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La casa sul lago della luna
A prize-winning international bestseller, this gripping story by Francesca Duranti follows Fabrizio, an impoverished but aristocratic translator, on his obsessive quest to find a lost German novel -- The House on Moon Lake -- after he reads a reference to it in the book of a renowned literary critic. Fabrizio's quest and its solution transform his life as he searches for the reality behind the events in the book and its author.
As Fabrizio is drawn into making up a story which slowly -- and intolerably -- becomes fact, he watches as his own creation begins to overpower him. By the time Fabrizio realizes the ramifications of the myth he has crafted, the love story of the original dissolves into a horror story of the present.
187 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1984
10 people are currently reading
267 people want to read
About the author
Francesca Duranti
22 books8 followersFrancesca Duranti is the author of eight critically acclaimed novels and the winner of several of Italy’s most prestigious literary awards. She lives in New York City and Lucca, Italy.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews
April 3, 2015
A buried book about an obsessed translator in pursuit of another buried book, found in an ad in the back of yet another buried book (and a good one, Nelly's Version). This is quick and odd, difficult to pin down throughout, starting off as a kind of literary-world mystery that will appeal to anyone who, like me, has felt this particular thrill of the hunt and the satisfaction of a disappeared work fulfilling its promise. Then, things shift stranger, more claustrophobic, eventually heading towards a very conceptual sort of ghost story. Throughout, Duranti's prose has a crystal clear, transparent quality, very precisely dealing with ambiguities and philosophical shadings. And the protagonist, while rather a pompous jerk, is so believable, self-consistent, and well-realized, that he somehow becomes a sympathetic jerk, the kind you keep hope will develop greater self-reflection and get it together. Which carries this all quite nicely. Very much worth blind-buying old Flamingo publications to have encountered this one.
June 26, 2012
Wow. What started off as a rather dry novel, that I didn't think I'd enjoy, finished with a scary, Kafka-esque surprise. How much better to have a book start slowly and end with an amazing flourish than to read a book that starts well but fizzles out.
This novel won a lot of awards in Italy, was published in 1987 though the writing is so beautiful, it seems to have been written much longer ago. It centres on a fascinating, introverted handsome young man who translates books for a living. He becomes more and more reclusive and withdrawn during his hunt for information on a long lost novel he has uncovered. It's one I'd like to read again.
This novel won a lot of awards in Italy, was published in 1987 though the writing is so beautiful, it seems to have been written much longer ago. It centres on a fascinating, introverted handsome young man who translates books for a living. He becomes more and more reclusive and withdrawn during his hunt for information on a long lost novel he has uncovered. It's one I'd like to read again.
October 23, 2015
Fabrizio Garrone is a book translator. When he comes across a reference to an obscure novel, purportedly a manuscript, he sets out to find it; in fact, he becomes obsessed with it. After he translates the novel from German to Italian, he is also asked to write a biography of the author, Fritz Oberhofer. When he cannot find any information about the last three years of Oberhofer’s life, Fabrizio fabricates a mistress, Maria Lettner, for him. The fun begins when others substantiate the existence of the fictional Maria.
It is the characterization of Fabrizio which caught my interest. He wallows in self-pity, describing himself as someone “whom fate had always taken delight in cheating, without ever bothering to compensate.” He is a mess of insecurities, full of “feelings of inadequacy and mistrust of everyone.” As a result he is “always taking very short steps and avoiding all risks.” He is depressed by the hustle and bustle of modern life with its “debased culture” and by modern women (“Nothing but trouble, right from the start”), women who are “in control” and walk with a “strong and confident gait, the sign of a profound independence.” This detailed development of Fabrizio’s personality makes his behaviour credible.
It is Fabrizio’s relationship with Fulvia that illustrates his approach to life. He hates “feeling like an outsider” but constantly withdraws from people: “he was incapable of admitting another person into that secret recess, off-limits to friends and siblings, where love resides.” He loves Fulvia but “the more his love for Fulvia grew and deepened, the more it frightened him” and “when he’s afraid he doesn’t reason or respond, he becomes mean, disloyal and dishonest.” Because he is afraid to commit, he does whatever is necessary to keep the relationship from progressing: “he shows great powers of obstruction, an uncanny ability to hinder, stifle, deny and ignore.” He uses words not to communicate but as “stones for a barricade.”
Fulvia is Fabrizio’s foil. She emanates “peace, strength and health,” speaks with “a great deal of substance, intelligence and spirit” and exudes a “calm, steady reliability.” She has a “resolute nature” and never minces words. Fabrizio describes her as his “warrior angel, generous and brave.” Unfortunately, rather than open his arms to this human and living woman who also loves him, he becomes enamoured with Maria, a woman of his imagination who embodies his idea of “the abstract essence of womanhood.”
