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The Last Man Standing
GQ (Italy) called Davide Longo, "the most talented and intense Italian novelist of his generation." In this dystopian, post-apocalyptic literary novel, Italy is on the brink of collapse: borders are closed, banks are refusing to distribute money to their clients, the postal service is shuttered, and food supplies are running short. Armed gangs of drug-fueled youth rampage through the countryside as the nation descends into chaos.
Leonardo was once a famous writer and professor before a sex scandal ended his marriage and his career. With society collapsing around them, his ex-wife leaves their daughter and son in his care as she sets off in search of her new husband, who is missing. Ultimately, Leonardo is forced to evacuate and take his children to safety, but to do so he will have to summon a quality he has never exhibited before: courage.
Leonardo was once a famous writer and professor before a sex scandal ended his marriage and his career. With society collapsing around them, his ex-wife leaves their daughter and son in his care as she sets off in search of her new husband, who is missing. Ultimately, Leonardo is forced to evacuate and take his children to safety, but to do so he will have to summon a quality he has never exhibited before: courage.
352 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2010
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November 4, 2023
IL TEMPO DEI LUPI
Non è facile parlare di un libro come questo senza entrare nel merito della trama, col rischio di anticiparne snodi e passaggi che è meglio scoprire da soli leggendolo.
Ci provo comunque.
Iniziando dalle parti che mi sono piaciute: descrizioni e lentezze da assaporare, odori, luci, tutta una grammatica dei suoni, e, quindi, dei silenzi, l'atmosfera, la composita carovana dell'ultima parte.
Il libro ha purtroppo diversi refusi e altre sbavature: per fare un solo esempio, a pagina 334, nel momento clou dell'intera storia, la stessa importante azione è ripetuta due volte a distanza di tempo, cosa fisicamente impossibile, e manifestazione di grande sciatteria da parte di chi scrive e da parte di chi edita.
Ma ci sono altre dinamiche della trama che mi lasciano quanto meno perplesso e spingono a spezzare la credibilità della narrazione in più punti, anche determinanti.
Ci sono tante, troppe pagine, non poche delle quali davvero non necessarie.
Ci sono inutili momenti di maldestra divagazione.
C'è il personaggio centrale, l'uomo verticale, oltremodo respingente.
E dopo 400 pagine, se provassi a descrivere Lucia o Sebastiano, non credo che ci riuscirei: limite mio, ma credo anche di Davide Longo.
È spiazzante e risibile l'uso della sola iniziale per indicare città e paesi, quando Francia, Svizzera, Marsiglia, Liguria, Anversa fanno parte integrante della storia.
Perché nel 2030 o giù di lì, l'Italia, il Piemonte in particolare, sarà come Longo lo descrive, rimane un quiz: effetto di epidemie, guerre, esplosioni nucleari pare proprio di no - magari effetto di un eccessivo uso del mezzo televisivo?
Ma non è la mancanza d'informazioni che inficia la narrazione, a me ha dato poco o nessun fastidio.
Più deludente la rappresentazione della nuova razza dominante, se così si può definirla, che deriva grossolanamente e interamente da film e libri del passato, anche recente, Longo non inventa nulla: a meno che non si voglia considerare parto suo originale l'insistenza quasi compiaciuta sull'elemento violenza e il collocare le donne all'ultimo gradino della scala sociale, anche più in basso degli anziani.
La saga Mad Max è iniziato molto prima e Davide Longo ci è cresciuto insieme.
Si dice che l'uomo da vecchio chiuda il cerchio della vita e torni ad assomigliare al bambino che è stato: altrettanto pare succedere in questo racconto di fantascienza, nel senso che l'uomo del futuro assomiglia molto all'uomo primitivo – ma mentre il nostro antenato agiva per migliorare la sua condizione esistenziale, il nostro erede, secondo Longo, agisce per la pura sopravvivenza e per un piacere immediato.
