La fiamma dei tuoi occhi

by James Purdy, Alessandro Roffeni (Translator)

Una grande finestra illuminata a giorno in una casa immersa nella radura e rischiarata solo da una luna pallida. Davanti a quella casa c’è un uomo che non si capacita di quello che sta succedendo di fronte ai suoi occhi: una tavola imbandita di torte e un predicatore che possiede animalescamente una donna. Tutto precipiterà nel volgere di pochi attimi.

Che sia dallo spiraglio dell’anta di un armadio dove un uomo nero è andato a nascondersi oppure dal letto dove è stato confinato Mr Evening, viene da chiedersi se non sia forse questa la nostra condizione, quella di chi dapprima osserva poi si fa partecipe e infine artefice delle fosche storie racchiuse in La fiamma dei tuoi occhi. In queste pagine, sono molti gli amori perduti e infine ritrovati, spesso tragicamente, dal giovane ex galeotto che ha smarrito la via di casa e bussa di porta in porta alla ricerca del suo signore e padrone fino all’efebo i cui occhi brillano come candele nell’attesa del ritorno del suo protettore.

Senza ricorrere a un immaginario fantastico Purdy mette in scena il mostruoso e il ridicolo, e la verità delle esistenze viene denudata. Tutti questi uomini sembrano amare e vivere da orfani, e d’altronde si tratta di uno scrittore che non ha dovuto compiere parricidi: per risalire alla fonte di quella sua unicità non ci resta, ancora una volta, che tornare a leggerlo.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction

176 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1987

About the author

James Otis Purdy was an American novelist, short-story writer, poet, and playwright who, from his debut in 1956, published over a dozen novels, and many collections of poetry, short stories, and plays. His work has been translated into more than 30 languages and in 2013 his short stories were collected in The Complete Short Stories of James Purdy.
He has been praised by writers as diverse as Edward Albee, James M. Cain, Lillian Hellman, Francis King, Marianne Moore, Dorothy Parker, Dame Edith Sitwell, Terry Southern, Gore Vidal (who described Purdy as "an authentic American genius"), Jonathan Franzen (who called him, in Farther Away, "one of the most undervalued and underread writers in America"), A.N. Wilson, and both Jane Bowles and Paul Bowles.
Purdy was the recipient of the Morton Dauwen Zabel Fiction Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters (1993) and was nominated for the 1985 PEN/Faulkner Award for his novel On Glory's Course (1984). In addition, he won two Guggenheim Fellowships (1958 and 1962), and grants from the Ford Foundation (1961), and Rockefeller Foundation.
He worked as an interpreter, and lectured in Europe with the United States Information Agency.

Reviews

[Ramon Prieto · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was surprised to see that this book doesn’t get much attention, so here is my attempt to make more people interested in this remarkable piece of literature.

James Purdy’s “The Candles of Your Eyes” is a collection of 14 short stories, covering nearly half of Purdy’s career as a writer; it’s therefore possible for the reader to see how the writer’s style evolves, this of course makes the book excitedly uneven. Purdy’s voice is candid and eccentric, his sentences short and unpredictable. His stories, varying from comedies to tragedies, are always accompanied by certain mysticism and obscurity; this is not always a good thing since the writer often clumsily manipulates the story just to get this result, obtaining instead stories that can be dull and unimaginative.

Nonetheless most of the stories are eloquent, interesting, and inventive. Also the book is fast and easy to read, so give Purdy a chance, it won’t take much out of your reading time.

[Liam Ostermann · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read all of James Purdy's short stories, volume by volume, in 2024 and this, his third collection of mostly new stories but also earlier ones, is simply wonderful. I am a complete Purdy fanatic, for me he is one of the great twentieth century writers in any language but clearly one of the top English language writers. Of course he was one of the greats of American literature. That you won't find him on any list of 20th century World, English language or American literature should be a warning not to trust lists.

Although regularly referred to as a 'gay' writer his writings, even novels like 'In A Narrow Room' which involves quartet of sexually interconnected and involved young men, was not 'gay' even as aforeshadowing of the literature about to emerge from gay liberation. The closest to a conventional 'gay' story in this collection 'Dawn' is really a much more complex story. I am not going to provide details because to give them is to simply provide spoilers. What happens in a Purdy story or novel is important but it isn't the most important thing. So many of these stories are about love, complex, ugly love, that love that drives men mad or destroys them. It is not that Purdy doesn't believe in happiness he just views life with the detachment of the ancient Greeks or Romans who knew to wary of fate and the furies and that to be loved was only slightly less dangerous then being the one who loves.

Maybe on subsequent reading I will come back and highlight stories from this collection but for now find it invidious. Whatever you do in 2025 read something by Purdy.

[Brian Washines · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cool little introduction to this author's works.

[Mark Ward · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 rounded up

[Donald · Rating 4 out of 5]

These stories will haunt you. James Purdy's stories are tight, compact and exacting in bringing his vision to light. Not a word is wasted. This is a slim but rich collection. From the opening tale "Some of These Days" to the bizarre narrative of "Lily's Party" to the heartbreaking "Summer Tidings," Purdy proves why his is a singular voice of the post WWII generation of writers. Gore Vidal has called him a genius. Dorothy Parker, Paul Bowles, Marianne Moore and Tennessee Williams have sung his praises. He is a high priest of the vernacular, a sorcerer of words, a weaver of tapestries comparable to the best writers in literature. That more people have not read him is a loss they will never know.

[Mennlay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whoa. The first story was a bit too much for me, but after reading the third story, "Summer Tidings," I get him...

[reqbat · Rating 4 out of 5]

absolutely smashing and worth 5 stars- except "Mr Evening" was a bit too long of a let down. still, one of my favorite authors.