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Separations: Mothers and Children
Richly imbued with imagination, charming in their irony, and eminently readable, The Boy with Two Mothers and The Life and Death of Adria and Her Children are alive with a subtle "magic," presenting unforgettable characters across a canvas of European socio-political upheaval. These are classic stories which will haunt the mind long after their reading. In each, Bontempelli fulfills what he believed was the writer's ultimate goal: "to tell a dream as if it were reality and reality as if it were a dream."
- GenresItalian Literature
315 pages, Paperback
Published April 1, 2004
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About the author
Massimo Bontempelli
95 books29 followersMassimo Bontempelli was an Italian novelist, short story and theater writer, literary and art theorist and critic.
Best known for coining the literary term Magical Realism and creating its theoretical framework. His efforts to implement this specific poetics in his writings begin after his initial experiments, first with traditional poetry (Carduccian classicism) , then humorist, ironic stories (influenced by Pirandello) and short escapades in surrealism and futurism.
Despite forming a literary model for Magic Realism with his own novels and short stories, Bontempelli's importance as a Magic Realist writer is mainly neglected and overthrown in contemporary theories on Magic Realism. Only few authors (mostly Italian authors but A. C. Hegerfeldt, A. B. Chanady, I. Guenther as well) acknowledge Bontempelli's significant role for the development of Magic Realism, but unfortunately, not all of them manage to go further then Franz Roh's and Alejo Carpentier's theories in the debate over the origin and literary use of the term.
Bontempelli graduated from the University of Turin gaining two diplomas, in Classical Studies and in Philosophy.
He worked as a journalist, teacher and served as an artillery officer during the First World War.
In 1924 Bontempelli entered Mussolini's fascist movement and in the same year, together with his friend Luigi Pirandello, he founded Teatro degli Undici. In 1926, co-founded the literary review 900: Cahiers d'Italie en d'Europe with Curzio Malaparte. Despite Malaparte's abandoning the review even before the first issue was published, Bontempelli had succeeded, with the help of Nino Frank, to form an impressive editorial committee which included Max Jacob, André Malraux, Rainer Maria Rilke, and James Joyce and contributions from Pierre Mac Orlan, Philippe Soupault, Georg Kaiser, Ivan Goll and Ramòn Gomez de la Serna. In the first issue Bontempelli presented his theory of Novecentismo and Magic Realism and articulated literary positions that became points of reference in literature.
In 1930 Bontempelli becomes a member of the Italian Academy. In 1938 Bontempelli was offered Attilio Momigliano' chair at the department for Italian Literature at the Florence University (which Momigliano was forced to give up because of the anti-Semitic legislation) but refused the position and was subsequently banished to Venice and censored by the regime because of his critic towards fascist leaders.
In 1953 Massimo Bontempelli is awarded with Italy's highest literary award, the Strega Prize, for his collection of short stories L'amante fedele (The Faithful Lover).
Best known for coining the literary term Magical Realism and creating its theoretical framework. His efforts to implement this specific poetics in his writings begin after his initial experiments, first with traditional poetry (Carduccian classicism) , then humorist, ironic stories (influenced by Pirandello) and short escapades in surrealism and futurism.
Despite forming a literary model for Magic Realism with his own novels and short stories, Bontempelli's importance as a Magic Realist writer is mainly neglected and overthrown in contemporary theories on Magic Realism. Only few authors (mostly Italian authors but A. C. Hegerfeldt, A. B. Chanady, I. Guenther as well) acknowledge Bontempelli's significant role for the development of Magic Realism, but unfortunately, not all of them manage to go further then Franz Roh's and Alejo Carpentier's theories in the debate over the origin and literary use of the term.
Bontempelli graduated from the University of Turin gaining two diplomas, in Classical Studies and in Philosophy.
He worked as a journalist, teacher and served as an artillery officer during the First World War.
In 1924 Bontempelli entered Mussolini's fascist movement and in the same year, together with his friend Luigi Pirandello, he founded Teatro degli Undici. In 1926, co-founded the literary review 900: Cahiers d'Italie en d'Europe with Curzio Malaparte. Despite Malaparte's abandoning the review even before the first issue was published, Bontempelli had succeeded, with the help of Nino Frank, to form an impressive editorial committee which included Max Jacob, André Malraux, Rainer Maria Rilke, and James Joyce and contributions from Pierre Mac Orlan, Philippe Soupault, Georg Kaiser, Ivan Goll and Ramòn Gomez de la Serna. In the first issue Bontempelli presented his theory of Novecentismo and Magic Realism and articulated literary positions that became points of reference in literature.
In 1930 Bontempelli becomes a member of the Italian Academy. In 1938 Bontempelli was offered Attilio Momigliano' chair at the department for Italian Literature at the Florence University (which Momigliano was forced to give up because of the anti-Semitic legislation) but refused the position and was subsequently banished to Venice and censored by the regime because of his critic towards fascist leaders.
In 1953 Massimo Bontempelli is awarded with Italy's highest literary award, the Strega Prize, for his collection of short stories L'amante fedele (The Faithful Lover).
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 16, 2009
i wish i liked this more than i did. i had such high hopes, being a devotee of the magical realism thang. i liked the second novella more than the first, and i liked it more than the childrens book of his i read, but it just never grabbed me enough... massimo, why wont you grab me??
May 26, 2017
As the title suggests, this translation by Estelle Gilson contains two of Bontempelli's novellas -- The Boy with Two Mothers and The Life and Death of Adria and Her Children. The translations themselves definitely approximate Bontempelli's style that alternates between precise prose, philosophical inquiries, and sensitive humility. However, there are somewhat frequent spelling errors (that are a bit annoying, but honestly don't take away from the reading experience significantly).
That all being said.
These are by far two of the most pleasing pieces in Bontempelli's oeuvre that I have read yet. He refines and explores topics of continued importance in all of his writings: childlike innocence, the connection between dreams and reality, the beauty of nature, classical literature, and the creation of myths for the modern day. Arianna, Luciana, and Adria constitute examples of what I would term archetypal Bontempellian protagonists -- aloof, ethereal, wary of their surroundings and internal affairs, and withdrawn from elements of reality that contrast with their conception of the world. Both stories are wildly fascinating and intriguing, and he perfected and displayed the views that riddle his theoretical writings in The Life and Death of Adria and Her Children. Two fantastic pieces of fantastic literature -- absolutely recommend!
That all being said.
These are by far two of the most pleasing pieces in Bontempelli's oeuvre that I have read yet. He refines and explores topics of continued importance in all of his writings: childlike innocence, the connection between dreams and reality, the beauty of nature, classical literature, and the creation of myths for the modern day. Arianna, Luciana, and Adria constitute examples of what I would term archetypal Bontempellian protagonists -- aloof, ethereal, wary of their surroundings and internal affairs, and withdrawn from elements of reality that contrast with their conception of the world. Both stories are wildly fascinating and intriguing, and he perfected and displayed the views that riddle his theoretical writings in The Life and Death of Adria and Her Children. Two fantastic pieces of fantastic literature -- absolutely recommend!
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January 8, 2009This is actually two novels in one, but I finished one in 2008 and the other in 2009, so technically I should count one more book in last year's total. Hm. Anyway, apparently Bontempelli was one of the forefathers of Italian magical realism, though the first novel in this volume reads like an extended, mediocre early-twentieth-century Twilight Zone and the second is magical realist only if you stretch the definition until it creaks. It wasn't quite my thing. I'm reviewing a book of Bontempelli's stories next, so I'm hoping that's more up my alley.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews