lies somewhere in the middle of these stories. From the Land of the Moon is a charming novella deeply entrenched in people and places and is achingly gorgeous in it’s examinations of yearning be it for love, to create, or to remember.
The story revolves around the life of a woman known only as ‘grandmother’. Thought by her family to suffer from mental illness, she grows up abused and neglected, finding solace in writing poems while locked up in the barn when overcome with fits of despair. To her, love is ‘the principal thing in life’ but the local boys are repelled by her almost immediately upon interacting despite her overwhelming beauty, which leaves her all the more lonely and immersed into her writing, wondering ‘why God, when it comes to love, which is the principal thing, organizes things in such a ridiculous way.’. At the age of 30 she is forced into a loveless marriage in Cagliari and eventually sent off to the thermal baths to treat her numerous ailments. Here she meets ‘the veteran’ and her and this man scarred by war have a brief but fulfilling love affair, resulting in a child nine month later.
‘With him she felt no embarrassment, not even if they peed together to get rid of the stones, and since her whole life she had been told that she was like someone from the land of the moon, it seemed to her that she had finally met someone from her own land, and that was the principal thing in life, which she had never had.’
Or so this is the story she tells.
This is a novel of love, beautiful love that can sustain even if one is to live a ‘life of ashes after that one spark.’ Love figures into the lives of each character throughout the three generations, and not only romantic love as familial love is tested through finding ways to best respond and care for those closest to them. Especially when they think that person may be unstable, such as the grandmother. But we are all, like the grandmother, seeking beauty, and the answer to that beauty is a truth we can only hold within ourselves. As a poet, she was a keen observer of outward life as well as the inward tides of her heart and, like in poetry, sometimes the poem of life is more powerful than the truth.
‘She had to begin to live. Because the Veteran was a moment and grandmother's life was many other things.’
The narration is quite nuanced here, with Agus deftly blurring the edges of the novel’s elements into an enchanting tale where everything could be questioned but doing so risks breaking the enrapturing spell. There’s almost a fable-like quality to this story, especially in the mirrored lives of the narrator’s two grandmothers. Each has a child outside of marriage, each is a writer, each loses that loved one almost in unison, and each carries on in their own way with a story keeping their hearts beating.
Place is also a key theme in the book. Set in Sardinia, the sweep of history covers the bombings of WWII by American planes and the longing for the lost landscapes of youth, to periods of rebuilding and remembering as change inevitably blooms in every corner of life. The seasons and weather seep into the tone of the novel as well, with the affair seeming much like a passing storm of passion that evaporates into memory once the grandmother must carry on with her loveless marriage. All of this is gorgeously rendered through Agus’ poetic touches.
This all culminates into a glorious ending that drops the floor from under the reader and leaves us to reflect upon it. While I don’t tend to enjoy surprise twist endings, this one is earned and well executed. It’s built up well and it also serves a function beyond mere plot and conclusion, not betraying the themes but enhancing them by recontextualizing what we know and causing us to pause and consider the nature of love, and of truth and storytelling. This latter part is especially crucial for those who love literature and wonder if fiction can truly import truth into the world. This is a fantastic little novel that moved me and I hope it can move you with it’s beauty as well.
4/5
‘Never stop imagining. You’re not mad. Don’t ever believe anyone who tells you a thing so unjust and spiteful. Write.’
November 23, 2023
METEORA
Il film omonimo, o meglio "Mal de pierres", diretto da Nicole Garcia, a dimostrazione che i cosiddetti cugini d'oltralpe hanno un debole per questo libretto.
Dovrei ringraziare Milena Agus perché a causa di questo suo romanzetto ho avuto modo di rileggere il canto III e V dell’Inferno dantesco, e ho ritrovato una meraviglia che da tempo non ripercorrevo, acqua fresca per me assetato disidratato dalla lettura di “Mal di pietre”.
Il Canto V è citato dalla stessa Agus: Paolo e Francesca, galeotto fu il libro, e più non vi leggemmo avante (quello che farò anch’io d'ora in poi con Milena Agus).
Amos Cassioli: Paolo e Francesca (1870)
Il Canto III invece è venuto in mente a me perché è qui che Dante colloca le anime di coloro che visser sanza ’nfamia e sanza lodo, gli ignavi.
Secondo me, volendo essere gentili, “Mal di pietre” è al massimo senza infamia e senza lode, facendo la media tra l’irritante pochezza delle prime 95 pagine e il moderato interesse suscitato dalle ultime 20, dove la malattia mentale si conferma fertile materia letteraria.
Così ho avuto stimolo per rileggere i bellissimi versi danteschi, e così ora mi trattengo a ragionar di Agus ancora un poco, poi, guardo e passo.
Lorenzo Mattotti: Caronte (Inferno, Canto III)
Milena Agus tralascia pezzi di racconto che a me paiono importanti, le sue sottrazioni sono omissioni, forse dimenticanze. Le spiegazioni arrivano affastellate solo sul finale.
Fino ad allora, oltre alle omissioni, una Sardegna very picturesque & folk, da cartolina, forzatamente stravagante - e uno stile, che molti considerano semplice, e a me invece ricorda chi in cucina essendo poco pratico aggiunge un sacco di spezie e condimento esagerando e sciupando il gusto, uno sforzo d’essere lirica che rimane senza costrutto, perché invece a me pare che risulti soltanto artificiosa e leziosa.
Marion Cotillard protagonista del film tratto dal romanzo di Milena Agus, diretto da Nicole Garcia (2016). Insieme a Cotillard, Louis Garrell.
Se ho capito bene questo romanzetto era passato in sordina. Poi i cugini francesi se ne sono innamorati, e sull’onda del successo d’oltralpe, siamo ritornati sui nostri passi, e anche un po’ a Canossa, visto che da quel momento “Mal di pietre” ha collezionato candidature e qualche premio.
Considerato che il tutto risale al primo decennio del terzo millennio, mi chiedo se non si sia trattato di una meteora.
O di un’allucinazione.
cartoline dalla Sardegna
Il film omonimo, o meglio "Mal de pierres", diretto da Nicole Garcia, a dimostrazione che i cosiddetti cugini d'oltralpe hanno un debole per questo libretto.
Dovrei ringraziare Milena Agus perché a causa di questo suo romanzetto ho avuto modo di rileggere il canto III e V dell’Inferno dantesco, e ho ritrovato una meraviglia che da tempo non ripercorrevo, acqua fresca per me assetato disidratato dalla lettura di “Mal di pietre”.
Il Canto V è citato dalla stessa Agus: Paolo e Francesca, galeotto fu il libro, e più non vi leggemmo avante (quello che farò anch’io d'ora in poi con Milena Agus).
Amos Cassioli: Paolo e Francesca (1870)
Il Canto III invece è venuto in mente a me perché è qui che Dante colloca le anime di coloro che visser sanza ’nfamia e sanza lodo, gli ignavi.
Secondo me, volendo essere gentili, “Mal di pietre” è al massimo senza infamia e senza lode, facendo la media tra l’irritante pochezza delle prime 95 pagine e il moderato interesse suscitato dalle ultime 20, dove la malattia mentale si conferma fertile materia letteraria.
Così ho avuto stimolo per rileggere i bellissimi versi danteschi, e così ora mi trattengo a ragionar di Agus ancora un poco, poi, guardo e passo.
Lorenzo Mattotti: Caronte (Inferno, Canto III)
Milena Agus tralascia pezzi di racconto che a me paiono importanti, le sue sottrazioni sono omissioni, forse dimenticanze. Le spiegazioni arrivano affastellate solo sul finale.
Fino ad allora, oltre alle omissioni, una Sardegna very picturesque & folk, da cartolina, forzatamente stravagante - e uno stile, che molti considerano semplice, e a me invece ricorda chi in cucina essendo poco pratico aggiunge un sacco di spezie e condimento esagerando e sciupando il gusto, uno sforzo d’essere lirica che rimane senza costrutto, perché invece a me pare che risulti soltanto artificiosa e leziosa.