There is a great deal of foreshadowing the consequences of Fabrizio’s obsession. Early on, he chooses not to tell Fulvia about the book and we are told he “missed the chance, his last, to stay in touch with common sense, and set off alone toward his nightmare.” As he searches for a copy of the rare book, he experiences a “feeling of strangeness” which eventually even causes physical changes; slowly he becomes consumed: “He was different from the way [the guesthouse landlady] remembered him. He was still thin, though before this had seemed to suggested a fiery disposition . . . now his thinness made her think of something sick, of some pale, viscid parasite eating away at him.” It is therefore not surprising that Fabrizio describes himself as “a limp, transparent excrescence” living an “unraveled existence.” Suspense is created as we wonder whether he will disentangle himself in time and “make it home with his hide intact.”
The third section of the novel did not particularly appeal to me because I have little patience for supernatural elements. Fabrizio says that “mortality, even in the most advanced countries, is always for keeps,” but then we are introduced to Petra who seems “to have remained untouched by the deeper currents of time’s flow.” There is much that is not explained in this last quarter of the book so it is open to a variety of interpretations. Reality and imagination and past and present are interwoven in a “game of mirrors.”
The style of the novel has been described as “musical” (Los Angeles Times), but I was less impressed. Some of the sentences are so long and convoluted with clauses built on clauses that meaning is lost: “If only he could not see the millions of plastic bags produced every day and subjected to a very brief tryout (the half hour it took to get home from the supermarket)before being immediately sent off to fulfill their true purpose: to cover the earth, to float on the sea, to taint the atmosphere with their poisonous fumes; not see the kids with ears sandwiched between those dreadful headsets, trapped in a solitude beyond reach, where only bad music mattered; not see the torrid Christmases and freezing Julys amid the sinister hums of heaters and air conditioners; not see the obscene greed that turns everything into vice, into drugs: suntans, athletics, work, television, food – all of them drugs – even diets, even fasting a form of greed; not see the formula that held the whole mad system together, that warped time into grotesque shapes like a three-thousand-dollar bonsai tree, with the past unanimously viewed as through a fish’s eye, flat as a shadow on the wall (Brecht and Sophocles, two classics roughly contemporary with each other), and the present inflated and overrated like an insufferable little jerk, and obnoxious, spoiled child whose every whim is anticipated, whose every word and gesture is trumpeted to the four winds.” This book is a translation of the original Italian. Was something lost in translation?
As a bibliophile, I was left wondering whether I, like Fabrizio, seek too often in the world of fiction a “peaceful cloister of transparent serenity.” If a book offers a level of discomfort, it is certainly a worthwhile read.
Note: I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley.
Please check out my reader's blog (http://schatjesshelves.blogspot.ca/) and follow me on Twitter (@DCYakabuski).
It is the characterization of Fabrizio which caught my interest. He wallows in self-pity, describing himself as someone “whom fate had always taken delight in cheating, without ever bothering to compensate.” He is a mess of insecurities, full of “feelings of inadequacy and mistrust of everyone.” As a result he is “always taking very short steps and avoiding all risks.” He is depressed by the hustle and bustle of modern life with its “debased culture” and by modern women (“Nothing but trouble, right from the start”), women who are “in control” and walk with a “strong and confident gait, the sign of a profound independence.” This detailed development of Fabrizio’s personality makes his behaviour credible.
It is Fabrizio’s relationship with Fulvia that illustrates his approach to life. He hates “feeling like an outsider” but constantly withdraws from people: “he was incapable of admitting another person into that secret recess, off-limits to friends and siblings, where love resides.” He loves Fulvia but “the more his love for Fulvia grew and deepened, the more it frightened him” and “when he’s afraid he doesn’t reason or respond, he becomes mean, disloyal and dishonest.” Because he is afraid to commit, he does whatever is necessary to keep the relationship from progressing: “he shows great powers of obstruction, an uncanny ability to hinder, stifle, deny and ignore.” He uses words not to communicate but as “stones for a barricade.”
Fulvia is Fabrizio’s foil. She emanates “peace, strength and health,” speaks with “a great deal of substance, intelligence and spirit” and exudes a “calm, steady reliability.” She has a “resolute nature” and never minces words. Fabrizio describes her as his “warrior angel, generous and brave.” Unfortunately, rather than open his arms to this human and living woman who also loves him, he becomes enamoured with Maria, a woman of his imagination who embodies his idea of “the abstract essence of womanhood.”
