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Don Camaleo: romanzo di un camaleonte
Malaparte, durante un encuentro ficticio con Mussolini, recibe de éste la estrambótica sugerencia de educar a un camaleón. Y Malaparte lo hace, instruyendo al camaleón en las humanidades con ayuda de un bibliotecario. Cuando lo inician en política, pronto se convierte en un álter ego del propio Mussolini. El éxito de Don Camaleón en el partido fascista es arrollador, hasta el punto de que Mussolini lo nombra su segundo de a bordo. El discurso de Don Camaleón en el Parlamento italiano, en el que confiesa que en realidad es la mente del dictador, cierra un libro atrevido y corrosivo, escrito en vida del propio Mussolini, quien prohibió su edición cuando ya estaba en la imprenta.
342 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2011
2 people are currently reading
36 people want to read
About the author
Curzio Malaparte
103 books246 followersBorn Kurt Erich Suckert, he was an Italian journalist, dramatist, short-story writer, novelist and diplomat.
Born in Prato, Tuscany, he was a son of a German father and his Lombard wife, the former Evelina Perelli. He studied in Rome and then, in 1918, he started his career as a journalist. He fought in the First World War, and later, in 1922, he took part in the March on Rome.
He later saw he was wrong in supporting fascism. That is proved by reading Technique du coup d`etat (1931), where Malaparte attacked both Adolf Hitler and Mussolini. This book was the origin of his downfall inside the National Fascist Party. He was sent to internal exile from 1933 to 1938 on the island of Lipari.
He was freed on the personal intervention of Mussolini's son-in-law and heir apparent Galeazzo Ciano. Mussolini's regime arrested Malaparte again in 1938, 1939, 1941, and 1943 and imprisoned him in Rome's infamous jail Regina Coeli. His remarkable knowledge of Europe and its leaders is based upon his own experiences as a correspondent and in the Italian diplomatic service.
In 1941 he was sent to cover the Eastern Front as a correspondent for Corriere della Sera. He wrote articles about the front in Ukrania, but the fascist dictatorship of Mussollini censored it. But later, in 1943, they were collected and brought out under the title Il Volga nasce in Europa (The Volga Rises in Europe). Also, this experience provided the basis for his two most famous books, Kaputt (1944) and The Skin (1949).
Born in Prato, Tuscany, he was a son of a German father and his Lombard wife, the former Evelina Perelli. He studied in Rome and then, in 1918, he started his career as a journalist. He fought in the First World War, and later, in 1922, he took part in the March on Rome.
He later saw he was wrong in supporting fascism. That is proved by reading Technique du coup d`etat (1931), where Malaparte attacked both Adolf Hitler and Mussolini. This book was the origin of his downfall inside the National Fascist Party. He was sent to internal exile from 1933 to 1938 on the island of Lipari.
He was freed on the personal intervention of Mussolini's son-in-law and heir apparent Galeazzo Ciano. Mussolini's regime arrested Malaparte again in 1938, 1939, 1941, and 1943 and imprisoned him in Rome's infamous jail Regina Coeli. His remarkable knowledge of Europe and its leaders is based upon his own experiences as a correspondent and in the Italian diplomatic service.
In 1941 he was sent to cover the Eastern Front as a correspondent for Corriere della Sera. He wrote articles about the front in Ukrania, but the fascist dictatorship of Mussollini censored it. But later, in 1943, they were collected and brought out under the title Il Volga nasce in Europa (The Volga Rises in Europe). Also, this experience provided the basis for his two most famous books, Kaputt (1944) and The Skin (1949).