Comunque, anche se le osservazioni critiche hanno preso più spazio degli apprezzamenti, la sufficienza è garantita: per quanto mi riguarda, il solo fatto d'avermi spinto a leggere tutte le 400 pagine è già un notevole risultato.
PS
Dopo questo libro, il notevole film di Haneke, Le temps du loup è ancora più illuminante.
Non c'è nessun mistero: solo il tempo e gli uomini che lo attraversano.
Non è facile parlare di un libro come questo senza entrare nel merito della trama, col rischio di anticiparne snodi e passaggi che è meglio scoprire da soli leggendolo.
Ci provo comunque.
Iniziando dalle parti che mi sono piaciute: descrizioni e lentezze da assaporare, odori, luci, tutta una grammatica dei suoni, e, quindi, dei silenzi, l'atmosfera, la composita carovana dell'ultima parte.
Il libro ha purtroppo diversi refusi e altre sbavature: per fare un solo esempio, a pagina 334, nel momento clou dell'intera storia, la stessa importante azione è ripetuta due volte a distanza di tempo, cosa fisicamente impossibile, e manifestazione di grande sciatteria da parte di chi scrive e da parte di chi edita.
Ma ci sono altre dinamiche della trama che mi lasciano quanto meno perplesso e spingono a spezzare la credibilità della narrazione in più punti, anche determinanti.
Ci sono tante, troppe pagine, non poche delle quali davvero non necessarie.
Ci sono inutili momenti di maldestra divagazione.
C'è il personaggio centrale, l'uomo verticale, oltremodo respingente.
E dopo 400 pagine, se provassi a descrivere Lucia o Sebastiano, non credo che ci riuscirei: limite mio, ma credo anche di Davide Longo.
È spiazzante e risibile l'uso della sola iniziale per indicare città e paesi, quando Francia, Svizzera, Marsiglia, Liguria, Anversa fanno parte integrante della storia.
Perché nel 2030 o giù di lì, l'Italia, il Piemonte in particolare, sarà come Longo lo descrive, rimane un quiz: effetto di epidemie, guerre, esplosioni nucleari pare proprio di no - magari effetto di un eccessivo uso del mezzo televisivo?
Ma non è la mancanza d'informazioni che inficia la narrazione, a me ha dato poco o nessun fastidio.
Più deludente la rappresentazione della nuova razza dominante, se così si può definirla, che deriva grossolanamente e interamente da film e libri del passato, anche recente, Longo non inventa nulla: a meno che non si voglia considerare parto suo originale l'insistenza quasi compiaciuta sull'elemento violenza e il collocare le donne all'ultimo gradino della scala sociale, anche più in basso degli anziani.
La saga Mad Max è iniziato molto prima e Davide Longo ci è cresciuto insieme.
Si dice che l'uomo da vecchio chiuda il cerchio della vita e torni ad assomigliare al bambino che è stato: altrettanto pare succedere in questo racconto di fantascienza, nel senso che l'uomo del futuro assomiglia molto all'uomo primitivo – ma mentre il nostro antenato agiva per migliorare la sua condizione esistenziale, il nostro erede, secondo Longo, agisce per la pura sopravvivenza e per un piacere immediato.
Comunque, anche se le osservazioni critiche hanno preso più spazio degli apprezzamenti, la sufficienza è garantita: per quanto mi riguarda, il solo fatto d'avermi spinto a leggere tutte le 400 pagine è già un notevole risultato.
PS
Dopo questo libro, il notevole film di Haneke, Le temps du loup è ancora più illuminante.
Non c'è nessun mistero: solo il tempo e gli uomini che lo attraversano.
September 19, 2013
Last Man Standing is actually a very well done post-apocalyptic novel: definitely the most literary one I've ever read. It's unrelenting in its matter-of-fact, bleak realism. That's why I gave it a low score. No matter how technically good it is, I didn't enjoy it. The beginning had some beautiful passages and the ending was relatively positive, but that doesn't make up for the 200 pages of misery in the middle.
July 12, 2013
I read Longo's book "The Last Man Standing" after seeing a review in the FT. Since I have a weakness for post-apocalyptic fiction it seemed like an attractive read. It was absolutely enthralling, I couldn't stop until the end and even today, almost a month later I find myself remembering the characters and the situations. The book describes the aftermath of an unnamed catastrophe happening in Italy in the near future. The main character is a former professor and well-known author as he tries to save his daughter and stepson from oblivion at the hands of marauding maniacs while keeping them from freezing and starving. An attractive trait of the protagonist is that he seems totally unsuited for survival, being bookish and shy and not physically strong (contrary to Cormac McCarthy's protagonist in The Road, who seemed frustratingly exceptional). I won't give the plot away, but there's more to him than meets the eye. However, catastrophe actually brings redemption to this man after a sexual scandal that destroyed his career and his family many years before the events narrated. The book is wonderfully lyrical in its descriptions of places and animals and the dialogues are enthralling. Please be aware that the book is probably unsuitable for younger readers on their own, because some parts of it are perhaps too brutal (it contains explicit torture and rape scenes). For adults it is a great read.
February 12, 2016
Bleak.
Very Bleak.
THE LAST MAN STANDING is a tremendously effective piece about the collapse of Europe's governments and economy. The pace at which this disaster unfolds, and the way that Davide Lango tells the story makes it entirely plausible, and exceedingly realistic. If you want a taste of what The End will really be like, try this book.
We enter the story when there are still islands of civilization. The main character, an author and former professor named Leonardo, is introduced as he is staying at a small hotel. He is taking cooking oil back to his village, and at this point the banks are still open, although the hotel is housed within a tall wire fence and guarded with fire arms.
After he returns home is when things become more desperate. Those with more sense are packing up and trying to get to Switzerland or France. Leonardo however stays. It's unthinkable to him that the small village life of Italy won't continue. And even after his neighbors are murdered and he waits in the snow with his daughter and her step-brother while his house is looted, he's reluctant to act.
~
To a small extent THE LAST MAN STANDING made me think of Cormac McCarthy and darkness that he evoked in THE ROAD. However, THE ROAD was a much easier book to read. THE ROAD focused on a man who was capable. A man who could survive and keep his son alive. Davide Longo doesn't allow us that comfort. In fact, he makes the reader uncomfortable as he constructs a character that might be more like ourselves than we'd like. Sigh. Leonardo is a 'Marvin Milquetoast'. He's an effete intellectual who is entirely civilized and thus not capable of hurting anyone, even the young college student who previously ruined his life. He isn't the sort to accept a gun, and so he gets pushed along with the rest of human flotsam ... and I can assure you that this is painful to watch.
Which is why this book is not for young adults or anyone else looking for a cliche, fun apocalypse.
~
I can understand why some readers might not like this book. The writing is so good... so effective that they feel pummeled. THE LAST MAN STANDING is not a YA dystopia. There are no gangs that are easily avoided or fought. None of the rousing good adventure. This book is more like a real collapse would be. And Leonardo isn't some hero to emulate. He's like we might fear we would be. He doesn't rise to the occasion. Leonardo watches it all go to hell. Doing nothing when people rob his house. Doing nothing but being the scholar and writer that he is. He thinks matters over. He makes astute observations, but he can't protect what he loves, because like many people, when it comes down to it, he can't murder.
So eventually, as would happen to 90% of people in a true disaster of worldly proportions, everything is stripped from him. And we are witness to this. To the horrors of wars and the collapse of civilization.
THE LAST MAN STANDING is not a perfect book. But it is a brilliant book. And happily the ending is satisfying.
Very Bleak.
THE LAST MAN STANDING is a tremendously effective piece about the collapse of Europe's governments and economy. The pace at which this disaster unfolds, and the way that Davide Lango tells the story makes it entirely plausible, and exceedingly realistic. If you want a taste of what The End will really be like, try this book.