Marion Cotillard protagonista del film tratto dal romanzo di Milena Agus, diretto da Nicole Garcia (2016). Insieme a Cotillard, Louis Garrell.
Se ho capito bene questo romanzetto era passato in sordina. Poi i cugini francesi se ne sono innamorati, e sull’onda del successo d’oltralpe, siamo ritornati sui nostri passi, e anche un po’ a Canossa, visto che da quel momento “Mal di pietre” ha collezionato candidature e qualche premio.
Considerato che il tutto risale al primo decennio del terzo millennio, mi chiedo se non si sia trattato di una meteora.
O di un’allucinazione.
cartoline dalla Sardegna
June 24, 2020
A very surprising and quirky read. Our narrator is a granddaughter, telling the story of her grandmother's life, a women whose family thought she was crazy, would never marry. But then she did, and not for love. Sardinia post was is the location and time period. Questions, is the story we are being told a reliable one, did the grandmother tell the full truth in her own story? I asked myself this repeatedly as I was reading.
The prose is descriptive but not flowery, not a word is wasted, attention must be paid to each and every sentence. There are a few graphic sex scenes but they do not last long and fit nicely and understandably into the story being told. The ending answers some questions but in my mind there were more that were not answered. This proved to be a fascinating read for me, fascinating because of its ambiguity. I love books that make me pause and think, reflect on what I read. This short book did just that.
The prose is descriptive but not flowery, not a word is wasted, attention must be paid to each and every sentence. There are a few graphic sex scenes but they do not last long and fit nicely and understandably into the story being told. The ending answers some questions but in my mind there were more that were not answered. This proved to be a fascinating read for me, fascinating because of its ambiguity. I love books that make me pause and think, reflect on what I read. This short book did just that.
May 3, 2021
A short piece with immense cumulative emotional power. I read most of it lightly, with curiosity and amused detachment until I completely dissolved into tears in the last few pages. I owe this luminous discovery to my mother and I cannot recommend it highly enough.
It has been recently adapted for the screen in France by Nicole Garcia, with Marion Cotillard, Louis Garrel and Alex Brendemuhl.
http://www.allocine.fr/video/player_g...
It has been recently adapted for the screen in France by Nicole Garcia, with Marion Cotillard, Louis Garrel and Alex Brendemuhl.
http://www.allocine.fr/video/player_g...
August 20, 2021
Quem não tem... Inventa
Algures na Sardenha vivia uma mulher de coração vazio. Buscava incessantemente o Amor mas este, obstinado, teimava em não entrar na sua vida.
E… porque o Amor não lhe acontece ela imagina-o, inventa-o, e … vive-o nos poemas, nas cartas, na intensidade das palavras..., afigurando-se louca aos olhos dos outros!
O Amor é a sua realidade inventada que o resto do mundo considera absurda!...
Qual a fronteira entre imaginação e loucura?
Será possível viver na mente sem galgar a cerca da sanidade?
Será o Sonho um trampolim para o Amor Perfeito?...
Quanto a mim, a Imaginação preenche lacunas!...
Um Instante de Amor é estranho... belo... único... irreverente...
São 4 estrelas 😍🌟🌟🌟🌟😍
Algures na Sardenha vivia uma mulher de coração vazio. Buscava incessantemente o Amor mas este, obstinado, teimava em não entrar na sua vida.
E… porque o Amor não lhe acontece ela imagina-o, inventa-o, e … vive-o nos poemas, nas cartas, na intensidade das palavras..., afigurando-se louca aos olhos dos outros!
O Amor é a sua realidade inventada que o resto do mundo considera absurda!...
Qual a fronteira entre imaginação e loucura?
Será possível viver na mente sem galgar a cerca da sanidade?
Será o Sonho um trampolim para o Amor Perfeito?...
Quanto a mim, a Imaginação preenche lacunas!...
Um Instante de Amor é estranho... belo... único... irreverente...
São 4 estrelas 😍🌟🌟🌟🌟😍
July 26, 2016
Upon finishing this book last night, I immediately turned back to the first page and read it again, without stopping. I wanted to see how the author did it. It is amazing what she achieves in only 108 pages.
This is a subtle novella about presumed madness, writing, and what can sustain one through a life that is lacking emotionally. It is narrated by the main character's granddaughter and near the end you may wonder why she includes the story of her other grandmother, until you arrive at the very end for the contrast.
I also enjoyed it because I've been to Cagliari, where much of the story is set, so I could easily picture the dark, narrow streets of Costello that unexpectedly opened to a sea of light and the beach at the Poetto, a long desert of white dunes beside clear water that, no matter how far you walked, never got deep.
This is a subtle novella about presumed madness, writing, and what can sustain one through a life that is lacking emotionally. It is narrated by the main character's granddaughter and near the end you may wonder why she includes the story of her other grandmother, until you arrive at the very end for the contrast.
I also enjoyed it because I've been to Cagliari, where much of the story is set, so I could easily picture the dark, narrow streets of Costello that unexpectedly opened to a sea of light and the beach at the Poetto, a long desert of white dunes beside clear water that, no matter how far you walked, never got deep.
March 1, 2023
در یک کلام؛ زیبا!
چقدر یک کتاب میتونه دربارهی احساساتی که یک زن در طول زندگیش احساس میکنه زیبا و لطیف صحبت بکنه. تازه در یک داستان کوتاه.
داستان دربارهی پیداشدن و پیداکردن هست، چیزی که انسان همیشه و همهجا به دنبالش هست، عشق.
تا اون رو پیدا کنه و ببینه چیه و کیه و چرا؟
ولی آیا بهتر نیست انسان ابتدا به درون خود به جستوجو بپردازد تا این عشق رو که از همهکس و همهچیز میجوید در درون خویش بیابد؟
چقدر یک کتاب میتونه دربارهی احساساتی که یک زن در طول زندگیش احساس میکنه زیبا و لطیف صحبت بکنه. تازه در یک داستان کوتاه.
داستان دربارهی پیداشدن و پیداکردن هست، چیزی که انسان همیشه و همهجا به دنبالش هست، عشق.
تا اون رو پیدا کنه و ببینه چیه و کیه و چرا؟
ولی آیا بهتر نیست انسان ابتدا به درون خود به جستوجو بپردازد تا این عشق رو که از همهکس و همهچیز میجوید در درون خویش بیابد؟
September 14, 2021
Set in Italy and beginning in the first half of the twentieth century, this story revolves around the narrator tracing the life of her family, principally her grandmothers and mostly her paternal grandmother. A poetic, passionate and lonesome woman, the narrator's paternal grandmother is considered mad by her village for her passions and the ways she expresses them through words, and she goes for years unmarried because of this. Finally, she's married to a widower that momentarily lives with her family and then couple moves to the city of Cagliari. But even though the marriage is a respectful one and suits both partners, it is still lacking in the ardour she longs for. It is until she leaves for kidney stone treatment in Civitavecchia where she meets a disabled World War two veteran that she finds the passion she's long desired.
The writer's managed to do so much with such few pages, the possibilities she offers almost as the story ends and the ending itself was incredibly done.
The writer's managed to do so much with such few pages, the possibilities she offers almost as the story ends and the ending itself was incredibly done.
May 25, 2022
💕 A Tale of Love 💕
She was not crazy
She was desperate for love
She didn’t find love
Love found her
All she needs is love
Love is all she needs 🎶🎶🎶
(Do you know the song?😉)
She was not crazy
She was desperate for love
She didn’t find love
Love found her
All she needs is love
Love is all she needs 🎶🎶🎶
(Do you know the song?😉)
December 26, 2013
This short gliding story finished within the mechanics of reading in two days read by a slow reader establishes an ending that if your heart is not crushed you need to consult a cardiologist.The settings and interactions do not lead one to the steps of the finale. Yet when you reach the landing it is not a jarring shock. This is the author's brilliance. The book confronts the reader, in perhaps a more vivid way than other texts, the conjectured line between imagination and madness, which one carries a larger weight of truth or does it depend on the situation, survival. Most elements in this book carries with it a proof of madness. The proof is buffered and embedded into the context. Characters pretended, to differing degrees, for comfort and safety, belonging, with various degrees of success and loss based on the cultural milieu they were located in.
