En todos los sentidos, como el amor

by Simona Vinci

Bambina con madre in un viaggio di agosto in una Maremma soffocata da una coltre nera di pioggia; un profeta contadino che nel momento della morte ha la sua forse piu vera visione; una ragazza alla finestra su una strada di periferia che spia un uomo e lo chiama in casa; solitudini di corpi alle prese con pulsioni elementari e assolute che potrebbero chiamarsi amore, o forse sesso cibo silenzio, nel confronto continuo con la figura materna, nella vendetta continua sulla figura paterna, spezzata e franta in tante patetiche figure maschili. In tutti i sensi, ovvero esplorazione sensoriale, incursione senza fine e senza respiro nei momenti estremi della vita quotidiana, di una normalità che si rivela piuttosto simil-vita, pellicola di plastica sotto la quale scandagliare, cercare un residuo di senso, forse la grazia, forse una povera illuminazione, forse una nuova fraternità.
Sapendo che l'amore, come scrive una poetessa, è soluzione atmosferica, è potassio e iodio, è delirio, e appunto per questo, per questo suo essere assoluto naturale, proprio quando sembra scomparso o è impossibile nominarlo senza cadere nella cattiva letteratura e nel kitsch, proprio allora, nell'assenza e nella perdita, appare tanto più semplice e necessario.

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Vive a Budrio, in provincia di Bologna. Il suo esordio letterario risale al 1997, con il romanzo Dei bambini non si sa niente, edito da Einaudi nella collana Stile libero; il libro, vincitore nel 2000 del Premio Elsa Morante opera prima, fa ottenere alla scrittrice un grande successo di pubblico e di critica, suscitando anche scandalo e polemiche per il tema trattato. Il romanzo è stato tradotto in dodici paesi, tra i quali gli Stati Uniti. Nel 2009 è stata fra gli ospiti del festival letterario Mondello Giovani dedicato agli autori di nuova generazione.

Reviews

[Maria Clara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Una colección de relatos, en los que los sentimientos se mezclan con los objetos más cotidianos y las ambiguas formas del amor. Una sinfonía del amor, dulce, algunas veces, fría, otras,

[Chuckles · Rating 4 out of 5]

All the stories are lyrical, heavy on descriptiveness (close to being overwritten but for the most part the author didn’t take it too far), light on dialogue. She also does not use quotation marks around dialogue and uses sparse dialogue tags, which, while it leaves the page clean, it also created a somewhat slow pace. However, I found I needed this pace to both process the descriptiveness, and to notice when someone is speaking and determine who they are. Normally I could read through a collection of this size in a day, but this took me longer than usual.

The writing was a joy to experience and the stories for the most were a fun to see unfold. With the exception of the final story, I consider any description of these as a spoiler as part of the pleasure is figuring out whose POV we are following, their gender, age, relationships with others introduced, etc… as none of it is clear on the outset, nor is what is going on. I’ve never felt like this before, usually for short stories there is much less characterization, but here the author drags that out throughout the story so that part felt as mysterious and important as the plot and theme. So I will blur all these details using the spoiler HTML code for my whole description of each.

The central theme of the collection is that of flawed, disturbed, sometimes perverted and sick characters, as the author tries to show their humanity; harder to do for some. Sometimes she succeeds, sometimes she failed, at least for me. In some cases nothing really resonated but that was only a few stories.

Black August: 5/5 A woman observes her young daughter while on a late August beach holiday. Her thoughts are not those typically seen in stories of this type, many are dark if not twisted, and fleeting as the come and quickly disappear in a stream of consciousness type of manner. One of my favorites of the collection and it really set the tone.

The Courtyard: 4.5/5 A woman seeks connection to a man she sees visiting her apartment courtyard at night. Surprised by how things played out, kind of a fun story.

All Alone: 4/5 The somewhat feverish thoughts of a man who has been in the hospital for months. I was left unsure if most of this was fantasy but liked it either way.

Snapshots: 3/5 A man with dwarfism finds his wife/significant other has been surreptitiously taking photographs of him and putting them into a book where she also tracks his height and weight. Interesting story but I didn’t really get what I felt the author was trying to convey. Perhaps there wasn’t anything more to it.

Flesh: 3.5/5 A man is obsessed with capturing images of women in what he considers a state of perfection, unaware, which begins with them sleeping, and ends with something darker. Another example of this author’s ability to imagine the most unusual and extremes of human behavior.