There is a great deal of foreshadowing the consequences of Fabrizio’s obsession. Early on, he chooses not to tell Fulvia about the book and we are told he “missed the chance, his last, to stay in touch with common sense, and set off alone toward his nightmare.” As he searches for a copy of the rare book, he experiences a “feeling of strangeness” which eventually even causes physical changes; slowly he becomes consumed: “He was different from the way [the guesthouse landlady] remembered him. He was still thin, though before this had seemed to suggested a fiery disposition . . . now his thinness made her think of something sick, of some pale, viscid parasite eating away at him.” It is therefore not surprising that Fabrizio describes himself as “a limp, transparent excrescence” living an “unraveled existence.” Suspense is created as we wonder whether he will disentangle himself in time and “make it home with his hide intact.”
The third section of the novel did not particularly appeal to me because I have little patience for supernatural elements. Fabrizio says that “mortality, even in the most advanced countries, is always for keeps,” but then we are introduced to Petra who seems “to have remained untouched by the deeper currents of time’s flow.” There is much that is not explained in this last quarter of the book so it is open to a variety of interpretations. Reality and imagination and past and present are interwoven in a “game of mirrors.”
The style of the novel has been described as “musical” (Los Angeles Times), but I was less impressed. Some of the sentences are so long and convoluted with clauses built on clauses that meaning is lost: “If only he could not see the millions of plastic bags produced every day and subjected to a very brief tryout (the half hour it took to get home from the supermarket)before being immediately sent off to fulfill their true purpose: to cover the earth, to float on the sea, to taint the atmosphere with their poisonous fumes; not see the kids with ears sandwiched between those dreadful headsets, trapped in a solitude beyond reach, where only bad music mattered; not see the torrid Christmases and freezing Julys amid the sinister hums of heaters and air conditioners; not see the obscene greed that turns everything into vice, into drugs: suntans, athletics, work, television, food – all of them drugs – even diets, even fasting a form of greed; not see the formula that held the whole mad system together, that warped time into grotesque shapes like a three-thousand-dollar bonsai tree, with the past unanimously viewed as through a fish’s eye, flat as a shadow on the wall (Brecht and Sophocles, two classics roughly contemporary with each other), and the present inflated and overrated like an insufferable little jerk, and obnoxious, spoiled child whose every whim is anticipated, whose every word and gesture is trumpeted to the four winds.” This book is a translation of the original Italian. Was something lost in translation?
As a bibliophile, I was left wondering whether I, like Fabrizio, seek too often in the world of fiction a “peaceful cloister of transparent serenity.” If a book offers a level of discomfort, it is certainly a worthwhile read.
Note: I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley.
Please check out my reader's blog (http://schatjesshelves.blogspot.ca/) and follow me on Twitter (@DCYakabuski).
September 1, 2024
Kind of provoking. It did not impact me all that much though.
January 29, 2023
This is a strange, ultimately surreal story geographically set between Milan and Austria. It’s the story of a middle aged Italian who, raised in luxury, but now impoverished, barely makes a living as a literary translator.
It could be construed as a horror story, but I have a slightly different take on it. As I’m getting close to 80, I’m noticing that my mental condition is not quite as sharp as it used to be. Fabrizio, in his mid 30s, seems to be experiencing similar deterioration.
Readers who appreciated Hesse’s Steppenwolf, and Kafka’s work may feel at home reading The House on Moon Lake.
It’s a well written, relatively short book with short chapters that can be read in a single day.
It could be construed as a horror story, but I have a slightly different take on it. As I’m getting close to 80, I’m noticing that my mental condition is not quite as sharp as it used to be. Fabrizio, in his mid 30s, seems to be experiencing similar deterioration.
Readers who appreciated Hesse’s Steppenwolf, and Kafka’s work may feel at home reading The House on Moon Lake.
It’s a well written, relatively short book with short chapters that can be read in a single day.
January 22, 2022
3,5/5
Bizarre but fun
Bizarre but fun
December 18, 2022
Fabrizio è un traduttore letterario dal tedesco che sogna il titolo di germanista. Un modo per raggiungere questo traguardo glielo offre un romanzo apparentemente perfetto menzionato in un altro libro: si tratta dell’opera minore di un oscuro autore austriaco che non risulta presente in nessuna biblioteca. Dopo tante peripezie Fabrizio riesce nell’impresa di trovarlo e di tradurlo prima che altri possano metterci le mani. Il libro si rivela davvero un capolavoro, ma non è dalla traduzione del romanzo che Fabrizio guadagna la tanto aspirata fama, quanto dalla biografia dell’autore che gli viene commissionata. Dove in mancanza di fonti si prende più di qualche libertà creativa.