The reader is provided in this carefully crafted work-with no signs of the underground design showing-an ample space to drop themselves into the story rather than being led by the author to where they want the reader to go, what message is to bestowed upon the reader so they are a little brighter in their forthcoming experiences. The reader must deem the truth as based on honesty to ones revelations outside the support of a carefully built and guarded cultural script or as the truth following the carpentered stairway laid out by societies officials vying for power and offering the populace the possibilities for belonging, security, safety, fabled offerings of cliched desserts if such is not attained. Anyone who follows all dictums is praised with sainthood, the others, or all, pretend or lie at times, to themselves or others and come to believe it. Is madness then a matter of degree, decree?
This book is one of the great love stories I have read while at the same time involving a vivd exploration of the essence of truth in the madness of human intellectual survival.
The reader is provided in this carefully crafted work-with no signs of the underground design showing-an ample space to drop themselves into the story rather than being led by the author to where they want the reader to go, what message is to bestowed upon the reader so they are a little brighter in their forthcoming experiences. The reader must deem the truth as based on honesty to ones revelations outside the support of a carefully built and guarded cultural script or as the truth following the carpentered stairway laid out by societies officials vying for power and offering the populace the possibilities for belonging, security, safety, fabled offerings of cliched desserts if such is not attained. Anyone who follows all dictums is praised with sainthood, the others, or all, pretend or lie at times, to themselves or others and come to believe it. Is madness then a matter of degree, decree?
This book is one of the great love stories I have read while at the same time involving a vivd exploration of the essence of truth in the madness of human intellectual survival.
February 27, 2014
This a beautifully written story about love with an amazing ending . I have to admit I was quite surprised . I can only imagine how lovely the language is in the original Italian or Sardinian .
I'm really at a loss for describing how I felt after reading this - sad , awed by the ending but I loved it . Not much if a review , I know - maybe I need to think about it a little more .
I'm really at a loss for describing how I felt after reading this - sad , awed by the ending but I loved it . Not much if a review , I know - maybe I need to think about it a little more .
December 18, 2013
Because in love, perhaps, in the end you have to trust magic - it's not as if you can find a rule, something to follow to make things go well, like the Commandments.
GR friend Melanie's effusive praise of this book tilted me towards an impulse purchase a few weeks ago. How lucky I am I followed that impulse. This is a gorgeous novella, and it deserves all the praise heaped upon it.
But what I really want is for a bunch of people to read it so that we can talk about those last two pages betwixt spoiler tags and its impact on the narrative, the themes, the magnitude of love. WHAT AN ENDING!!!!
May 2, 2023
احساسی که بعد از خوندن این کتاب داشتم شگفت آوره،انگار این کتاب تکه ای از قلب من رو برای همیشه با خودش برد،یکی از بهترین داستان های عاشقانه ای که خوندم.
داستان در مورد زنی هست که در طول کتاب به نام مادربزرگ خطاب میشه و داستان از زبان نوه اون روایت میشه. داستانی از دوران جوانی مادربزرگ تا ازدواج ،عشق ،بچه دار و نوه دار شدن.تمام افکار مادربزرگ حول محور عشق و دوست داشتن میچرخه و روابطش با مردها بعد از نامه های عاشقانه اش به اون ها به هم میخوره و رفته رفته توسط مردم و خانواده اش و به علت بعضی رفتارهای خودش دیوونه شناخته میشه و خانوادش بخاطر اینکه موقعیت ازدواج بقیه خواهرها خراب نشه ،مادربزرگ رو مجبور به ازدواج با فردی میکنن که دوستش نداشته و عشق اساسی ترین نیاز مادربزرگ بوده تا اینکه روزی مادربزرگ با یک کهنه سرباز ملاقات میکنه و سرانجام عشق...
احساسات مادربزرگ خیلی لطیف و زیبا بودند ،احساساتش در یک زندگی با کسی که دوستش نداشته و احساساتش با کهنه سرباز و توجهش به جزئی ترین نکاتی که میتونه نشون دهنده عشق باشه ،یکی از بهترین کتاب ها در مورد احساسات زنانه .
و پدربزرگ و حس دوست داشتن بدون اینکه دوست داشته باشی.
در طول کتاب از خودم میپرسیدم راوی چقدر مطمین و آگاه هست.و پایان کتاب به جوابم رسیدم، یکی از زیباترین پایان هایی بود که خوندم.
قسمت های مورد علاقه ام از کتاب:
.
درد سنگ برای همه پیش نمی آید اما هر خانواده ای سنگهای خودشان را دارند؛ سنگهایی که باید کشفشان کنند تحملشان
کنند و یاد بگیرند دوستشان داشته باشند.
.
دستش را روی شانه اش میگذاشت و با فشاری ملایم به
سمت کنار جاده هدایتش میکرد
یه شاهزاده خانم شما رفتار به شاهزاده خانم رو دارید نگران دنیای اطراف خودتون ،نیستید این دنیاست که باید نگران شما باشه وظیفه ی شما فقط بودنه مگه نه؟
♡
و مادر بزرگ دلش از این خیال غنج می رفت؛ شاهزاده خانم
رفت؛
آینده ی خیابان مانو و شاهزاده حال حاضر خیابان سولیس و
قبل ترها شاهزاده خانم خیابان کامپی دانو
بی آن که قرار مشخصی گذاشته باشند
.
یک روز کهنه سرباز از مادر بزرگ خواهش کرد بگذارد اور بازویش را ببیند و وقتی مادربزرگ آستین بلوزش را بالا زد او با
انگشت اشاره غرق نوازش رگهای زیر پوستش شد
گفت «زیبایی» و به جای شما از تو استفاده کرد تو واقعاً
زیبایی ولی چرا این همه جای زخم؟
مادر بزرگ جواب داد که به خاطر کار توی مزرعه این طوری
شده.
ولی انگار با تیغه چاقو این طوری شده
خیلی چیزها میبریم. کارِ سرِ زمین این طوریه دیگه. ولی چرا روی بازوهاته نه رو دستهات؟ به نظر میآد عمدی
باشن بریدگیهای تمیزی ان
مادر بزرگ جواب نداد کهنه سرباز دستش را گرفت با انگشت
خطوط چهره اش را لمس کرد و دوباره گفت «زیبایی زیبا!
.
از مادر بزرگ میخواست همان پیراهن نو را زیر پالتوش
بپوشد و قبل از بیرون رفتن ازش میخواست یکبار دورِ خودش بچرخد و میگفت خیلی خوشگله ولی به نظر میآمد دلش
میخواهد بگوید خیلی خوشگلی
مادر بزرگ بابت این قضیه هم هیچ وقت خودش را ،نبخشید
چون بلد نبود آن کلمه ها را توی هوا بقاید و از بابتشان احساس
خوشبختی کند.
.
از وقتی مادر بزرگ فهمید که دیگر ،پیر شده به ام میگفت از مُردن
می ترسد نه به خاطر خود ،مرگ که لابد شبیه خواب یا سفر بود، بلکه چون میدانست خدا از دستش خشمگین است چون چیزهای خیلی زیبایی در این دنیا به او عطا کرده بود و او نتوانسته بود با آن چیزها خوشحال باشد و به همین خاطر خدا هم حتماً
او را نمی بخشید در نهایت امیدوار بود واقعاً دیوانه بوده باشد
چون در صورت عاقل ،بودن به جهنم رفتنش قطعی بود باید قبل از رفتن به جهنم با خدا حرف میزد و بهاش میگفت که اگر خودش آدمی را یک جور خاصی ،آفریده دیگر نباید انتظار داشته باشد طرف مثل آدم دیگری رفتار کند همه ی زورش را زده بود تا خودش را متقاعد کند که همان زندگی ای که دارد بهترین زندگی
ممکن است، نه آن زندگی ای که دلتنگش است و آرزویش را دارد.