The Woman on the Cliffs: 3/5 A woman seems obsessed with the story of a woman who recently jumped off nearby sea cliffs to her death. I liked this story but the reveal at the end was rather meh, it didn’t really connect anything for me. It felt like a forced way to wrap up the story with an unnecessary explanation for events, and not a natural turn.

Things: 2/5 A woman’s obsession over items left in her home by a former boyfriend lead her into an obsession with “things” which really seems like an obsession with self-harm. Another very unique story the author somehow pulled out of some part of her mind, and I like the idea of it, but it didn’t just didn’t speak to me.

The Angel Girl: 2/5 A surgeon (though at the end I wasn’t sure) is approached by an old acquaintance to help his sister who had a disturbing obsession. Another bizarre story that missed for me. The images described were well done in their vividness, and I felt like the author was trying to say something with the ending, but it eluded me. It had a Stephen King old school short story vibe for me.

Two of Us: 4/5 A man hooks up with a woman with whom he shares a dark sexual interest. The ending felt vague but I suspected things took a very dark turn. I liked the characterization done here, dark but somehow the two main characters feel interesting and almost sympathetic.

Nocturne: 1/5 A woman describes a life of what feels like a meaningless existence, which includes several romantic relationships over the past few years which similarly she recalls as meaningless. This leads to her acting out in a disturbing manner. It was hard to connect with the main character and to understand any message; the story keeps with the overall theme of the collection though.

Letter to Silence: 2/5 I finished this story unsure if it is narrated by two characters; a man and woman, once lovers, but now separated. Or if it is narrated by the woman who is writing a story based on events she experienced and writing the perspective of her ex in addition to her own. It was frustrating trying to figure this out, re-reading many sections over and over looking for clues to who is speaking and when and it took me out of the story. In spite of the confusing writing I was interested in the story so it wasn’t a total miss.

Fugue: 1/5 A teen boy passes a child every morning on his way to school. Having read her previous novel, I cringed knowing where I felt this story was going, and it did. There is a scene that like that book felt exploitative, thought its short and I understand here it was necessary to make its point, and frankly it could have been much worse and longer as those scenes were in the novel. The problem is, I don’t think “the point” of this story is necessary as what was covered in that novel which had a different theme/message. Here its more or less, this small child was left where anyone could easily take her, and when someone (a teen boy described as a bully by his own mother) inevitably did and abused her, the boy faced no real consequences. I don’t feel there is any real takeaway from this story and that is why it just felt exploitative, there is nothing to be learned from seeing the POV of the boy, nor from anything that happens. It felt like this story continued the dark, mostly sexual theme of this book where with each story, things have just gotten worse and worse and more disturbing but it still felt out of place as the other stories feature adults, including as “victims” whether of other characters or of life.

Journey in Red Shoes: 5/5 This story was hard to understand so far as who the narrator is, this was intentional by the author and while it kind of annoyed me it was so well done. Its also one of if not the only “happy” stories in that while it includes violence, includng a death, it was deserved and ends on a hopeful note, even if you still are concerned for the mental well being of the narrator. Not as dark as the first story but they are the two best of the collection and I appreciated the placement of both, this one leaves you feeling almost uplifted from the previous stories which took me lower and lower.

I put off reading more by this author in the early 2000’s after reading her first novel, What We Don’t Know About Children. But I found a very cheap used copy of this short story collection and when looking it up, it sounded very interesting in spite of noting she was the author of that rather disturbing novel. I am very glad I gave this collection a chance, she is very talented and is a wonderful short story writer. Kudos to the translator as well, lyrical writing like this must be difficult to get right. This is a 3.5/5 star collection overall, I don't feel like its actually at a 4/5 star level, but a few stories were so well done it makes reading the while collection worth it for the experience and to enjoy the authors wonderful writing, so I'll round up instead of down.

[Bianca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Simona Vinci era una delle mie autrici del cuore, quand'ero ragazzina, e lo è ancora. Ho sempre ammirato la sua capacità di raccontare con tutti e cinque i sensi, permettendoti non soltanto di vedere le scene descritte ma anche di riuscire perfettamente a immaginare un dato sapore, un odore, una particolare sfumatura di voce, una sensazione al tatto. Questa raccolta di racconti della prima Vinci si concentra proprio su questo, sui cinque sensi. Ogni racconto è un breve spaccato di vita quotidiana, amore, follia, sensazioni, ricordi. Di sicuro, un libro del genere meriterebbe la fascetta che invece, purtroppo, vedo su libri altamente banali: "l'amore come non l'avete mai sentito raccontare". Qui ci sta, altroché.