La casa sul lago della luna è un libro proprio strano e a tratti inafferrabile. Partendo da premesse concrete come un traduttore che fatica a guadagnarsi da vivere e a portare avanti una relazione, finiamo in un mondo di fantasmi e invenzioni. Senza svelare troppo (o comunque, svelando abbastanza ma con la certezza che senza contesto rimanga solo la curiosità), penso che questo brano riassuma il senso di spaesamento:
La casa sul lago della luna è un libro proprio strano e a tratti inafferrabile. Partendo da premesse concrete come un traduttore che fatica a guadagnarsi da vivere e a portare avanti una relazione, finiamo in un mondo di fantasmi e invenzioni. Senza svelare troppo (o comunque, svelando abbastanza ma con la certezza che senza contesto rimanga solo la curiosità), penso che questo brano riassuma il senso di spaesamento:
Era stato di nuovo Fabrizio Garrone, l’alchimista che – quasi a voler ristabilire l’equilibrio tra i mondi, turbato dall’illecito solidificarsi dell’ombra di Maria Lettner – aveva trasformato una donna vera in fantasma? O lui non era stato mai altro che un impotente spettatore, preso nel mezzo tra Maria e Petra che si scambiavano le parti, entravano l’una nell’altra? E chi guidava la quadriglia danzata da Fritz, Maria, Petra e Fabrizio, l’assurda brigata eterogenea – un uomo vivo, un uomo morto, una donna mai esistita e un’immagine senza corpo?A me de La casa sul lago della luna resteranno però l’immedesimazione con il protagonista e alcuni passaggi molto concreti, come questa pagina a un passo dalla fine, che è un po’ un manifesto contro la modernità, il capitalismo e la crisi climatica:
Se solo avesse potuto guardare avanti (ma dove?) invece che guardarsi attorno. Se solo avesse potuto non vedere i milioni di sacchetti di plastica prodotti ogni giorno, sottoposti a un brevissimo collaudo (mezz’ora dal supermarket a casa), e subito avviati alla loro vera destinazione: ricoprire la terra, galleggiare sui mari, appestare l’atmosfera con le loro scorie velenose; non vedere i ragazzi con le orecchie incastrate in quelle spaventose cuffie, incapsulati in una irraggiungibile solitudine colma solo di cattiva musica; non vedere il torrido Natale né il gelido ferragosto immerso nel sinistro ronzio dei condizionatori; non vedere la voracità indecente che tutto trasforma in vizio, in droga: droga l’abbronzatura, droga la ginnastica, droga il lavoro, droga la tivù, droga il cibo, droga febbrile anche la dieta, vorace anche il digiuno; non vedere – nell’equazione fondamentale che teneva insieme tutto il sistema – il termine tempo deformato in maniera grottesca come un bonsai da cinque milioni: il passato visto con unanime sguardo da pesce, piatto, schiacciato come un’ombra sul muro (Brecht e Sofocle due classici all’incirca coevi) e il presente dilatato, sopravvalutato; un insopportabile piccolo gaglioffo, un antipatico bambino viziato di cui tutti correvano a prevenire ogni capriccio e a raccontare all’infinito gesta e prodezze. E, tra il passato e il presente, la strisciolina di tempo su cui esercitare l’hobby dell’antiquariato minore.Chi l’avrebbe mai detto che l’avrei cominciato attirato da un protagonista con il mio stesso lavoro per poi finirlo sognando anch’io di abbandonare il presente e tutte le responsabilità da adulto.
Non vedere tutto questo o avere il fegato di starsene alla larga, orgoglioso stilita, alto sul deserto di spazzatura e di chiacchiere.
Se solo avesse potuto, se solo avesse potuto.
May 16, 2022
A very perplexing chimera of a novel that appears at times so obscure that each reader can take away from it a completely different interpretation. It is set in a place and time which is timelessly adrift in an otherworldly past with only the occasional blip – the giant rafts of plastic clogging up the sea, a phone, a television – to jolt one back to the Carson-esque ‘Silent Spring’ of modern realities.
Is it a hauntingly beautiful but terrifying horror story as the cover suggests? ... Or is it a tediously dull, if mercifully short, bewildering slog? …hmmm
Is the best thing about ‘The House on Moon Lake’ that haunting cover on the Flamingo paperback which tells all and says nothing? …A wild goose chase for a needle in a haystack with an eventual descent into a madness of the mind where fantasy takes over from reality? Or is it the perfect metaphor for all the horrors of our modern world where our personal versions of the compulsions of our fantasy ‘HalfLife’, obsession with social media Metaverse, virtual cryptocurrencies and deluded belief in crazy fake news provide a distracting refuge to hide from the agonising horror of our real world wars, pestilences and descent into consumerist self-induced global annihilation? Or is it a simple allegory to live for the moment and not retreat into the seductive romantic illusions of the past? Perhaps all or none of these? Perhaps something entirely different?
Is Francesca Duranti a deeply skilled, deep-thinking writer producing a modern masterpiece to rival Henry James or has she created a novella of completely obscure garbage which is all light and mirrors without substance? You decide.
