Contempt

by Alberto Moravia, Tim Parks (Introduction), Angus Davidson (Translator)

Contempt is a brilliant and unsettling work by one of the revolutionary masters of modern European literature. All the qualities for which Alberto Moravia is justly famous ~~ his cool clarity of expression, his exacting attention to psychological complexity and social pretension, his still-striking openness about sex—are evident in this story of a failing marriage. Contempt (which was to inspire Jean-Luc Godard’s no-less-celebrated film) is an unflinching examination of desperation and self-deception in the emotional vacuum of modern consumer society.

Genres: Fiction, Italian Literature, Italy, Classics, Literature, Novels, 20th Century

251 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1954

About the author

Alberto Moravia, born Alberto Pincherle, was one of the leading Italian novelists of the twentieth century whose novels explore matters of modern sexuality, social alienation, and existentialism. He was also a journalist, playwright, essayist and film critic.
Moravia was an atheist, his writing was marked by its factual, cold, precise style, often depicting the malaise of the bourgeoisie, underpinned by high social and cultural awareness. Moravia believed that writers must, if they were to represent reality, assume a moral position, a clearly conceived political, social, and philosophical attitude, but also that, ultimately, "A writer survives in spite of his beliefs".

Reviews

[Kåre · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jegpersonen fortæller i tilbageblik om de forskellige aspekter af bruddet med sin kone. Fortællingen består mest af psykologiske indsigter, ideer, som især kobles til den mytiske fortælling om Odyseus og Pennelope.
Det er vel tilsigtet, at fortælleren er temmelig utroværdig. Det sker bl.a. fordi fortælleren hele tiden ser fortiden i stedse klarere lys. Han indser således tit, at han nu ser tingene rigtigt. For mig viser det, at fortælleren sandsynligvis fra et senere tidspunkt også ville vurdere fortællerens nuværende indsigt som mangelfuld.
Jeg læser således historien bag om ryggen på fortælleren og ser mest af alt, at hans egen nervøsitet og tvivl om de forskellige fortolkninger skaber problemerne med konen.
Hvis det har været hensigten med bogen, er den godt skruet sammen.
Alligevel er jeg ikke begejstret. Det skyldes nok, at jeg ikke er målgruppen for en sådan klog bog om psykologiske forholds betydning for fx et parforhold.