[Frabe · Rating 5 out of 5]

All'interno di uno dei tredici racconti c'è una citazione di "Primo amore, ultimi riti", di McEwan. Qui, in effetti, si ritrovano gli stessi temi forti: le ossessioni della mente, le pulsioni del corpo, che sfociano in situazioni a volte sconvolgenti. Ma, esaltate da una narrazione eccellente, prevalgono, e 'toccano', la poesia delle atmosfere e le emozioni, vibranti, durevoli.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Le stelle sono quattro, perché penso che tra tutti i libri di Simona, questo sia stato quello più crudo in alcuni dei suoi racconti. Ho avuto bisogno di tempo, per leggere, assimilare ed apprezzare le parole usate. Simona è ancora e lo resterà una delle mie autrici preferite. Spero un giorno di poterla incontrare.

[Martyna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nie wiem jeszcze co myślę- niektóre opowiadania bardzo mi się podobały, inne kompletnie nie. Ogólnie mocno groteskowy i erotyczny zbiór. Raczej nie w moim guście.

[Margherita · Rating 5 out of 5]

È un libro del cuore, scoperto nei meandri di un armadio della vecchia cantina dei miei genitori quando, a quindici o forse sedici anni, andavo cercando oggetti in grado di cristallizzare tempi passati. Con grande stupore ho trovato questa raccolta di racconti che, oltre ad avere il prezzo in lire e due dita di polvere in copertina, mi ha un po' insegnato cosa significa per alcuni amare. Proprio in quel periodo così critico e di conflitto interiore che stavo così dolorosamente (ma silenziosamente) vivendo, mi è venuto a soccorrere, facendomi emozionare e vedere che, in fondo, c'è amore per tutti coloro che sanno essere pazienti e, soprattutto, che sanno a loro volta donare amore.

[Zillah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I must say I didn't expect I was going to like it that much, I was actually kind of skeptical, as I usually am with Italian literature from the 90s if they are a part of "gioventu' cannibale". Yes, Vinci's topics remain typical, and brutal. And some parts even made me literally sick. But the beauty of her writing is extraordinary, and even if you take out all the other elements, this one thing makes this book worth reading!

[Alessandro Margheriti · Rating 4 out of 5]

Simona Vinci racconta l'amore. Lo fa come se avesse una spina nel cuore. E la sua scrittura è impetuosa e potente quanto il sentimento di cui è impregnata. Spesso è una passione insana, ma se accosti l'orecchio alle pagine giureresti di sentirle pulsare.

[Claudia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me gusta ir a la biblioteca, tomar algún libro al azar y ver que tal, esta vez me tope con Simona Vinci, no la conocía y me sorprendió, un libro de relatos cortos pero consistentes, me transmitieron bastantes emociones (cómodas e incomodas), me gusto, un libro ligero que me invita a buscar y seguir leyendo la obra de Vinci.

[Alessandro · Rating 4 out of 5]

L’ho detto parlando di altri suoi libri e lo ribadisco qui: Simona Vinci ha un coraggio pazzesco e riesce a provocare con tematiche fastidiose usando una scrittura elegante.
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[Ludovica Strafile · Rating 4 out of 5]

porcodio…

[kat · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75

[Guachuleru Leru · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bello e inquietante.
Mis favoritos: a solas, fotografias, carne, la mujer del acantilado.

No logre entender del todo: la muchacha angel, nocturno, carta con el silencio

[Kitty-Wu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sorprendente. Extraño. Pero aún así me ha gustado mucho. Una colección de relatos con los sentidos del cuerpo humano como trasfondo. Cortos, intensos, descritos desde una frialdad absoluta a veces, pero capaces de hacerte sentir cada una de las descripciones. Una manera muy especial de escribir. Tengo ganas de leer la novela de esta misma autora.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

book 2 in malaysia. i was really drawn to the cover photo and a backcover synopsis which promised lots of sexual perversion. i was suprised by the fine writing and really enjoyed myself. it was a quick read and some stories struck me more than others, but there is nothing like rich short stories with beautiful prose. i like an author that treats writing like art.