For myself I feel there can be tantalising obscurity in a novel, setting the braincells whirring, giving one delight and then there is simply obscurity in a fog inside a sensory deprivation tank. Ultimately ‘The House on Moon Lake’ is a jerky, drawn out journey, ponderously told and torturous to read.
Is it a hauntingly beautiful but terrifying horror story as the cover suggests? ... Or is it a tediously dull, if mercifully short, bewildering slog? …hmmm
Is the best thing about ‘The House on Moon Lake’ that haunting cover on the Flamingo paperback which tells all and says nothing? …A wild goose chase for a needle in a haystack with an eventual descent into a madness of the mind where fantasy takes over from reality? Or is it the perfect metaphor for all the horrors of our modern world where our personal versions of the compulsions of our fantasy ‘HalfLife’, obsession with social media Metaverse, virtual cryptocurrencies and deluded belief in crazy fake news provide a distracting refuge to hide from the agonising horror of our real world wars, pestilences and descent into consumerist self-induced global annihilation? Or is it a simple allegory to live for the moment and not retreat into the seductive romantic illusions of the past? Perhaps all or none of these? Perhaps something entirely different?
Is Francesca Duranti a deeply skilled, deep-thinking writer producing a modern masterpiece to rival Henry James or has she created a novella of completely obscure garbage which is all light and mirrors without substance? You decide.
For myself I feel there can be tantalising obscurity in a novel, setting the braincells whirring, giving one delight and then there is simply obscurity in a fog inside a sensory deprivation tank. Ultimately ‘The House on Moon Lake’ is a jerky, drawn out journey, ponderously told and torturous to read.
January 19, 2018
This is a fantasy-fiction novel, filled with intrigue and suspense, translated from Italian by Stephen Sartarelli, I would be interested to know more, as to why Stephen chose to translate F. Duranti’s story. However, for whatever the reason and in order to bring this review, I am glad he did.
I recommend this story for the 16+ Reader. The narrative is a little complex and may go over the heads of teenagers and younger readers, or not. I only say that, because it went over my own head, several times, before I got to grips with the plot of the story. At first, I thought: What on earth was that all about?
The tale tells of an impoverished aristocrat who earns a living as a translator. Interested?
I wasn’t at first, I was asked to read this book as part of a Modern Women Writer’s Module in English Literature Studies, and the blurb, the book cover, all of it and none of it made me want to read the book, but at the time I didn’t have to buy it either, I loaned it.
Recently, I purchased it, to give it another chance. I am glad I did.
Although, I didn’t enjoy the narrative at first, it jarred me and made the subjective reader question why I needed to go to the trouble to dig into the story further? What did intrigue me, was the perspective of romance from a male point of view, so I read on. Fabrizio, isn’t the warmest of characters, he is quite self-absorbed and distracted, once the reader accepts this, his story takes us somewhere. It’s where it takes the reader, that is astounding.
If you are a fan of Ghost Written works or Mystery Novels, I do believe you will like this book. I can’t pretend it is an easy read, it wasn’t for me. I often wondered whether some words were lost in translation, or whether the translator of the original works became lost for reasons of their own in the Italian Language.
You may have to read it for yourself to decide your own conclusion. It is certainly worth the time, and I am a fan of intertwining worlds, so the story had me hooked from page 106 to the end.
I hope you found my review entertaining, and maybe luring, all I know is that after reading this book, a second time - The House on Moonlake - I was ready to read it again, and again with fresh eyes.
Can you believe I bought a book that back in 2010 I borrowed and just didn’t like it? How the mind can change.
I recommend this story for the 16+ Reader. The narrative is a little complex and may go over the heads of teenagers and younger readers, or not. I only say that, because it went over my own head, several times, before I got to grips with the plot of the story. At first, I thought: What on earth was that all about?
The tale tells of an impoverished aristocrat who earns a living as a translator. Interested?
I wasn’t at first, I was asked to read this book as part of a Modern Women Writer’s Module in English Literature Studies, and the blurb, the book cover, all of it and none of it made me want to read the book, but at the time I didn’t have to buy it either, I loaned it.
Recently, I purchased it, to give it another chance. I am glad I did.
Although, I didn’t enjoy the narrative at first, it jarred me and made the subjective reader question why I needed to go to the trouble to dig into the story further? What did intrigue me, was the perspective of romance from a male point of view, so I read on. Fabrizio, isn’t the warmest of characters, he is quite self-absorbed and distracted, once the reader accepts this, his story takes us somewhere. It’s where it takes the reader, that is astounding.
If you are a fan of Ghost Written works or Mystery Novels, I do believe you will like this book. I can’t pretend it is an easy read, it wasn’t for me. I often wondered whether some words were lost in translation, or whether the translator of the original works became lost for reasons of their own in the Italian Language.
You may have to read it for yourself to decide your own conclusion. It is certainly worth the time, and I am a fan of intertwining worlds, so the story had me hooked from page 106 to the end.
I hope you found my review entertaining, and maybe luring, all I know is that after reading this book, a second time - The House on Moonlake - I was ready to read it again, and again with fresh eyes.
Can you believe I bought a book that back in 2010 I borrowed and just didn’t like it? How the mind can change.
Read
May 6, 2020Divided into three parts, each one dedicated to a woman in our protagonist’s life, The House on Moon Lake by Francesca Duranti tells the story of a complicated man named Fabrizio, his lifelong friend Mario, and the object of both their affections: a woman named Fulvia. All three live a symbiotic life in present-day Milan.
Read our full review here:
https://booktrib.com/2020/05/search-f...
Read our full review here:
https://booktrib.com/2020/05/search-f...
September 4, 2023
Bizarre and captivating. The House On Moon Lake is about a German translator who becomes obsessed with the partially fabricated life of a dead author. The book incorporates elements of magical realism, leaving the ending up to interpretation and drawing out the mystery of the whole thing. It was a bit dry at times, but I enjoyed it.
January 17, 2022
Mah... scrittura senz'altro raffinata, stile elegante, spessore dell'introspezione psicologica, accuratezza semantica. Poco movimento, poco avvincente, il protagonista a tratti mi innervosiva per la sua mancanza di "presenza", figuriamoci di energia. Non è il mio genere ma non è certo un brutto libro. Ha il suo fascino, è un romanzo per nulla innocuo, ha una certa carica distruttiva, ma alla fine è un vezzo intellettuale. In questo momento francamente voglio leggere altro.
October 12, 2015
So, the plot description for this book made it sound exactly like something I would like, and there were parts of it I really enjoyed. Like, the guy finds a reference to some unknown book, and when it described him going to a library and researching it, I was all about that. I love the idea of tracking down the answers to un-google-able questions. The plot also had a mysteriousness that was very similar to a Neil Gaiman story, "The Thing About Cassandra," which I enjoyed. But it took me kind of a while to read a pretty short book, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but I just didn't love it. If the summary piques your interest, you might enjoy it but it isn't quite the plot-driven literary mystery I was hoping for.
May 26, 2016
A really wacky, beautiful book.
June 21, 2025
Hola nenes. Quant de temps!
Bé, he estat de viatge per Itàlia, i que millor que llegir a una autora del país (que no de la regió, llàstima) per fer més amena la visita a la Terra de la pizza.
Primer de tot, no sabia que esperar d'aquest llibre, ja que la fokin contraportada no explica cap sinopsi ni resum ni res, només es un senyor dient que el personatge d'aquesta novela es un personatge molt interessant i blablabla.....MENTIDA.
El personatge principal de la novel·la, en Fabrizio, es el tiu més insoportable del món. Es el típic que no voldries de nòvio ni per la teva enemiga. Nenes, un tiu que confon ser majo amb ser bona persona. Fuig, fuig.
Ara, deixant de banda el plasta aquest.... la història ha sigut molt curiosa de llegir. M'ha agradat molt acompanyar al plasta en aquesta recerca d'un escriptor austríac del que no es coneix la seva última obra i com finalment la realitat, la ficció, la mentida i els fantasmes acaben formant part d'un mateix món on es desdibuixen els seus personatges i històries personals.
Això és molt original, Francesca (l'autora), i te aquest punt surrealista que a mí sempre m'entra super bé. Tot i trobar a faltar el desenvolupament d'alguns esdeveniments.... però bé, ho compensa escrivint de forma elegant.
M'ha estat molt be per fer-me companyia durant aquest viatge
CIAAAAAAO BELLAS
Ens anem trobant per aquí
Bé, he estat de viatge per Itàlia, i que millor que llegir a una autora del país (que no de la regió, llàstima) per fer més amena la visita a la Terra de la pizza.
Primer de tot, no sabia que esperar d'aquest llibre, ja que la fokin contraportada no explica cap sinopsi ni resum ni res, només es un senyor dient que el personatge d'aquesta novela es un personatge molt interessant i blablabla.....MENTIDA.
El personatge principal de la novel·la, en Fabrizio, es el tiu més insoportable del món. Es el típic que no voldries de nòvio ni per la teva enemiga. Nenes, un tiu que confon ser majo amb ser bona persona. Fuig, fuig.
Ara, deixant de banda el plasta aquest.... la història ha sigut molt curiosa de llegir. M'ha agradat molt acompanyar al plasta en aquesta recerca d'un escriptor austríac del que no es coneix la seva última obra i com finalment la realitat, la ficció, la mentida i els fantasmes acaben formant part d'un mateix món on es desdibuixen els seus personatges i històries personals.
Això és molt original, Francesca (l'autora), i te aquest punt surrealista que a mí sempre m'entra super bé. Tot i trobar a faltar el desenvolupament d'alguns esdeveniments.... però bé, ho compensa escrivint de forma elegant.
M'ha estat molt be per fer-me companyia durant aquest viatge
CIAAAAAAO BELLAS
Ens anem trobant per aquí
January 21, 2024
This book sat in my shelf for half a year, before I finally picked it up to read it. The character reminds me very much of a lot of Russian novels I’ve read, I.e. Anna Karenina or Crime And Punishment. But much shorter and easier to read thank god. I was totally absorbed by the story, and as I finished it, I had to think back and reread certain lines to put together what the end really meant. I think it’s a book that will have a second reread in ten years time, and I’ll find I have a different insight on again. I very much think that this with time will be one of those classics on a list that they tell you to read.
October 1, 2023
Indeed a tour de force, as the cover puff declares.
I found Fulvia (Milan and Fabrizio) annoying, Maria (Milan/Mondsee and Fabrizio) exploitative and Petra (Mondsee and Fabrizio) his just deserts. Ultimately a kind of moral tale, told rather magically.
The Americanisms in the translation (“gotten” “pants”) are as always a great shame: they always cast a wrong note and spoil a European novel.
I found Fulvia (Milan and Fabrizio) annoying, Maria (Milan/Mondsee and Fabrizio) exploitative and Petra (Mondsee and Fabrizio) his just deserts. Ultimately a kind of moral tale, told rather magically.
The Americanisms in the translation (“gotten” “pants”) are as always a great shame: they always cast a wrong note and spoil a European novel.
July 20, 2017
Found this in a list the library recommended to me. I rated it 'middle-of-the-road' as I am not sure I understood the end, which I will not spoil. I will say, I am not sure if that was science fiction or fantasy.
July 31, 2017
This is a wonderful novel about a translator, full of humor at the start but concluding with a strange mystery.
February 20, 2021
4 stars
December 12, 2023
4.5* strange translation
June 4, 2024
jaw-dropping.
July 7, 2025
Good book; it’s great to read something well written, engaging and different from the run of the mill literature
August 10, 2017
Een origineel verhaal. Een onsympathieke, meelijwekkende en toch gedreven hoofdfiguur. Bij momenten spannend en intrigerend. Dit boek is zeker de moeite van het lezen waard. Omwille van de laatste hoofdstukken 3 sterren i.p.v. 4.
July 19, 2013
This is an okay story about a translator who finds an obscure German novel, translates it into Italian, wins instant literary recognition and fame, and then writes a biography of the unknown author of the novel in the hopes of receiving further recognition. When he can’t find out anything about the novelist and the affair he had that inspired the novel, the translator fabricates some stuff to finish the biography, and to his confusion, that stuff ends up being “real” and his ability to distinguish between fiction and reality deteriorates.
There isn’t much going on in terms of style or form. The prose is nice enough and is occasionally insightful, but too much is told to the reader and not enough is shown. This makes a lot of the plot seem too vague or too convenient. For example, the novel is an instant success sentences after the translator turns it into his publisher. How does this happen? It just does. What makes the book so remarkable, so worthy of attention? Because it’s a love story and it’s written in German? Fair enough, but is translating an obscure novel from German to Italian really an act that is going to bring anyone the kind of fame that the translator receives and that triggers his downward mental spiral?
Even so, the moral of the story isn’t that one shouldn’t lust after fame. The narrator constantly foreshadows the demise of the main character as being related to something else entirely: his introversion and his inability to take risks, as well as his vague anxieties about women and society in general. In the end, the narrator makes it seem like the translator's fiction consumes him not because of his ill-conceived pursuit of fame but because he was too afraid to love and to “live.” Meh.
There isn’t much going on in terms of style or form. The prose is nice enough and is occasionally insightful, but too much is told to the reader and not enough is shown. This makes a lot of the plot seem too vague or too convenient. For example, the novel is an instant success sentences after the translator turns it into his publisher. How does this happen? It just does. What makes the book so remarkable, so worthy of attention? Because it’s a love story and it’s written in German? Fair enough, but is translating an obscure novel from German to Italian really an act that is going to bring anyone the kind of fame that the translator receives and that triggers his downward mental spiral?
Even so, the moral of the story isn’t that one shouldn’t lust after fame. The narrator constantly foreshadows the demise of the main character as being related to something else entirely: his introversion and his inability to take risks, as well as his vague anxieties about women and society in general. In the end, the narrator makes it seem like the translator's fiction consumes him not because of his ill-conceived pursuit of fame but because he was too afraid to love and to “live.” Meh.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 2, 2021
I’m not too good at myths, but The House on Moon Lake is clearly a variation on a theme of Pygmalion – though not, unfortunately, a successful one.
The problem, at least for me, is that the book fails to blend realism and myth in any seamless, original, or interesting way. We are introduced to Fabrizio (the craftsman) who is a translator, unhappy with his lot, with a girlfriend Fulvia – “the Queen of Sheba” (same as Eliza Doolittle) – who is free-spirited and better than he deserves.
For some reason, Fabrizio decides to track down and translate a forgotten German novel Das Haus am Mondsee that he is sure will bring him fame and fortune. This takes up quite a large portion of the book. The novel is indeed an instant success and so too is his biography of the forgotten author, for whom he invents a perfect partner Maria who also becomes a celebrity.
Things get peculiar when the fictional Maria’s grandaughter contacts him. She is called Petra, and we know what that means: “Her skin felt cold to the touch and smooth as that of a celluloid doll.” Nothing good comes of it, but since the sketchily characterized but unsympathetic Fabrizio is neither man nor myth, what happens to him is of little consequence. The other characters are even less real and the narrative unfolds in the irrational mode of a fairy tale with little if any of its magic.
I suppose the idea was to invert the Pygmalion myth by having the craftsman leave Fulvia, imagine Maria, and end up with Petra – but it’s all a bit clunky and strained. It isn't saved by the writing, either, which is seldom better than adequate and too frequently not even that.
Shame, because the novel sounded intriguing...
The problem, at least for me, is that the book fails to blend realism and myth in any seamless, original, or interesting way. We are introduced to Fabrizio (the craftsman) who is a translator, unhappy with his lot, with a girlfriend Fulvia – “the Queen of Sheba” (same as Eliza Doolittle) – who is free-spirited and better than he deserves.
For some reason, Fabrizio decides to track down and translate a forgotten German novel Das Haus am Mondsee that he is sure will bring him fame and fortune. This takes up quite a large portion of the book. The novel is indeed an instant success and so too is his biography of the forgotten author, for whom he invents a perfect partner Maria who also becomes a celebrity.
Things get peculiar when the fictional Maria’s grandaughter contacts him. She is called Petra, and we know what that means: “Her skin felt cold to the touch and smooth as that of a celluloid doll.” Nothing good comes of it, but since the sketchily characterized but unsympathetic Fabrizio is neither man nor myth, what happens to him is of little consequence. The other characters are even less real and the narrative unfolds in the irrational mode of a fairy tale with little if any of its magic.
I suppose the idea was to invert the Pygmalion myth by having the craftsman leave Fulvia, imagine Maria, and end up with Petra – but it’s all a bit clunky and strained. It isn't saved by the writing, either, which is seldom better than adequate and too frequently not even that.
Shame, because the novel sounded intriguing...
July 15, 2015
House on Moon Lake
A delicious little book that reads like a masterclass in the art of the simple plot. Because it's a translation I was expecting a few bumps along the road, but none came. Don't want to be a spoiler for anyone planning to read it, but if you like intrigue and suspense this one's sure to please. The rave reviews from the original publication date are well earned - definitely going to put this one on my 'read again after one year' list.
A delicious little book that reads like a masterclass in the art of the simple plot. Because it's a translation I was expecting a few bumps along the road, but none came. Don't want to be a spoiler for anyone planning to read it, but if you like intrigue and suspense this one's sure to please. The rave reviews from the original publication date are well earned - definitely going to put this one on my 'read again after one year' list.
November 5, 2011
I have probably read this book four times. I love this book. I'm not really sure what attracts me to it so much. I think the literary fixation of the main character is one thing and they way he becomes obsessed to the exclusion of everything else in his life is well delineated. I don't usually go for novels that has any hint of the supernatural but I swallow this whole. I think that actually these elements are ambiguous and can be seen as a existing somewhere between dream and reality.
October 4, 2014
This is a novel of obsession that becomes a Japanese-style dark fantasy. The protagonist is an annoying, self-absorbed, passive-aggressive literary translator who cannot commit. He goes on a quest for a lost literary masterpiece, which then turns into a literary project that grows like a snowball as it rolls downhill.
It’s a compelling novel, with simple prose that pulls one through it, but ultimately I was not fully satisfied with it.
It’s a compelling novel, with simple prose that pulls one through it, but ultimately I was not fully satisfied with it.
October 9, 2013
The concept of this book is an interesting one but the delivery is flat. I was gripped for the first 100 or so pages then had to try pretty hard to finish it. Nothing much happens in the second half of the novel and, by that point, I didn't much care.
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