We enter the story when there are still islands of civilization. The main character, an author and former professor named Leonardo, is introduced as he is staying at a small hotel. He is taking cooking oil back to his village, and at this point the banks are still open, although the hotel is housed within a tall wire fence and guarded with fire arms.
After he returns home is when things become more desperate. Those with more sense are packing up and trying to get to Switzerland or France. Leonardo however stays. It's unthinkable to him that the small village life of Italy won't continue. And even after his neighbors are murdered and he waits in the snow with his daughter and her step-brother while his house is looted, he's reluctant to act.
~
To a small extent THE LAST MAN STANDING made me think of Cormac McCarthy and darkness that he evoked in THE ROAD. However, THE ROAD was a much easier book to read. THE ROAD focused on a man who was capable. A man who could survive and keep his son alive. Davide Longo doesn't allow us that comfort. In fact, he makes the reader uncomfortable as he constructs a character that might be more like ourselves than we'd like. Sigh. Leonardo is a 'Marvin Milquetoast'. He's an effete intellectual who is entirely civilized and thus not capable of hurting anyone, even the young college student who previously ruined his life. He isn't the sort to accept a gun, and so he gets pushed along with the rest of human flotsam ... and I can assure you that this is painful to watch.
Which is why this book is not for young adults or anyone else looking for a cliche, fun apocalypse.
~
I can understand why some readers might not like this book. The writing is so good... so effective that they feel pummeled. THE LAST MAN STANDING is not a YA dystopia. There are no gangs that are easily avoided or fought. None of the rousing good adventure. This book is more like a real collapse would be. And Leonardo isn't some hero to emulate. He's like we might fear we would be. He doesn't rise to the occasion. Leonardo watches it all go to hell. Doing nothing when people rob his house. Doing nothing but being the scholar and writer that he is. He thinks matters over. He makes astute observations, but he can't protect what he loves, because like many people, when it comes down to it, he can't murder.
So eventually, as would happen to 90% of people in a true disaster of worldly proportions, everything is stripped from him. And we are witness to this. To the horrors of wars and the collapse of civilization.
THE LAST MAN STANDING is not a perfect book. But it is a brilliant book. And happily the ending is satisfying.
December 6, 2017
Onvan : The Last Man Standing - Nevisande : Davide Longo - ISBN : 1623650348 - ISBN13 : 9781623650346 - Dar 352 Safhe - Saal e Chap : 2010
November 26, 2014
The Best Recently Published Near Future Dystopian Novel
William Golding’s “Lord of the Flies” meets Cormac McCarthy’s “The Road” in Italian novelist Davide Longo’s “The Last Man Standing”; a psychological intense near future thriller that, along with Peter Heller’s “The Dog Stars”, is the best recently published dystopian novel. It is psychologically and emotionally far more complex than McCarthy’s celebrated “The Road”, chronicling how a former Italian college literature professor and critically acclaimed novelist seeks to escape an Italy on the brink of economic collapse in the aftermath of some unnamed disaster, hoping for sanctuary in Switzerland or France. He and his young children must flee across a landscape terrorized by gun-wielding gangs of drug-addicted youth, some of them as young as those on the verge of adolescence. Longo draws from 20th Century European history in portraying a near future that is as bleak and as dire as anything encountered in Europe during the two world wars or the genocidal conflicts within the former Yugoslavia during the middle and late 90’s. Longo’s main protagonist, Leonardo, the college professor and writer, is far more compelling than McCarthy’s father in “The Road”, giving readers a psychologically intense portrait of someone who has not yet demonstrated any semblance of courage, just as the unimaginable strikes him and his two children. Silvester Mazzzarella has done a fine job rendering the original Italian into compelling readable English, demonstrating why Longo has been described in GQ as “…the most talented Italian novelist of his generation”. Without question, “Last Man Standing” deserves the same critical and popular reception earned for “The Road”, not least because it is a far better work of fiction.
