Soeurs

by Cristina Comencini, Carole Walter (Translator)

Maria et Isabella sont comme les deux faces d'une pice d'or. Eleves dans la bourgeoisie romaine des annes cinquante, elles ont emprunt des chemins trs diffrents : Isabella semblait tout entire risque et folie, et Maria, la gardienne des rves de sa cadette. Mais, au fil des annes, la libert d'Isabella s'est transforme en une sorte de pige, et la prudence de Maria en un choix profondment assum. Ds lors, leurs visages tendent se confondre, comme si leurs mes, insparables, se rpondaient en un jeu infini de miroirs.

224 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

Cristina Comencini is an Italian film director, screenwriter and novelist.

She is one of four daughters of Italian film director Luigi Comencini. She attended with her sisters le Lycée français Chateaubriand (Rome).

Cristina Comencini's 2005 film The Beast in the Heart , based on her own novel La bestia nel cuore, was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Her upcoming film When the Night is scheduled to compete in competition at the 68th Venice International Film Festival in September.

Reviews

[khadija Elboaishi · Rating 4 out of 5]

رواية اعتبرها رائعه غرقت في تفاصيلها خاصة تلك التفاصيل الصغيرة في علاقة الشقيقتين المتناقضيتن ماريا و ايزابيلا
ابدعت الكاتبة في سردها لتلك المعادلة الصعبه بين العقلانية و الجموح
استطاعت ان تعبر لنا عن مرحلة الثورة البلشفية و الشعارات التي رفعت في تلك المرحلة و في ذات الوقت استطاعت ان تعرج على نهاية تلك الشعارات و سقوطها امام النزعة الفردانية لقادتها
ماريا التي تمثل المرأة و الام الرصينة المستقرة نفسيا الراكدة في حياتها و بين ايزابيلا المزاجية الجامحة المتأرجحة نفسيا كثيرة المغامرات و العلاقات
الخلاصة اني استمتعت بها جدا

[Diabolika · Rating 2 out of 5]

Una lettura tanto piacevole quanto assolutamente dimenticabile.

L'idea è buona, così come la scrittura, ma lo sviluppo si presenta davvero confusionario: troppi personaggi (un albero genealogico avrebbe sicuramente aiutato), troppe sotto-trame da seguire, e una storia eccessivamente caotica (i nomi dei personaggi si dimenticano da un capitolo all'altro).

Il difetto più rilevante è che non c'è stato coinvolgimento emotivo, il che è particolarmente problematico considerando che si tratta di una storia tutta al femminile. Peccato

[Kevan Houser · Rating 4 out of 5]

I feel some pressure, writing the first review for this book in English (so far). Unfortunately, I doubt it'll be insightful or complete. It may not even be helpful—but here are some of my impressions:

To be honest, I wouldn't have read this book if it were in English; it's not really a genre I particularly seek out. But given that I only find so many Italian novels here in Portland, I tend to buy them when I see them and I'm much more forgiving of the subject matter because I make an effort to read a broad range of voices and genres and styles in Italian. Even if a story isn't particularly to my taste, I always encounter new words and expressions and gain a little more cultural insight.

"Passione di famiglia" (which could be translated a number of ways: after reading the book, I might say "A Family's Passion," but that's just me) is a sort of sweeping family drama, but on the light side, clocking in at only 170 pages. It focuses on three generations of a mostly female family of "fallen nobility." That is, a rich, aristocratic family fallen on hard financial times (due to gambling in this case). It seems to be a common theme in Italian literature (or at least I happen to come across it a lot), from the classics ("I viceré") to contemporary lit ("Tutta mio padre") to other books recently read.

I'm not sure this novel brings anything new to the table for me, story-wise. But it's well-written and the prose is engaging and not obtrusive or overly ornate. The book lacks the long descriptive scenes (like in "Il gattopardo," for instance), but I think the author made a wise choice to focus more on the emotions and events than on the historical details.

(Spoiler-free review)

For me, it felt like too many characters and a bit too much jumping around. With 30-40 named characters and only 170 pages, and the jumps in time (some of the story-telling was thematic or anecdotal rather than sequential, which is fine, but coupled with all the many people, I found it fatiguing to keep everything straight), and in fact, it was difficult to settle in and relate with any one character.

Francesca was the main character, and she certainly had an interesting (unusual and eventful) life. I accepted her enduring love for Francesco even if I didn't really understand it or find it totally convincing.

"Uragano sentimentale" (emotional hurricane) became a sort of catchphrase for the expansive family, because someone was always caught up in some love that shouldn't have been or marrying someone she didn't love, or lost in a whirlwind of anguish or despair or resentment. They had to move a lot (that impoverished nobility thing) as well, and it seemed someone was always having a baby. (But the story wasn't really tragic, with its flashes of humor.)

I didn't care for the main male protagonist, Francesco, at all, and, as I said, I didn't really understand Francesca's life-long fascination (obsession) with him. But then, love doesn't have to make sense, does it?

I was going to give the book three stars, but the final three chapters led me to leave that fourth one. No spoilers, but the ending was satisfying and believable, and I felt it wrapped the story up pretty well.

This sentence perhaps sums up the book's message:

"Se solo non avesse perso la vita ad aspettarlo! Se solo avesse combattuto per quell'amore sbagliato!"

(My personal—unofficial—translation:

If only she hadn't wasted her life waiting for him*. If only she'd fought for that misbegotten love.

— *I interpreted "lo" as waiting for "him" (Francesco), but I can see that it might also mean waiting for "it" as in waiting for that "love."

In either case, the root message is the same: We regretfully tend to learn important lessons too late in life...

[Chambllion Zores · Rating 3 out of 5]

رواية الشقيقتان للكاتبة الايطالية كريستينا كومنشيني، في هذه الرواية تسرد الكاتبة الفترة التي تلت الحرب العالمية الثانية وبالتحديد العقود الثلاثة ما بعد الحرب ، وتعكس لنا الكاتبة صورة من الحياة الاجتماعية والسياسية والحركات والتنظيمات الشبابية في ايطاليا المتطلعة للديمقراطية بعد الحكم الفاشي.
تدور الرواية حول شخصيتين شقيقتان وهما ماريا وإزابيلا الشقيقتان المختلفتان تماما في السلوك وفي طريقة العيش وفي التفكير، لكل واحدة منها طريقتها ورؤيتها للحياة ماريا الشقيقة المثالية التي اعتمدت على نفسها واستطاعت اكمال دراستها وترية ابنها والتي تبحث عن الاستقرار العائلي مع زوجها المنغمس في الصراعات السياسة الذي يتركها وحيدة لفترة لتصارع الحياة وحدها، اما ايزابيلا الشقيقة الاخرى المتمردة التي فشلت في اكمال دراستها مما سبب لها ترك العائلة لتذهب وتعيش حياة عبثية من بلد لبلد ومن رجل لرجل.
عبر هذين الشخصيتين تروي الكاتبة الافكار والاوهام والمشاكل والهواجس التي تساورهما و صراعاتهم في الحياة بطريقة سرد مونولوجية بسيطة وجميلة ليست بالعميقة فهي تربط الرواية بخيط متين من الاحداث .. واخيرا فهي رواية المرأة التائهة في ظل التحول الاقتصادي والسياسي والاجتماعي الذي حدث في ايطاليا في فترة مابعد الحرب العالمية.

[GONZA · Rating 3 out of 5]

Letto al volo, sia perchè questo romanzo assomiglia ad una versione napoletana dei Vicerè, sia perchè l'autrice scrive molto bene secondo me. La storia parte dai primi del '900 con una famiglia di principi napoletana ridotta sul lastrico per colpa del vizio del gioco, segue poi le vicende delle due figlie e dei loro "uragani d'amore". Narratrice di tutte le vicende è la nipote di Francesca, personaggio principale assieme al padre dei suoi 6 figli Francesco; il loro "fatale inseguimento d'amore" tra le due guerre, la vita dei loro figli, parenti e amici vari che forse però, stanno un po' strette come storie in sole 173 pagine.
Mi sarebbe interessato sapere come mai Eleonora era la più sfortunata tra i figli e come mai Ferdinando e Mimì non hanno avuto più tempo a loro disposizione, ma forse la passione trascinante di cui si parla nel libro, non può essere trattata che di corsa.