.
در هر خانواده ای یک نفر باید جور بدبختیها را بکشد چون زندگی همین است، تعادل دوکفه است اگر غیر این باشد دنیا سنگ میشود و از حرکت می ایستد
داستان در مورد زنی هست که در طول کتاب به نام مادربزرگ خطاب میشه و داستان از زبان نوه اون روایت میشه. داستانی از دوران جوانی مادربزرگ تا ازدواج ،عشق ،بچه دار و نوه دار شدن.تمام افکار مادربزرگ حول محور عشق و دوست داشتن میچرخه و روابطش با مردها بعد از نامه های عاشقانه اش به اون ها به هم میخوره و رفته رفته توسط مردم و خانواده اش و به علت بعضی رفتارهای خودش دیوونه شناخته میشه و خانوادش بخاطر اینکه موقعیت ازدواج بقیه خواهرها خراب نشه ،مادربزرگ رو مجبور به ازدواج با فردی میکنن که دوستش نداشته و عشق اساسی ترین نیاز مادربزرگ بوده تا اینکه روزی مادربزرگ با یک کهنه سرباز ملاقات میکنه و سرانجام عشق...
احساسات مادربزرگ خیلی لطیف و زیبا بودند ،احساساتش در یک زندگی با کسی که دوستش نداشته و احساساتش با کهنه سرباز و توجهش به جزئی ترین نکاتی که میتونه نشون دهنده عشق باشه ،یکی از بهترین کتاب ها در مورد احساسات زنانه .
و پدربزرگ و حس دوست داشتن بدون اینکه دوست داشته باشی.
در طول کتاب از خودم میپرسیدم راوی چقدر مطمین و آگاه هست.و پایان کتاب به جوابم رسیدم، یکی از زیباترین پایان هایی بود که خوندم.
قسمت های مورد علاقه ام از کتاب:
.
درد سنگ برای همه پیش نمی آید اما هر خانواده ای سنگهای خودشان را دارند؛ سنگهایی که باید کشفشان کنند تحملشان
کنند و یاد بگیرند دوستشان داشته باشند.
.
دستش را روی شانه اش میگذاشت و با فشاری ملایم به
سمت کنار جاده هدایتش میکرد
یه شاهزاده خانم شما رفتار به شاهزاده خانم رو دارید نگران دنیای اطراف خودتون ،نیستید این دنیاست که باید نگران شما باشه وظیفه ی شما فقط بودنه مگه نه؟
♡
و مادر بزرگ دلش از این خیال غنج می رفت؛ شاهزاده خانم
رفت؛
آینده ی خیابان مانو و شاهزاده حال حاضر خیابان سولیس و
قبل ترها شاهزاده خانم خیابان کامپی دانو
بی آن که قرار مشخصی گذاشته باشند
.
یک روز کهنه سرباز از مادر بزرگ خواهش کرد بگذارد اور بازویش را ببیند و وقتی مادربزرگ آستین بلوزش را بالا زد او با
انگشت اشاره غرق نوازش رگهای زیر پوستش شد
گفت «زیبایی» و به جای شما از تو استفاده کرد تو واقعاً
زیبایی ولی چرا این همه جای زخم؟
مادر بزرگ جواب داد که به خاطر کار توی مزرعه این طوری
شده.
ولی انگار با تیغه چاقو این طوری شده
خیلی چیزها میبریم. کارِ سرِ زمین این طوریه دیگه. ولی چرا روی بازوهاته نه رو دستهات؟ به نظر میآد عمدی
باشن بریدگیهای تمیزی ان
مادر بزرگ جواب نداد کهنه سرباز دستش را گرفت با انگشت
خطوط چهره اش را لمس کرد و دوباره گفت «زیبایی زیبا!
.
از مادر بزرگ میخواست همان پیراهن نو را زیر پالتوش
بپوشد و قبل از بیرون رفتن ازش میخواست یکبار دورِ خودش بچرخد و میگفت خیلی خوشگله ولی به نظر میآمد دلش
میخواهد بگوید خیلی خوشگلی
مادر بزرگ بابت این قضیه هم هیچ وقت خودش را ،نبخشید
چون بلد نبود آن کلمه ها را توی هوا بقاید و از بابتشان احساس
خوشبختی کند.
.
از وقتی مادر بزرگ فهمید که دیگر ،پیر شده به ام میگفت از مُردن
می ترسد نه به خاطر خود ،مرگ که لابد شبیه خواب یا سفر بود، بلکه چون میدانست خدا از دستش خشمگین است چون چیزهای خیلی زیبایی در این دنیا به او عطا کرده بود و او نتوانسته بود با آن چیزها خوشحال باشد و به همین خاطر خدا هم حتماً
او را نمی بخشید در نهایت امیدوار بود واقعاً دیوانه بوده باشد
چون در صورت عاقل ،بودن به جهنم رفتنش قطعی بود باید قبل از رفتن به جهنم با خدا حرف میزد و بهاش میگفت که اگر خودش آدمی را یک جور خاصی ،آفریده دیگر نباید انتظار داشته باشد طرف مثل آدم دیگری رفتار کند همه ی زورش را زده بود تا خودش را متقاعد کند که همان زندگی ای که دارد بهترین زندگی
ممکن است، نه آن زندگی ای که دلتنگش است و آرزویش را دارد.
.
در هر خانواده ای یک نفر باید جور بدبختیها را بکشد چون زندگی همین است، تعادل دوکفه است اگر غیر این باشد دنیا سنگ میشود و از حرکت می ایستد
February 23, 2018
In equilibrio sulla vita
Mal di pietre come mal d'amore e come male di vivere. o forse semplicemente la ricerca dell'amore e della vita. È delicato, semplice e leggero; profuma di gelsomino e di caprifoglio e parla di legami, di sogni, di vita. C'è un passo che mi è piaciuto particolarmente, verso la fine, quando parla del disordine nella vita: «Mamma mi ha raccontato queste cose dopo che nonna è morta. le ha sempre tenute per sé e non ha mai avuto paura di farmi allevare da sua suocera che amava molto. anzi, pensa che dobbiamo essere grati a nonna perché si è presa tutto il disordine che magari sarebbe toccato a papà e a me. secondo mamma, infatti, in una famiglia il disordine deve prendere qualcuno, perché la vita è fatta così, un equilibrio fra i due, altrimenti il mondo si irrigidisce e si ferma. Se la notte noi dormiamo senza incubi, se il matrimonio di mamma e papà è sempre stato senza scosse, se mi sposo con il mio primo ragazzo, se non abbiamo crisi di panico e non tentiamo di suicidarci, né di buttarci dentro i cassonetti della spazzatura, o di sfregiarci è merito di nonna, che ha pagato per tutti. In ogni famiglia c'è sempre uno che paga il proprio tributo perché l'equilibrio fra ordine e disordine sia rispettato e il mondo non si fermi. (...)"
Mal di pietre come mal d'amore e come male di vivere. o forse semplicemente la ricerca dell'amore e della vita. È delicato, semplice e leggero; profuma di gelsomino e di caprifoglio e parla di legami, di sogni, di vita. C'è un passo che mi è piaciuto particolarmente, verso la fine, quando parla del disordine nella vita: «Mamma mi ha raccontato queste cose dopo che nonna è morta. le ha sempre tenute per sé e non ha mai avuto paura di farmi allevare da sua suocera che amava molto. anzi, pensa che dobbiamo essere grati a nonna perché si è presa tutto il disordine che magari sarebbe toccato a papà e a me. secondo mamma, infatti, in una famiglia il disordine deve prendere qualcuno, perché la vita è fatta così, un equilibrio fra i due, altrimenti il mondo si irrigidisce e si ferma. Se la notte noi dormiamo senza incubi, se il matrimonio di mamma e papà è sempre stato senza scosse, se mi sposo con il mio primo ragazzo, se non abbiamo crisi di panico e non tentiamo di suicidarci, né di buttarci dentro i cassonetti della spazzatura, o di sfregiarci è merito di nonna, che ha pagato per tutti. In ogni famiglia c'è sempre uno che paga il proprio tributo perché l'equilibrio fra ordine e disordine sia rispettato e il mondo non si fermi. (...)"
October 26, 2021
Kratak sadržaj privuče pozornost čitatelja i potakne da se proviri dublje u radnju i dozna što se točno tu krije. Mjesto radnje sugerira jake emocije u svim njihovim raznolikostima i obavezan prikaz lijepog pejzaža, dok očekujemo zanimljivu priču o tri generacije jedne obitelji.
Cijeli osvrt pronađite ovdje: https://knjige-u-svom-filmu.webador.c...
Cijeli osvrt pronađite ovdje: https://knjige-u-svom-filmu.webador.c...
March 2, 2021
Imagination Enhances Reality
Once upon a time there was a woman with an empty heart. She desperately searched for Love but it persistently refused entering her life.
Since she couldn’t have it, she invented it — in poems, letters,... — she performed it in words, intensely!...
How thin is the line between reality and imagination?
Ain’t happiness a blend of both?!
There are facts and imagination fills the gaps! 😉
Once upon a time there was a woman with an empty heart. She desperately searched for Love but it persistently refused entering her life.
Since she couldn’t have it, she invented it — in poems, letters,... — she performed it in words, intensely!...
How thin is the line between reality and imagination?
Ain’t happiness a blend of both?!
There are facts and imagination fills the gaps! 😉
October 30, 2016
NO SPOILERS!!!
You will be surprised by the ending! I was a bit confused at times; I messed up who was being described. The story isn't meant to be spelt out clearly, but by the end you understand everything. Confusion leads to understanding. It is the story about the life of the narrator's paternal grandmother. The question is: who really knows the truth and should we readers trust all that we are told? Don't worry! You will understand at the end.
World and Italian (Cagliari in Sardinia, Milan and Genoa) historical events are woven into the story from WW2 up through and beyond the Beatles. Sardinian landscape and foods are there for the taking. The central focus is craziness and love, sex and dedication to an art. The range is wide. Are you looking for some tips on bizarre sexual techniques? I laughed, others may scowl.
Even though I was grasping for understanding, I never considered giving up! Primarily because I enjoyed the author's ability to describe characters both physically and emotionally. I enjoyed the prose style. Here is a sample describing the granddaughter's mother, father and maternal grandmother, with whom her mother lived:
....her widowed mother, my grandmother Lia, who was severe and rigid and obsessed with order and hygiene, who waxed the floors and made you put on felt slippers, and always wore black, and whom mamma had to telephone constantly to say where she was, but she never complained. The only happy thing in mamma's life was music, which Signora Lia couldn't bear: she closed all the doors in order not to hear her daughter practice.
Mamma loved my father silently for a long time; she liked everything about him, even the fact that he was utterly in another world, and always had his sweaters on backward and never remembered what season it was and wore summer shirts until he caught bronchitis, and everyone said he was crazy. So although he was very handsome, girls didn't want to go with him for all those reasons, and especially because that kind of craziness wasn't fashionable then, and after all, neither was classical music, in which he was a genius. Mamma, however, would have sold her soul for him. (33%)
Do you enjoy this type of writing? I do.
I don't usually like novellas. In the short number of pages in this book I grew to understand the characters, I saw Sardinia and I played with the concept of what is craziness really?
I liked the book - so three stars. Three star books are worth reading, given how I rate books!
You will be surprised by the ending! I was a bit confused at times; I messed up who was being described. The story isn't meant to be spelt out clearly, but by the end you understand everything. Confusion leads to understanding. It is the story about the life of the narrator's paternal grandmother. The question is: who really knows the truth and should we readers trust all that we are told? Don't worry! You will understand at the end.
World and Italian (Cagliari in Sardinia, Milan and Genoa) historical events are woven into the story from WW2 up through and beyond the Beatles. Sardinian landscape and foods are there for the taking. The central focus is craziness and love, sex and dedication to an art. The range is wide. Are you looking for some tips on bizarre sexual techniques? I laughed, others may scowl.
Even though I was grasping for understanding, I never considered giving up! Primarily because I enjoyed the author's ability to describe characters both physically and emotionally. I enjoyed the prose style. Here is a sample describing the granddaughter's mother, father and maternal grandmother, with whom her mother lived:
....her widowed mother, my grandmother Lia, who was severe and rigid and obsessed with order and hygiene, who waxed the floors and made you put on felt slippers, and always wore black, and whom mamma had to telephone constantly to say where she was, but she never complained. The only happy thing in mamma's life was music, which Signora Lia couldn't bear: she closed all the doors in order not to hear her daughter practice.
Mamma loved my father silently for a long time; she liked everything about him, even the fact that he was utterly in another world, and always had his sweaters on backward and never remembered what season it was and wore summer shirts until he caught bronchitis, and everyone said he was crazy. So although he was very handsome, girls didn't want to go with him for all those reasons, and especially because that kind of craziness wasn't fashionable then, and after all, neither was classical music, in which he was a genius. Mamma, however, would have sold her soul for him. (33%)
Do you enjoy this type of writing? I do.
I don't usually like novellas. In the short number of pages in this book I grew to understand the characters, I saw Sardinia and I played with the concept of what is craziness really?
I liked the book - so three stars. Three star books are worth reading, given how I rate books!
September 25, 2022
I love the Italian language and read many Italian novels, but so far never anything set in Sardinia or by a Sardinian author.
I can heartily recommend this lovely little novella in which a granddaughter recounts the (love) life of her beautiful grandmother in postwar Cagliari. Nobody wants to marry her because she is said to be crazy and also suffers from kidney stones (the titular 'Mal di pietre'). Then, an older man offers to marry her, even though she tells him clearly she'll never love him. The older man takes good care of her, but they can't have children because of the disease. One spring in 1953 her life changes completely as she leaves for treatment at thermal baths on the mainland and falls in love with a handsome war veteran...
I won't say anything else, but it's a beautiful story with some interesting, quirky elements and surprises. It took a but to get into it, but then I couldn't stop.
All the while I was reading I was for some reason convinced this was an autobiography. Only now, trying to find out what others think of the surprising ending, I realise it was all fiction. I tend to rate non-fiction higher, but this is a lesson that it doesn't matter if something really happened or not...
I can heartily recommend this lovely little novella in which a granddaughter recounts the (love) life of her beautiful grandmother in postwar Cagliari. Nobody wants to marry her because she is said to be crazy and also suffers from kidney stones (the titular 'Mal di pietre'). Then, an older man offers to marry her, even though she tells him clearly she'll never love him. The older man takes good care of her, but they can't have children because of the disease. One spring in 1953 her life changes completely as she leaves for treatment at thermal baths on the mainland and falls in love with a handsome war veteran...
I won't say anything else, but it's a beautiful story with some interesting, quirky elements and surprises. It took a but to get into it, but then I couldn't stop.
All the while I was reading I was for some reason convinced this was an autobiography. Only now, trying to find out what others think of the surprising ending, I realise it was all fiction. I tend to rate non-fiction higher, but this is a lesson that it doesn't matter if something really happened or not...
January 17, 2016
Câteodată începi un roman şi ai senzaţia că ai citit un milion de alte carţi la fel ca cea pe care o ţii în mână şi te întrebi dacă merită să continui lectura. Pur şi simplu ai citit despre femei prinse în căsătorii nefericite deja şi cine ar putea scrie o carte la fel de interesantă ca Anna Karenina sau Thérèse Desqueyroux?
Ei, uite că se poate! Şi colac pe pupăză autoarea reuşeşte să creeze o poveste emoţionantă în 100 de pagini. Milena Agus plaseasă acţiunea romanului în Cagliari, Spania după cel de-al Doilea Război Mondial, unde trei generaţii de femei din familii diferite sunt unite prin căsătorie. Cea mai impunătoare figură este enigmatica bunică care e subiectul fascinaţiei nepoatei (naratorul nostru), aceasta dintâi considerând că cel mai important lucru în viaţă e dragostea.
Autoarea schiţează tabloul acestor personaje utilizând o economie a cuvintelor care crează o atmosferă de mister în jurul fiecărui personaj . Tocmai această incertitudine denotă tensiunea dintre momentele de imaginare, cotidiane şi nebune, ale căror frumuseţe şi absurditate aduc cititorul (adică pe mine; ce sens are să mint?!) într-o stare care oscilează între melancolie şi admiraţie pentru felul în care adesea gesturile mici, nu cele grandioase, denotă sănătatea unui mariaj.
Ei, uite că se poate! Şi colac pe pupăză autoarea reuşeşte să creeze o poveste emoţionantă în 100 de pagini. Milena Agus plaseasă acţiunea romanului în Cagliari, Spania după cel de-al Doilea Război Mondial, unde trei generaţii de femei din familii diferite sunt unite prin căsătorie. Cea mai impunătoare figură este enigmatica bunică care e subiectul fascinaţiei nepoatei (naratorul nostru), aceasta dintâi considerând că cel mai important lucru în viaţă e dragostea.
Autoarea schiţează tabloul acestor personaje utilizând o economie a cuvintelor care crează o atmosferă de mister în jurul fiecărui personaj . Tocmai această incertitudine denotă tensiunea dintre momentele de imaginare, cotidiane şi nebune, ale căror frumuseţe şi absurditate aduc cititorul (adică pe mine; ce sens are să mint?!) într-o stare care oscilează între melancolie şi admiraţie pentru felul în care adesea gesturile mici, nu cele grandioase, denotă sănătatea unui mariaj.
November 17, 2023
راوی داستان مادربزرگ پدریشو تعریف میکنه؛ زنی که از بچگی همه فکر میکردن «از دیار مهتاب» اومده-یعنی توی یه عالم دیگه سیر میکرده. مادربزرگ توی سن سی و چند سالگی عاشق یه کهنهسرباز میشه و دنیاش زیر و رو میشه.
پایانبندی داستان و به قول خارجکیا اون twistش رو خیلی خیلی پسندیدم. و کلاً با اینکه ریتم کندی داشت، لطافت داستانو خیلی دوست داشتم.🧡
پایانبندی داستان و به قول خارجکیا اون twistش رو خیلی خیلی پسندیدم. و کلاً با اینکه ریتم کندی داشت، لطافت داستانو خیلی دوست داشتم.🧡
February 7, 2017
الكتاب: حب في سردينيا.
المؤلِّف: ميلينا آغوس.
عدد الصفحات: 142.
دار النشر: الساقي.
الطبعة الأولى 2016
.................
ميلينا آغوس كاتبة و روائية إيطاليّة، وأستاذة تعليم اللّغة الإيطالية في إحدى المعاهد الفنية، حازت على جوائز أدبية عديدة.
وقع الكتاب في ٢٠ فصلًا صبّت الكاتبة فيها تصوراتها المحكية من واقع مجتمعي تعيشه في مدينتها -على ما يبدو-، تنوّعت الأحداث بين حروبٍ وعلاقات رومانسية، وجولات بتعبيرات تفصيلية ناقلةً الصورة الواقعية الكاملة إلى ذهن القارئ، مع كل ذلك تركّزت الأحداث حول قصة حب تحكيها الكاتبة -على أنها حفيدة- نقلًا عن جدتها التي وقعت أم الجدة في حب شخصٍ كانت تنتضرُ شخصه بما يحمل من خصوصيات ومميّزات يقشع عنها الهموم والكروب!
مزج القالب السياسي بالقالب الرومانسي وإن تغلّب الأخير على الأوَّل، يبعّد المقصد -في تصوري- وهذا ما ضعّف من رسائل القصة المراد إيصالها..
الرواية لا تخلوا من فائدة، من حيث المبدأ التصوري للأدب الإيطالي، والإطلاع على ثقافة جزء من الشعب الإيطالي ..
أما من جهة البناء التحليلي للسرد الأدبي، لا أتعرَّض له، ان شاءالله في رواياتٍ أخرى قد نتعرَّض إليه.
أعطي الرواية نجمتين.
٢٢ ربيع الآخر ١٤٣٨هـ
يوم الأحد الموافق: 22-1-2017
المؤلِّف: ميلينا آغوس.
عدد الصفحات: 142.
دار النشر: الساقي.
الطبعة الأولى 2016
.................
ميلينا آغوس كاتبة و روائية إيطاليّة، وأستاذة تعليم اللّغة الإيطالية في إحدى المعاهد الفنية، حازت على جوائز أدبية عديدة.
وقع الكتاب في ٢٠ فصلًا صبّت الكاتبة فيها تصوراتها المحكية من واقع مجتمعي تعيشه في مدينتها -على ما يبدو-، تنوّعت الأحداث بين حروبٍ وعلاقات رومانسية، وجولات بتعبيرات تفصيلية ناقلةً الصورة الواقعية الكاملة إلى ذهن القارئ، مع كل ذلك تركّزت الأحداث حول قصة حب تحكيها الكاتبة -على أنها حفيدة- نقلًا عن جدتها التي وقعت أم الجدة في حب شخصٍ كانت تنتضرُ شخصه بما يحمل من خصوصيات ومميّزات يقشع عنها الهموم والكروب!
مزج القالب السياسي بالقالب الرومانسي وإن تغلّب الأخير على الأوَّل، يبعّد المقصد -في تصوري- وهذا ما ضعّف من رسائل القصة المراد إيصالها..
الرواية لا تخلوا من فائدة، من حيث المبدأ التصوري للأدب الإيطالي، والإطلاع على ثقافة جزء من الشعب الإيطالي ..
أما من جهة البناء التحليلي للسرد الأدبي، لا أتعرَّض له، ان شاءالله في رواياتٍ أخرى قد نتعرَّض إليه.
أعطي الرواية نجمتين.
٢٢ ربيع الآخر ١٤٣٨هـ
يوم الأحد الموافق: 22-1-2017
September 24, 2012
Чете се за по-малко от два часа.
Колко кратичка и пълна може да бъде една история на 4 поколения, колко топла и чувствена една драма от Сардиния! В дъното прозира пагубното влияние на консервативните нрави в такива затънтени места, но това са и места цветни и населени с хора с буйна кръв, затова атмосферата не е потискаща.
Преизказното наклонение и леещият се език създават чувство за носталгия и прикрита романтичност, но в Южна Италия сякаш емоциите и страстите винаги надделяват и книжката оставя не горчив, а сладък вкус.
Колко кратичка и пълна може да бъде една история на 4 поколения, колко топла и чувствена една драма от Сардиния! В дъното прозира пагубното влияние на консервативните нрави в такива затънтени места, но това са и места цветни и населени с хора с буйна кръв, затова атмосферата не е потискаща.
Преизказното наклонение и леещият се език създават чувство за носталгия и прикрита романтичност, но в Южна Италия сякаш емоциите и страстите винаги надделяват и книжката оставя не горчив, а сладък вкус.
January 22, 2018
Abbastanza scorrevole. Un linguaggio colloquiale, scarno ma efficace. La poesia del mare della Sardegna e la durezza del suo entroterra. Un mare che sembra rendere tutto possibile e che - data la sua immensità - fa apparire irrilevanti le noie e i disagi della vita quotidiana. Una donna che vive "controcorrente", al limite della follia nella sua ossessiva ricerca dell'amore, unico sentimento che per lei dà senso e ragione all'esistenza. 2,5*
May 15, 2019
Non avevo mai sentito parlare di Milena Agus quando la mia amica Ema mi ha inviato Mal di pietre. Nonostante questo, ho cominciato a leggerlo subito, non solo perché la recensione di Ema era molto interessante (si può leggere qui , in rumeno ☺) ma soprattutto perché era in italiano e c’era un po’ che non leggevo niente in questa bellissima lingua et anche perché (lo dico con la vergogna appropriata, figuriamoci) non aveva molte pagine.
Frattempo ho saputo (evviva l’Wikipedia!) che l’autrice è un’esponente del gruppo “Nuova letteratura sarda”, che è insegnante d’italiano e che è diventata nota proprio con Mal di pietre, il suo secondo romanzo dopo Mentre dorme il pescecane.
Devo ammettere che durante la lettura ho avuto dei pensieri contradittori riguardo a questo piccolo libro. A volte mi sembrava intollerabilmente sentimentale, a volte un po’ naïve nel suo patetismo – questa storia di una donna alla ricerca dell’amore assoluto oltre il quale nulla ha senso e il male emotivo di cui si era tradotto in un male fisico – i calcoli renali (per quale motivo, non lo so, forse perché le pietre sono un simbolo della durevolezza, dell’immobilità nel tempo et nello spazio, opposte all’acqua che corre e si dissipa dappertutto, forse perché i reni sono i filtri delle impurità dell’organismo come l’amore il filtro delle emozioni ma ambedue si possono bloccare lasciando il corpo e l’anima indifesi, oppure forse perché il mal di reni è uno dei mali fisici più intesi tutto come l’amore tra i mali psichici):
Ma ogni volta che cominciavo a pensare che forse non vale la pena continuare la lettura, trovavo qualche immagine bella e delicata, con una forza di suggestione così inaspettata che demoliva rapidamente i miei pregiudizi e contradiceva subito la mia suspicione che quello che leggevo era simili-letteratura:
La storia è semplice ed è narrata in un modo molto scorrevole: la nipote dell’eroina principale (l’io narrante), ricostruisce con nostalgia e tenerezza la gioventù di sua nonna dalle storie che quest’ultima gli aveva raccontate spesso durante la sua infanzia. Storie di una cerca quasi fiabesca di un ideale, a un’età in quale voleva l’amore così disperatamente che avrebbe preferito piuttosto morire che vivere senza trovarlo. Storia di un matrimonio forzato con un uomo gentile ma che lei non poteva amare e della rassegnazione di vivere vicino a lui magari una vita tranquilla e confortabile nella soleggiata Sardegna. Infine, storia di un viaggio magico a Civitavecchia per fare le cure termali a causa dei suoi calcoli renali che non solo gli facevano molto male, ma la impedivano ad avere bambini. Ed è lì, in un posto abbastanza brutto e triste, che nonna sembra incontrare finalmente il suo grand’amore, il Reduce, un uomo soffrendo della stessa malattia e con cui può finalmente essere se stessa:
Interessante è ugualmente il fatto che, benché le luci della ribalta siano fissate sulla nonna paterna, le sue storie s’intrecciano delicatamente con altre due, sfocate nel fondale: quella della nonna materna e quella della nipote. L’altra nonna della narratrice ha sofferto anche lei di troppo amore, ma la sua tragedia, nata dalla violazione delle convenzioni sociali, è solo suggerita dalla sua immagine priva di allegria che resta nella memoria della nipote:
D’altra parte, l’infanzia della narratrice, illuminata dell’immagine della nonna come lo è, non è così serena come appare a una prima vista, perché la bambina soffre pure di una mancanza affettiva, rifugiandosi nell’amore della nonna in assenza dell’amore dei genitori:
La mia intelligentissima amica Ema mi diceva un giorno fa che sebbene l’amore filiale abbia saltato una generazione, forse la nipote è stata più fortunata e ha trovato la felicità nell’amore rifiutato alle sue nonne. Può darsi che Ema abbia ragione, a meno che l’idea suggerita dal libro non sia che l’amore resta per sempre elusivo, intangibile e doloroso benché a volte sia confuso con la contentezza domestica.
In ogni caso, questa tripla visione sull’amore come un mal (di cuore, di pietre) trasmesso da una generazione ad altra, insieme a un finale assolutamente geniale, bastano per garantire una lettura pienamente soddisfacente. Per non parlare del ritmo incantevole della narrazione, con le sue inflessioni magiche, come quest’evocazione di Milano, fata da tanti epiteti ed enumerazioni che avrebbe dovuto infastidirci e che invece crea un’immagine sorprendentemente fresca e viva:
Frattempo ho saputo (evviva l’Wikipedia!) che l’autrice è un’esponente del gruppo “Nuova letteratura sarda”, che è insegnante d’italiano e che è diventata nota proprio con Mal di pietre, il suo secondo romanzo dopo Mentre dorme il pescecane.
Devo ammettere che durante la lettura ho avuto dei pensieri contradittori riguardo a questo piccolo libro. A volte mi sembrava intollerabilmente sentimentale, a volte un po’ naïve nel suo patetismo – questa storia di una donna alla ricerca dell’amore assoluto oltre il quale nulla ha senso e il male emotivo di cui si era tradotto in un male fisico – i calcoli renali (per quale motivo, non lo so, forse perché le pietre sono un simbolo della durevolezza, dell’immobilità nel tempo et nello spazio, opposte all’acqua che corre e si dissipa dappertutto, forse perché i reni sono i filtri delle impurità dell’organismo come l’amore il filtro delle emozioni ma ambedue si possono bloccare lasciando il corpo e l’anima indifesi, oppure forse perché il mal di reni è uno dei mali fisici più intesi tutto come l’amore tra i mali psichici):
…nonna lo aveva spogliato e appoggiato delicatamente la gamba di legno ai piedi del letto e baciato e accarezzato a lungo la sua mutilazione. E in cuor suo per la prima volta aveva ringraziato Dio, di averla fatta nascere, di averla tirata fuori dal pozzo, di averle dato un bel seno e dei bei capelli, perfino, anzi soprattutto, i calcoli renali.
Ma ogni volta che cominciavo a pensare che forse non vale la pena continuare la lettura, trovavo qualche immagine bella e delicata, con una forza di suggestione così inaspettata che demoliva rapidamente i miei pregiudizi e contradiceva subito la mia suspicione che quello che leggevo era simili-letteratura:
Io sono nata che mia nonna aveva più di sessant’anni. Mi ricordo che da piccola la trovavo bellissima e stavo sempre incantata a vedere quando si pettinava e si faceva sa crocchia all’antica, con le trecce di capelli che non sono mai diventati bianchi, né radi, e che partivano dalla discriminatura in mezzo per poi essere raccolti in due chignon. Ero orgogliosa quando veniva a prendermi a scuola con quel suo sorriso giovane fra le mamme e i padri degli altri, perché i miei, essendo musicisti, erano sempre in giro per il mondo.
La storia è semplice ed è narrata in un modo molto scorrevole: la nipote dell’eroina principale (l’io narrante), ricostruisce con nostalgia e tenerezza la gioventù di sua nonna dalle storie che quest’ultima gli aveva raccontate spesso durante la sua infanzia. Storie di una cerca quasi fiabesca di un ideale, a un’età in quale voleva l’amore così disperatamente che avrebbe preferito piuttosto morire che vivere senza trovarlo. Storia di un matrimonio forzato con un uomo gentile ma che lei non poteva amare e della rassegnazione di vivere vicino a lui magari una vita tranquilla e confortabile nella soleggiata Sardegna. Infine, storia di un viaggio magico a Civitavecchia per fare le cure termali a causa dei suoi calcoli renali che non solo gli facevano molto male, ma la impedivano ad avere bambini. Ed è lì, in un posto abbastanza brutto e triste, che nonna sembra incontrare finalmente il suo grand’amore, il Reduce, un uomo soffrendo della stessa malattia e con cui può finalmente essere se stessa:
… nonna diceva sempre che la sua vita si divideva in due parti: prima e dopo le cure termali, come se l’acqua che le aveva fatto espellere i calcoli fosse stata miracolosa in tutti i sensi.