William Golding’s “Lord of the Flies” meets Cormac McCarthy’s “The Road” in Italian novelist Davide Longo’s “The Last Man Standing”; a psychological intense near future thriller that, along with Peter Heller’s “The Dog Stars”, is the best recently published dystopian novel. It is psychologically and emotionally far more complex than McCarthy’s celebrated “The Road”, chronicling how a former Italian college literature professor and critically acclaimed novelist seeks to escape an Italy on the brink of economic collapse in the aftermath of some unnamed disaster, hoping for sanctuary in Switzerland or France. He and his young children must flee across a landscape terrorized by gun-wielding gangs of drug-addicted youth, some of them as young as those on the verge of adolescence. Longo draws from 20th Century European history in portraying a near future that is as bleak and as dire as anything encountered in Europe during the two world wars or the genocidal conflicts within the former Yugoslavia during the middle and late 90’s. Longo’s main protagonist, Leonardo, the college professor and writer, is far more compelling than McCarthy’s father in “The Road”, giving readers a psychologically intense portrait of someone who has not yet demonstrated any semblance of courage, just as the unimaginable strikes him and his two children. Silvester Mazzzarella has done a fine job rendering the original Italian into compelling readable English, demonstrating why Longo has been described in GQ as “…the most talented Italian novelist of his generation”. Without question, “Last Man Standing” deserves the same critical and popular reception earned for “The Road”, not least because it is a far better work of fiction.
September 8, 2022
By far the most intense, well written, wonderful, horrible story and magnificent characters I encountered recently. Read it in pretty much one go, and my mind is reeling. It kind of creeps up on you, with a slow almost surreal start, but once it gets going, it's a ride like few others.
Be advised, definitely not an easy story with quite horrible events. At the same time an otherworldly atmosphere descends, a new world borne. I am still kind of shell shocked, and probably will be for some time. If you like post apocalyptic, and can stand some human extremes, this is for you.
Be advised, definitely not an easy story with quite horrible events. At the same time an otherworldly atmosphere descends, a new world borne. I am still kind of shell shocked, and probably will be for some time. If you like post apocalyptic, and can stand some human extremes, this is for you.
January 3, 2019
3 Stars
The book ranged from great to mediocre. It's quite bleak, but it didn't give me that same sense of darkness that made me ponder it for days as did The Road.
The book ranged from great to mediocre. It's quite bleak, but it didn't give me that same sense of darkness that made me ponder it for days as did The Road.
July 27, 2022
4,5 Sterne
April 22, 2024
Non è un paese paese
Read
January 14, 2023Non ci sono riuscita....
October 19, 2013
I'm a sucker for post-apocalyptic novels, so this seemed a natural selection.
The tale is set in Italy and the world is coming apart. Borders are guarded, the banks are giving people their money(if they even have any), and Leonardo is just trying to survive. A former college professor and writer caught up in a sex scandal that cost him his family, his job, and his desire to write, he ekes out an existence with a small vineyard.
One day his wife shows up with his daughter, now seventeen, and the son of her current husband, and dumps them on Leonardo, saying she has to find her husband, who's in the National Guard, that she hasn't seen in four months. She'll be back in a week and the family will head to Switzerland.
He never saw her again.
Roving gangs are raiding homes, killing people for whatever they can find. Leonardo's home is raided and destroyed while he's away and he knows he has to get them away.
The story is about what they go through.
Sounds good, but the execution is somewhat stilted. The author spends way to much time on the minutiae of every day life. A little bit goes a long way, but too much tends to bog down the story. Half of the first half of the book could be excised without harming the story, in fact improving the pace.
Can only give it two stars.
The tale is set in Italy and the world is coming apart. Borders are guarded, the banks are giving people their money(if they even have any), and Leonardo is just trying to survive. A former college professor and writer caught up in a sex scandal that cost him his family, his job, and his desire to write, he ekes out an existence with a small vineyard.
One day his wife shows up with his daughter, now seventeen, and the son of her current husband, and dumps them on Leonardo, saying she has to find her husband, who's in the National Guard, that she hasn't seen in four months. She'll be back in a week and the family will head to Switzerland.
He never saw her again.
Roving gangs are raiding homes, killing people for whatever they can find. Leonardo's home is raided and destroyed while he's away and he knows he has to get them away.
The story is about what they go through.
Sounds good, but the execution is somewhat stilted. The author spends way to much time on the minutiae of every day life. A little bit goes a long way, but too much tends to bog down the story. Half of the first half of the book could be excised without harming the story, in fact improving the pace.
Can only give it two stars.
February 23, 2017
This book is extremely bleak and cynical. While there are a few glimpses of hope toward the end (for the male characters only), the book is generally a horrifying depiction of what people would do in a post-economic collapse society.
February 2, 2017
Hervorragend - stellenweise sehr verstörend, aber tief beeindruckend. Das Buch werde ich so schnell nicht vergessen.
January 1, 2022
I started reading regularly (one book a month) in 2019, and I always finished every book I started, even if I didn't enjoy it. This however, is the first book that I just could not finish. Stopped about 50 pages in. I just didn't understand the story and found it incredibly slow and dull.
January 14, 2014
I didn't enjoy this book at all. I only finished it because I did want to know the ending. Parts are so morbid, but almost seem unfeeling in the way it is written.
July 27, 2025
Sehr anspruchsvolles Buch, Parabel
January 5, 2014
Zeer mooi boek over hoe de menselijke waarden ook in tijden van anarchie en destructie overwinnen
December 26, 2024
Libro distopico, oscuro, violento, che descrive un'Italia lacerata, saccheggiata, dove scorrazzano bande di "esterni" non meglio identificati, dove vige la legge del più forte e dove non ci sono più regole tranne quelle delle bande di uomini e donne armate, violentatori, rapinatori e senza scrupoli.
Pagine sempre più dure, più tragiche dove si respira sempre meno speranza e nessuna umanità: io in alcuni punti ho avuto bisogno di lasciar sedimentare la lettura per qualche giorno.
Preferisco Davide Longo in versione Bramard e Arcadipane perché più snello, più chiaro; questa è una storia in cui alcune pagine e alcuni personaggi mi sono sembrati ridondanti e inutili, necessari solo a rendere ancora più cupo l'insieme. Non ho capito bene perché indicare le località con solo l'iniziale con * ma va bene.
L'unico personaggio ben delineato è Leonardo, uomo che da intellettuale solitario e accondiscendente, deve, nonostante tutto e obbligatoriamente, cambiare pelle e adeguarsi; gli altri personaggi sono solo ombre e tratteggiati.
Un libro scritto prima della pandemia ma che avrebbe potuto disegnare il nostro mondo dopo una pestilenza o un'ipotetica invasione oppure una guerra. Mi ha ricordato per parecchie analogie "Anna" di Niccolò Ammaniti e "La strada" di Cormac McCarthy.
Una lezione su cui riflettere: la bontà e l'onestà riescono a mantenere integra una scintilla di umanità anche attraverso un dolore atroce.
Pagine sempre più dure, più tragiche dove si respira sempre meno speranza e nessuna umanità: io in alcuni punti ho avuto bisogno di lasciar sedimentare la lettura per qualche giorno.
Preferisco Davide Longo in versione Bramard e Arcadipane perché più snello, più chiaro; questa è una storia in cui alcune pagine e alcuni personaggi mi sono sembrati ridondanti e inutili, necessari solo a rendere ancora più cupo l'insieme. Non ho capito bene perché indicare le località con solo l'iniziale con * ma va bene.
L'unico personaggio ben delineato è Leonardo, uomo che da intellettuale solitario e accondiscendente, deve, nonostante tutto e obbligatoriamente, cambiare pelle e adeguarsi; gli altri personaggi sono solo ombre e tratteggiati.
Un libro scritto prima della pandemia ma che avrebbe potuto disegnare il nostro mondo dopo una pestilenza o un'ipotetica invasione oppure una guerra. Mi ha ricordato per parecchie analogie "Anna" di Niccolò Ammaniti e "La strada" di Cormac McCarthy.
Una lezione su cui riflettere: la bontà e l'onestà riescono a mantenere integra una scintilla di umanità anche attraverso un dolore atroce.
December 8, 2019
Ein Roman, der im Italien der Zukunft spielt und in dem das Land im Chaos versinkt. Die Bevölkerung wird immer mehr von der Versorgung abgeschnitten, es ziehen marodierende Jugendbanden durch die Gegend, immer mehr Häuser werden geplündert und zerstört und die Grenzen zu den Nachbarstaaten geschlossen. Es gibt weder eine Regierung, noch Presse oder Banken. Der ehemalige Literaturprofessor Leonardo weigert sich lange, den Ernst der Lage zu realisieren. Doch auch vor seiner Welt machen die beängstigenden Entwicklungen nicht Halt.
Ein Buch, das mich total fasziniert und bewegt hat. Der nüchterne Ton, der im krassen Gegensatz zu den schrecklichen Ereignissen steht, hat dazu geführt, dass mir die Geschichte noch mehr unter die Haut gegangen ist. Zum Teil war die Grausamkeit für mich kaum auszuhalten. Was mir auch sehr gut gefallen hat, war der intelligente Schreibstil des Autors. Ein wichtiges Buch, das mich zum Nachdenken gebracht hat und das ich kaum aus der Hand legen konnte! Sehr zu empfehlen, aber nichts für sensible Gemüter.
Ein Buch, das mich total fasziniert und bewegt hat. Der nüchterne Ton, der im krassen Gegensatz zu den schrecklichen Ereignissen steht, hat dazu geführt, dass mir die Geschichte noch mehr unter die Haut gegangen ist. Zum Teil war die Grausamkeit für mich kaum auszuhalten. Was mir auch sehr gut gefallen hat, war der intelligente Schreibstil des Autors. Ein wichtiges Buch, das mich zum Nachdenken gebracht hat und das ich kaum aus der Hand legen konnte! Sehr zu empfehlen, aber nichts für sensible Gemüter.
April 30, 2023
Mentre la serie di gialli con Bramard e Arcadipane sono dei piccoli capolavori letterari, l’altra produzione di Davide Longo va a gusti. L’Uomo Verticale, ad esempio, è troppo crudo per me. La scrittura, la scelta delle parole, è apprezzabile come sempre. La trama - pur ricca di azione e svolte impensabili - mi ha troppo impaurito per godermela. Perché si svolge in un futuro possibile, violento e lontano dall’accettabile. Una di quelle storie che volevo finire in fretta (abbandonarla impensabile) per dimenticarla il più velocemente possibile.
November 19, 2024
Distopico
Durissimo
Ma scritto così bene che non riesci a non leggerlo, anzi a divorarne le pagine!
C'è molto de <> di McCarthy, e a tratti è più duro.
Parla della natura umana, quella aberrante, quella più nera...quella che viene fuori in alcuni periodi storici dove davvero pochi si salvano...e da lì da quel salvare l'Umano che può ripartire tutto?
Chissà...
Inutile dire che Davide Longo scrive benissimo: per narrare storie così dure e portarti dietro il lettore, devi essere un gran bravo scrittore.
Durissimo
Ma scritto così bene che non riesci a non leggerlo, anzi a divorarne le pagine!
C'è molto de <> di McCarthy, e a tratti è più duro.
Parla della natura umana, quella aberrante, quella più nera...quella che viene fuori in alcuni periodi storici dove davvero pochi si salvano...e da lì da quel salvare l'Umano che può ripartire tutto?
