The Mother

by Natalia Ginzburg

Narrated from the point-of-view of two children, this is the story of a mother who does not provide the comfort and security that defines her maternal role, and whose life is shown in bits and pieces through the observations of the children.

Genres: Short Stories

20 pages, Unknown Binding

First published March 8, 1999

About the author

Natalia Ginzburg (née Levi) was an Italian author whose work explored family relationships, politics during and after the Fascist years and World War II, and philosophy. She wrote novels, short stories and essays, for which she received the Strega Prize and Bagutta Prize. Most of her works were also translated into English and published in the United Kingdom and United States. An activist, for a time in the 1930s she belonged to the Italian Communist Party. In 1983 she was elected to Parliament from Rome as an Independent.

Reviews

[Michela]

Natalia Ginzburg is my current hyperfixation, but also, that’s how you write a book.

[Leila]

او هرگز رنج نکشیده بود. نه برای چیزی، نه برای کسی. به یاد نمی‌اورد که هرگز عاشق شده باشد. به یاد نمی‌اورد که هرگز در عمر خود زنی را به شدت، با حالتی جنون‌آمیز خواسته باشد.
«خدای من چرا نخواستی من نیز مانند سایر مردها باشم؟ من یک کودک هستم. کودکی مانند فرزند خودم.»

[Ran]

I feel like I'm easily impressed because I only have 5 star reviews but Ginzburg's story is something else. I felt something reading this, perhaps it was the children's perspective of the whole story or the angst that was so clearly expressed throughout the short story. Whatever it was, it left me with a feeling of emptiness. It was an emotion that I can't help but seem to question certain aspects of my own life. Would I be ready in situations such as those? To raise children while being so lost myself?

I feel for the mother greatly: her loneliness, angst, helplessness. While Id do feel bad for her, I feel bad for the children the most. Her children did not deserve what occurred in the story. They deserved better. Unfortunately, the circumstances that surrounding the family creates alot of nuances that cannot be understated. I would certainly like to think that I would sacrifice my own wellbeing to raise my children, I don't know what I would or could do if I was in the mother's place. Great, I'm rambling on and on about a story that I just read. Perhaps, it's the fact that I just read this about 10 minutes ago and my mind is all jumbled up inside trying to comprehend what I just read? Whatever it is, I truly truly wish the boys in the story the best of luck. They deserve it. They were children after all. Kids shouldn't be subjected to such dark materials. They should enjoy their childhood. They should be kids.

[Rachel]

To be a woman is to perform.

[Snuffles]

what is being a woman, beyond being a mother and a wife? and why has modern society made the task so difficult that one is always left hollow???

[MHY]

Le vrai livre est édition Auzas : 27 histoires "il y a la mère" donc avec 27 écrivains
Parution 1/03/2012

[Emerson]

Questo libro è realisticamente e triste a molti gente. Fantastico corta storia.

[Molly Higgins]

I was interested in how she describes bodies. The mother is slipping, she is thin, fish for eyebrows, yellow powder on her face. Mediated through the boys perspective she reads as a child but more so a monster– the boys can't imaginethat that stomach had held them. the grandma's large, warm body .the portrait of the father at the foot of the bed. he is immaterial but still has more of a presence than mother who is constantly slipping away. his silent image is “important,” while she, in their eyes, “was not an important person”

[Des]

Anna Lee reco

[Moneeza Rafiq]

This is an endearing story that grows upon you when you least expect it. As a woman, as any woman of any nationality, this will appeal to you.

[jhankār]

3.5