Interessante è ugualmente il fatto che, benché le luci della ribalta siano fissate sulla nonna paterna, le sue storie s’intrecciano delicatamente con altre due, sfocate nel fondale: quella della nonna materna e quella della nipote. L’altra nonna della narratrice ha sofferto anche lei di troppo amore, ma la sua tragedia, nata dalla violazione delle convenzioni sociali, è solo suggerita dalla sua immagine priva di allegria che resta nella memoria della nipote:
I primi tempi telefonò quasi ogni giorno e non diceva dov’era. La sorella maggiore, che le aveva fatto da madre perché quella vera era morta di parto alla sua nascita, piangeva e le diceva che il padre ormai si vergognava di uscire per strada e i fratelli minacciavano di andarla a cercare in capo al mondo e di ammazzarla. Non telefonò più. Chiuse per sempre con l’amore, i sogni…
D’altra parte, l’infanzia della narratrice, illuminata dell’immagine della nonna come lo è, non è così serena come appare a una prima vista, perché la bambina soffre pure di una mancanza affettiva, rifugiandosi nell’amore della nonna in assenza dell’amore dei genitori:
Mia nonna è stata tutta per me, almeno quanto mio padre tutto per la musica e mia madre tutta per mio padre.
La mia intelligentissima amica Ema mi diceva un giorno fa che sebbene l’amore filiale abbia saltato una generazione, forse la nipote è stata più fortunata e ha trovato la felicità nell’amore rifiutato alle sue nonne. Può darsi che Ema abbia ragione, a meno che l’idea suggerita dal libro non sia che l’amore resta per sempre elusivo, intangibile e doloroso benché a volte sia confuso con la contentezza domestica.
In ogni caso, questa tripla visione sull’amore come un mal (di cuore, di pietre) trasmesso da una generazione ad altra, insieme a un finale assolutamente geniale, bastano per garantire una lettura pienamente soddisfacente. Per non parlare del ritmo incantevole della narrazione, con le sue inflessioni magiche, come quest’evocazione di Milano, fata da tanti epiteti ed enumerazioni che avrebbe dovuto infastidirci e che invece crea un’immagine sorprendentemente fresca e viva:
…Milano era grandissima, altissima, coi palazzi massicci, decorati in modo sontuoso, bellissima, grigia, nebbiosa, tanto traffico, il cielo a pezzetti fra i rami spogli degli alberi, tante luci di negozi, fari di auto, semafori, sferragliare di tram, la gente fitta con le facce nei baveri dei cappotti dentro un’aria di pioggia.
Read
December 3, 20186/10
Meh.
Surprisingly drab. Even a little humdrum. I was expecting so much more, considering the write-up on the jacket.
Never judge a book by its cover is a truism one should adhere to more often.
Meh.
Surprisingly drab. Even a little humdrum. I was expecting so much more, considering the write-up on the jacket.
Never judge a book by its cover is a truism one should adhere to more often.
September 24, 2016
Family history has always fascinated me. I remember pestering my grandparents for theirs when I was little; everything would seem like one of the most amazing fairy tales, and I didn't mind hearing the same thing over and over again.
As such, From the Land of the Moon should have had every chance of getting on my favorites lists. We start out with a mysterious grandmother plagued by an unnamed mental disease. Several years later, a single, carefully measured, dose of an illicit love affair gets added. It's not much, just a few months long, yet still enough to color said grandmother's remaining life. For your heightened pleasure, don't forget to place everything in the absolutely perfect setting of the nostalgically rural Sardinia.
Though I have to admit that the descriptions of post-WWII Cagliari, all devastated and destitute would end up morphing into the Roman Forum in my mind, courtesy of my subconscious... and the fact that I've seen the latter, but not the former.
I'm just naturally gifted in the bizarre imagination department.
And yet, despite all the right ingredients I just didn't get to like the book. I was expecting to be able to finish it in a couple of hours, but instead wound up dawdling over it for almost a week. Things just kept pissing me off: the non-linear story, the constant insertion of Sardinian dialect everywhere. The latter was probably more frustrating to me really, as I can converse decently (well... kind of...) in literary Italian. Sardinian however, might as well have been some form of Martian.
Admittedly, the description of the grandparents' bedroom activities made for a significant uptick in my mood. I was impressed by the amount of detail that the author provided, given the genre of the book: on par with some of the more... ah... risque fanfiction that have crossed my path.
But ultimately, it just wasn't enough to change my overall feelings for the story.
Score: 3.2/5 frustrated stars
I really really wanted to like this book. It's what kept me reading - well that, and its short length. And now, 2 weeks after having finished it, I feel this absolutely shameful urge to apologize: this novel had just the most perfect ending... EVER.
OK, so I have not read as much as any regular book snob would consider half-way decent. I also tend to avoid the classics like the plague, but the ending of this little story, was just the most amazing way to conclude the grandmother's story.
As such, From the Land of the Moon should have had every chance of getting on my favorites lists. We start out with a mysterious grandmother plagued by an unnamed mental disease. Several years later, a single, carefully measured, dose of an illicit love affair gets added. It's not much, just a few months long, yet still enough to color said grandmother's remaining life. For your heightened pleasure, don't forget to place everything in the absolutely perfect setting of the nostalgically rural Sardinia.
Though I have to admit that the descriptions of post-WWII Cagliari, all devastated and destitute would end up morphing into the Roman Forum in my mind, courtesy of my subconscious... and the fact that I've seen the latter, but not the former.
I'm just naturally gifted in the bizarre imagination department.
And yet, despite all the right ingredients I just didn't get to like the book. I was expecting to be able to finish it in a couple of hours, but instead wound up dawdling over it for almost a week. Things just kept pissing me off: the non-linear story, the constant insertion of Sardinian dialect everywhere. The latter was probably more frustrating to me really, as I can converse decently (well... kind of...) in literary Italian. Sardinian however, might as well have been some form of Martian.
Admittedly, the description of the grandparents' bedroom activities made for a significant uptick in my mood. I was impressed by the amount of detail that the author provided, given the genre of the book: on par with some of the more... ah... risque fanfiction that have crossed my path.
But ultimately, it just wasn't enough to change my overall feelings for the story.
Score: 3.2/5 frustrated stars
I really really wanted to like this book. It's what kept me reading - well that, and its short length. And now, 2 weeks after having finished it, I feel this absolutely shameful urge to apologize: this novel had just the most perfect ending... EVER.
OK, so I have not read as much as any regular book snob would consider half-way decent. I also tend to avoid the classics like the plague, but the ending of this little story, was just the most amazing way to conclude the grandmother's story.
May 20, 2017
El libro ya me parecía simple, pero el final lo terminó de rematar dándole el toque de gracia justo para que todo tuviera su sentido
Lo mejor, una frase:
«Si no he de conocerte nunca, haz al menos que te extrañe.»
http://entremontonesdelibros.blogspot...
Lo mejor, una frase:
«Si no he de conocerte nunca, haz al menos que te extrañe.»
http://entremontonesdelibros.blogspot...
November 20, 2020
Historia de amores frustrados y matrimonios sin amor en la Italia de primera mitad del siglo XX. Contada desde el presente por la nieta de la protagonista - que se nos nombra todo el tiempo como 'Abuela' - nos narra sus desventuras matrimoniales y cómo inesperadamente halló el amor durante una estancia en un balneario para curarse del riñón - 'el mal de piedras'.
En realidad es una novella, que se lee muy rápidamente y tiene detalles que retratan bien la vida cotidiana y la situación de las mujeres en la época. No está mal, pero tampoco me ha entusiasmado.
En realidad es una novella, que se lee muy rápidamente y tiene detalles que retratan bien la vida cotidiana y la situación de las mujeres en la época. No está mal, pero tampoco me ha entusiasmado.
October 16, 2020
Letto tutto d'un fiato. Un gioiellino.
January 7, 2020
poetična na neki neobičan način, milena agus čudesno uspijeva u ovom kratkom romanu stavljati lirske opise pejzaža uz bok necenzuriranim pikanterijama iz spavaće sobe svoje bake... stilski pomalo neobično, neočekivano, ali čitko, mjestimice duhovito i, na koncu, u punom sjaju tragično.
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