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
October 28, 2022
Ladies and gentlemen this has been my last reading where my parents have a house. It can be said that except for five books I have not read anything extraordinary. Because "The faith of our fathers a story of true England" by Joseph Pearce (5/5) https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6... (which by the way will be one of my next criticisms along with "Que bajé Dios, y lo explicaqué" by journalist Don Ramón Álvarez de Mon, https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6... , and which will be written if Providence so desires this first week of November), and so far has been my favorite nonfiction read) @ignatius_press (which incidentally was a reading that was meant to be read after the summer. I was so eager to read this book, that as soon as I bought it I started reading it, despite being in English you know that I always read in Spanish with exceptions), "Saga de Vigdis" by Sigrid Undset (edited by @edicionesencuentro "Gunnar's daughter" among English-language readers) (5/5) https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... (To give charm to this review I should write it in Norwegian. It's a pity I can't write it in rune language ;-)), "The Sentimentals" by Robert Hugh Benson (5/5) https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... (I still owe you a review of "The Queen's Tragedy" https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8...) have been readings more of Valladolid than of the place where my parents have a house, perhaps the honorable ) " The Captive" by Victoria Holt (a very pleasant surprise) https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... (4/5 ), and "The Cathopard" by Tomasso Lampedusa https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6... (4/5) (although I liked "The Captive" a little more, perhaps because I did not expect anything from her. I think even if they have nothing to do with the fact that "El Gatopardo" could be a prequel to this one. He has already announced that I plan to write a review of this book.) The rest have been 3,2, and 1 and my deep disappointment with current books exalted by @goodreads users (I refer to "The Love Hypothesis" by Ali Hazelwood, https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... and "Crown of Shadows" by Tricia Levenseller https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... (to see they have not been the worst readings of the summer, that honor would deserve it more " The Satyricon" by Petronio https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1... (sorry Petronio. I do love you, but I don't like your book at all), or some poem by Espronceda https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... or "The Black Tower" by José Philip Farmer. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1... ) It gives me that the younger generations, and an old dinosaur like me belong to completely different worlds.
Among the pleasant surprises can be found "Don Camaleón" by Curzio Malaparte (he had an interest in Malaparte, because his conversion had been mentioned in these books published by Editorial Edibesa . https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1... https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1... (hence as a collector in Catholic writers my interest in meeting Curzio Malaparte). Notice that this review apart from in traditional languages will also be written in Italian, This is a book that as I told my friend Professor Manuel Alfonseca has https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... fluctuated between 2-4 stars. All my books usually start with a 3, and tend to lose, or win, or stay as they are, depending on their evolution they go down, up, or stay. It never crossed my mind to put one (1) to this book, because this book is very well written, and you can tell that it is a cultured man who has written it. It is true that at first it seemed somewhat inconsequential. The first chapter is a catalogue of stimulating erudition, as Malaparte studies the nature of the Basilisk, Dragon, and Salamander (West himself in his novel "Salamander" https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9... spoke of the possibility of a far-right plot. Also the Czech socialist science fiction writer Karel Capek https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... denounced Nazi totalitarianism, and fascist in his work The War of the Salamanders" https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8... I do not know which one was written before, nor if Malaparte's work will have anything to do with that of the Czech writer. By the way, Capek is not to my liking because of his anti-Catholicism, and I am more of his opponent the unfortunately now forgotten Jaroslav Durych https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...). In the second chapter Malaparte has a conversation with Musolini (which to be an anti-fascist novel, and banned by fascism. It seemed to me that he presented him as a very cultured man, and he does not come out at all badly, or so it seemed to me), and a Chameleon is found, and through the intercession of Musolini educates him with his friend Sebastiano. First with fables of Aesop, https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2... https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... and Lafontaine, https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... but as it was becoming very pious they pass to Almost, Voltaire, https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... Rosseau, https://www.goodreads.com/author/show..., and he is educated to be a politician (in a more Machiavellian line https://www.goodreads.com/author/show..., than Castiglionesque https://www.goodreads.com/author/show.... Becoming a scourge of the liberals Cavour, Dupretti, Benedetto Croce https://www.goodreads.com/author/show..., Giolitti. The fascinating thing about the Chameleon is that it adapts to everything. I do not know one thing, despite the narrator I do not know if the Chameleon is Curzio Malaparte himself, who was evolving according to his convenience. I don't know if I said it, but Malaparte became all socialist, fascist, communist. Despite having the support of Antonio Gramsci https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... many members and intellectuals of the Communist Party never forgave him especially Alberto Moravia, https://www.goodreads.com/author/show..., for whom Malaparte was still too fascist for his liking. We will talk about the Moravian novel "The Voyeur" https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6... erotic novel that I must not like, and that advised my audience, but unfortunately I liked :-(. I'll talk about that uncomfortable experience. Returning to the Chameleon, the story of Napoleon Bonaparte's Chameleon is very good.