Chissà...
Inutile dire che Davide Longo scrive benissimo: per narrare storie così dure e portarti dietro il lettore, devi essere un gran bravo scrittore.
September 24, 2018
I found the first half very boring, however, I couldn't leave it after that (even though I had an exam).
what I really liked about this novel is the real psychological conflict that the main character faced in his journey, and although I didn't like some scenes, but I wholeheartedly agree with him in the two points he makes in his novel: Change is never easy, and Sometimes you are your worst enemy.
what I really liked about this novel is the real psychological conflict that the main character faced in his journey, and although I didn't like some scenes, but I wholeheartedly agree with him in the two points he makes in his novel: Change is never easy, and Sometimes you are your worst enemy.
December 19, 2022
Non amo i racconti / romanzi distopici. Specie di questi tempi.
Questo romanzo e anche un po' horror e angosciante forse perché quello che racconta non è poi così impossibile a succedere.
In ogni caso è scritto bene e lo si porta fino alla fine magari con la speranza in un miracolo.
Baricco parla benissimo di Longo. Pensavo potesse essere per la co-piemontesità ma devo dire non è certo la solita ragione.
Questo romanzo e anche un po' horror e angosciante forse perché quello che racconta non è poi così impossibile a succedere.
In ogni caso è scritto bene e lo si porta fino alla fine magari con la speranza in un miracolo.
Baricco parla benissimo di Longo. Pensavo potesse essere per la co-piemontesità ma devo dire non è certo la solita ragione.
November 4, 2024
ho pianto. per tutta la parte sesta. ininterrottamente. il gatto è venuto a leccarmi i capelli e io ho pensato a david e ho pianto ancora di più.
tanto dovrebbe bastare a dare la misura dei questo libro, che è ciò che rimane quando sfrondi, tra le parole, l'inutile da ciò che davvero serve e rimane. somiglia quasi a letteratura vera.
tanto dovrebbe bastare a dare la misura dei questo libro, che è ciò che rimane quando sfrondi, tra le parole, l'inutile da ciò che davvero serve e rimane. somiglia quasi a letteratura vera.
August 22, 2022
Romanzo lento e avvolgente, crudele e pesante. L’eco de La strada di Mc Carthy è potente e ben riconoscibile, ma Longo lo usa per arricchirsi e non per semplice e sterile copia. Maneggia bene il ritmo e le pause, non annoiando mai. Si è visto, nei romanzi successivi, che Baricco ci ha visto bene.
June 5, 2024
Davide Longo scrive bene, ma qui a me sembra che talvolta si perda con una sovrabbondanza di dettagli descrittivi non necessari, soprattutto nella prima parte del libro. Detto ciò, l’autore porta all’estremo l’idea che in un futuro distopico la società si sfaldi, crolli nelle sue coordinate civili e sociali. A prevalere le pulsioni peggiori e quindi una spirale negativa di avvenimenti per i personaggi. Il finale potrebbe dare un po’ di ristoro, ma portare a termine la lettura è duro, lo sconforto totale… dovendo accettare che il bene possa tornare solo attraverso il male.
June 2, 2024
Ein Buch, an das ich mich immer erinneren werde. So eindringlich, so irritierend, so gut.
Die Sprache wird dem Protagonisten gerecht, ein Professor für Literatur!
Aber man muss es aushalten und bis zu Ende lesen. Erst dann wird man belohnt.
Die Sprache wird dem Protagonisten gerecht, ein Professor für Literatur!
Aber man muss es aushalten und bis zu Ende lesen. Erst dann wird man belohnt.
October 15, 2025
The Last Man Standing offers a bleak but poetic look at a world unraveling, where survival comes at the cost of morality. Though the writing is atmospheric and thought-provoking, the slow pace and emotional distance may not resonate with all readers.
August 2, 2020
The Road meets Blindness
Amazing book
Amazing book
Displaying 1 - 30 of 69 reviews