In fact, the Chameleon will pass to left-wing fascism (to which Malaparte himself belonged before his break with Mussolini), and will be Musolini's right-hand man, although he will later confront him (as Malaparte himself did later). Although it seemed to me a fable, inconsequential, as it progresses the novel becomes deeper, and more complex. The Chameleon begins to make sense.
As my friend Enrique Casany Alonso-villalobos told me this novel (he referred to Novecento by Alessandro Baricco https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6... https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...), but from another perspective after all Malaparte is from the left (he belonged to anarchism, the fascist left, Freemasonry, and Italian-Chinese communism (to analyze the horrors of Chinese communism I recommend the literary work of the Belgian of the synophile Simon Leys https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... by the way, and this linking with the story of Napoleon, also has a book in which he speculates, what would have happened if Napoleon had escaped from Saint Helena, but nobody believed him, because he is dead, and had to live as a normal person https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4... ), eventually became a Catholic. (As my father said it was everything), but it is a good sequel to "The Leopard" by Tomasso of Lampedusa. There are brilliant moments in this novel, such as a dialogue between the narrator, and Mussolini, about who makes history, whether the ruler, the people, the forces of history. It is also poignant to see the Chameleon demolishing the structures of the Masonic Italy of the Risorgimiento, idealized by people like Edmund of Amicis, or Carlo Collodi https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... https://www.goodreads.com/author/show.... Having Gioliti who is more, or less, the embodiment of Italian liberalism is proof of that. In fact, this novel is almost harder on liberalism, than on fascism, although Mussolini will also receive some darts, although not as many as one might expect, and finally it will have to be him, who saves the Italy of 1870 against his creature that he initially used to attack his political enemies. The end seems to be an attack by the anticlerical Malaparte, but it left me very bewildered, if as with Mussolini I am unable to see, if he is attacking him, or praising him. It is also the same with the final evolution of the Chameleon, and its alienation as the philosophers of Suspicion would say. I do not know if it was an attack, or an illumination that Malaparte himself had about his destiny. I have already said that Malaparte resembles his fictional character. Too much perhaps. At least something has been sincere that in a person of his duplicity is worthy of commendation. We start from the perspective that we already know its destiny, and as we read the end I can only add one thing to end my criticism, and that is that sometimes life imitates art. I believe that when Malaparte wrote the end of his novel he never thought he would share the same life trajectory as his reptilian friend. Apart from all this, it is worth praising the great prologue attacking censorship, and the opportunism of those who accuse people of collaborationism. It can be said that the phrase that summarizes this novel is Vicisti Galilei.
. My final grade is a (3'5/5). I hope you enjoy it, and that it will ask you the same questions I asked myself.
Among the pleasant surprises can be found "Don Camaleón" by Curzio Malaparte (he had an interest in Malaparte, because his conversion had been mentioned in these books published by Editorial Edibesa . https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1... https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1... (hence as a collector in Catholic writers my interest in meeting Curzio Malaparte). Notice that this review apart from in traditional languages will also be written in Italian, This is a book that as I told my friend Professor Manuel Alfonseca has https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... fluctuated between 2-4 stars. All my books usually start with a 3, and tend to lose, or win, or stay as they are, depending on their evolution they go down, up, or stay. It never crossed my mind to put one (1) to this book, because this book is very well written, and you can tell that it is a cultured man who has written it. It is true that at first it seemed somewhat inconsequential. The first chapter is a catalogue of stimulating erudition, as Malaparte studies the nature of the Basilisk, Dragon, and Salamander (West himself in his novel "Salamander" https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9... spoke of the possibility of a far-right plot. Also the Czech socialist science fiction writer Karel Capek https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... denounced Nazi totalitarianism, and fascist in his work The War of the Salamanders" https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8... I do not know which one was written before, nor if Malaparte's work will have anything to do with that of the Czech writer. By the way, Capek is not to my liking because of his anti-Catholicism, and I am more of his opponent the unfortunately now forgotten Jaroslav Durych https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...). In the second chapter Malaparte has a conversation with Musolini (which to be an anti-fascist novel, and banned by fascism. It seemed to me that he presented him as a very cultured man, and he does not come out at all badly, or so it seemed to me), and a Chameleon is found, and through the intercession of Musolini educates him with his friend Sebastiano. First with fables of Aesop, https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2... https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... and Lafontaine, https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... but as it was becoming very pious they pass to Almost, Voltaire, https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... Rosseau, https://www.goodreads.com/author/show..., and he is educated to be a politician (in a more Machiavellian line https://www.goodreads.com/author/show..., than Castiglionesque https://www.goodreads.com/author/show.... Becoming a scourge of the liberals Cavour, Dupretti, Benedetto Croce https://www.goodreads.com/author/show..., Giolitti. The fascinating thing about the Chameleon is that it adapts to everything. I do not know one thing, despite the narrator I do not know if the Chameleon is Curzio Malaparte himself, who was evolving according to his convenience. I don't know if I said it, but Malaparte became all socialist, fascist, communist. Despite having the support of Antonio Gramsci https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... many members and intellectuals of the Communist Party never forgave him especially Alberto Moravia, https://www.goodreads.com/author/show..., for whom Malaparte was still too fascist for his liking. We will talk about the Moravian novel "The Voyeur" https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6... erotic novel that I must not like, and that advised my audience, but unfortunately I liked :-(. I'll talk about that uncomfortable experience. Returning to the Chameleon, the story of Napoleon Bonaparte's Chameleon is very good.
In fact, the Chameleon will pass to left-wing fascism (to which Malaparte himself belonged before his break with Mussolini), and will be Musolini's right-hand man, although he will later confront him (as Malaparte himself did later). Although it seemed to me a fable, inconsequential, as it progresses the novel becomes deeper, and more complex. The Chameleon begins to make sense.
As my friend Enrique Casany Alonso-villalobos told me this novel (he referred to Novecento by Alessandro Baricco https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6... https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...), but from another perspective after all Malaparte is from the left (he belonged to anarchism, the fascist left, Freemasonry, and Italian-Chinese communism (to analyze the horrors of Chinese communism I recommend the literary work of the Belgian of the synophile Simon Leys https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... by the way, and this linking with the story of Napoleon, also has a book in which he speculates, what would have happened if Napoleon had escaped from Saint Helena, but nobody believed him, because he is dead, and had to live as a normal person https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4... ), eventually became a Catholic. (As my father said it was everything), but it is a good sequel to "The Leopard" by Tomasso of Lampedusa. There are brilliant moments in this novel, such as a dialogue between the narrator, and Mussolini, about who makes history, whether the ruler, the people, the forces of history. It is also poignant to see the Chameleon demolishing the structures of the Masonic Italy of the Risorgimiento, idealized by people like Edmund of Amicis, or Carlo Collodi https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... https://www.goodreads.com/author/show.... Having Gioliti who is more, or less, the embodiment of Italian liberalism is proof of that. In fact, this novel is almost harder on liberalism, than on fascism, although Mussolini will also receive some darts, although not as many as one might expect, and finally it will have to be him, who saves the Italy of 1870 against his creature that he initially used to attack his political enemies. The end seems to be an attack by the anticlerical Malaparte, but it left me very bewildered, if as with Mussolini I am unable to see, if he is attacking him, or praising him. It is also the same with the final evolution of the Chameleon, and its alienation as the philosophers of Suspicion would say. I do not know if it was an attack, or an illumination that Malaparte himself had about his destiny. I have already said that Malaparte resembles his fictional character. Too much perhaps. At least something has been sincere that in a person of his duplicity is worthy of commendation. We start from the perspective that we already know its destiny, and as we read the end I can only add one thing to end my criticism, and that is that sometimes life imitates art. I believe that when Malaparte wrote the end of his novel he never thought he would share the same life trajectory as his reptilian friend. Apart from all this, it is worth praising the great prologue attacking censorship, and the opportunism of those who accuse people of collaborationism. It can be said that the phrase that summarizes this novel is Vicisti Galilei.
. My final grade is a (3'5/5). I hope you enjoy it, and that it will ask you the same questions I asked myself.
October 5, 2015
En el tiempo en que se publicó el libro reside su mayor virtud. A mi parecer una historia escrita para italianos, siendo ajeno a esa nacionalidad es complicado entender más de una situación (incluso con los pies de página).
April 2, 2020
Un libro bastante difícil de leer si no eres italiano y si no has leído algo sobre la revolución de octubre y la época de Mussolini. Aún así, brillante y dantesco.
August 11, 2020
Por momentos difícil de leer al no conocer la historia de Italia o no tener idea de quien fue Benito Mussolini (la generación tiktok que no lee nada no podrá ni acercarse).
Don Camaleón, un simple camaleón, convertido en un "animal humano" con voz y pensamiento propio se vuelve en un ídolo a seguir y, por el otro lado, un enemigo a vencer.
Una crítica hacia la dictadura italiana y , en especial, a la figura de Mussolini. Aceptable.
Don Camaleón, un simple camaleón, convertido en un "animal humano" con voz y pensamiento propio se vuelve en un ídolo a seguir y, por el otro lado, un enemigo a vencer.
Una crítica hacia la dictadura italiana y , en especial, a la figura de Mussolini. Aceptable.
January 31, 2024
"Don Camaleon" is the kind of book that makes you want to know more about politics, philosophy and history. It is rich in references and metaphors dedicated to centuries of Italian thinking. Now and then, I could get some and realized how precise and ingenious is Malaparte in the description of political types. With the use of short sentences, he explains profound relations and characteristics of his society in a crude but still sentimental way.
Besides those considerations, the story is so well narrated that you can follow it without much knowledge of Mussolini's times or Malaparte's experience during them. Don Camaleon is a very interesting character "full of colours", living a roller coaster of political emotions. Also, there are enough debates on ideas and situations of suspense to offer an entertaining, witty reading.
Besides those considerations, the story is so well narrated that you can follow it without much knowledge of Mussolini's times or Malaparte's experience during them. Don Camaleon is a very interesting character "full of colours", living a roller coaster of political emotions. Also, there are enough debates on ideas and situations of suspense to offer an entertaining, witty reading.
November 26, 2023
Coincido con muchas de las apreciaciones aquí vertidas, en cuanto a que resulta difícil interpretar o dotar de sentido si no se es italiano y con noción de la historia de la primera mitad del SXX. Me permito entonces dos reflexiones: 1) siendo argentino, encuentro muchos puntos de contacto; 2) qué poco se enseña para que la juventud no tenga idea de quién fue Mussolini.
November 17, 2023
Si este libro hubiera tenido repercusión en su época hoy sería considerado el Quijote de la nueva Italia. Los temas profundos son tratados de una manera poco seria, irónica y hasta delirante que permite verlos en su naturaleza más pura.
February 27, 2016
Divertidisima obra escrita mientras Mussolini estaba vivo y en la que la critica al mismo es feroz.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews