Never too Late to Read Classics discussion

We're rounding of 2024 by reading two female Italian authors.

Natalia Ginzburg was born in Palermo, Sicily on July 14, 1916 and died in Rome on October 7, 1991.
Her work explored family relationships, politics during and after the Fascist era and the second World War, and also philosophy.
Her work consisted of novels, short stories and essays, for which she received literary prizes.
Most of her works are available in English translations.

Grazia Deledda was born in Nuoro, Sardinia on September 27, 1971 and died in Rome on August 15, 1936. She was the first Italian woman to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature (1926) and the second woman after Selma Lagerlöf (1909).

Which books are you planning to read?

I've read Reeds in the Wind/Canne al vento by Grazia Deledda and highly recommend it. The book is written in beautiful prose about simple people in a poor region of the island.

Rosemarie, I am so glad to hear that. I'm planning on reading Reeds in the Wind, and I also want to read Family Lexicon by Natalia Ginzburg.

Also glad to hear that. Those are the same two I’m intending to read.

I just noticed that Natalia Ginzburg died five days before my husband and I were married.

I will start soon with O Caminho da Cidade.

Melanie wrote: "Rosemarie, I am so glad to hear that. I'm planning on reading Reeds in the Wind, and I also want to read Family Lexicon by Natalia Ginzburg."

Family Lexicon looks interesting and there is a translation by the same translator who did Lies and Sorcery which I recently read. I liked the translation very much so this one will work for me.
As a side note, the photo of the translator, Jenny McPhee on her GR page makes her out to be a Marilyn Monroe lookalike. That must just be a picture of Monroe that they have up. I’ll have to check into that further.

Chad wrote: "Melanie wrote: "Rosemarie, I am so glad to hear that. I'm planning on reading Reeds in the Wind, and I also want to read Family Lexicon by [author:Natalia Ginzburg|215..."

I have that book on my list too. Family Lexicon.

That’s great that a few of us will be reading that one, Luis.

By the way all, that is just a picture of Marilyn Monroe, not a picture of Jenny McPhee. A shame, as it would be pretty amazing to have a dead ringer for Monroe translating Italian classics into English. I’m not even sure why.

For this, I also plan to read The Dry Heart and Reeds in the Wind.

I'm also reading The Dry Heart and After the Divorce.

I've finished The Dry Heart by Ginzburg. This book is a novella (88 pages) and a fast read that is probably best read all at once. The voice of the unnamed narrator propels the story forward with her anxieties and imagination.

This isn't a spoiler: on the first page she tells us, "I shot him between the eyes."

That certainly got my attention!

I've finished the book O Caminho da Cidade by Natalia Ginzburg.

Here's my review:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Kathy, glad to hear you liked it and rated it so high. Was it your first by Ginzburg? I’m tempted now to try this first since I might have access to it sooner than Family Lexicon.

Jen wrote: "Kathy, glad to hear you liked it and rated it so high. Was it your first by Ginzburg? I’m tempted now to try this first since I might have access to it sooner than Family Lexicon."

Jen, this is my second Ginzburg. I read Family Lexicon a few years ago (my copy was titled The Things We Used to Say) which was excellent also. I rated that one 4 stars. I really like her writing in the 1st person.

Oh interesting, that is a much older version and different translation. I have to say, after Lies and Sorcery, I’m excited to revisit the translation work of Jenny McPhee as Chad mentioned. Glad to hear you liked that one a lot too.

I think I bought The Things We Used to Say used from Amazon. So I didn't get the Jenny McPhee translation. I see the McPhee translation came out in 2017. That's when I bought the used copy so I must have just missed that edition.

I had a busy day but I read the first half of The Dry Heart and then went and took care of some things and was anxious to get to the second half. It’s very well written and it comes to me from a perspective that I’m unfamiliar with. That is always a treat. I liked this one.

I'm glad you like The Dry Heart, Chad. I thought it was very emotional and powerful.

Kathy wrote: "I'm glad you like The Dry Heart, Chad. I thought it was very emotional and powerful."

Agreed.

by Natalia Ginzburg


Finish date: 13.11.2024
Genre: novella
Rating: A
#NovNov24


Good News: Do you have an hour to spare? Well, Valentino is a wonderful diversion. It is portrayal of an uncomplicated character who is lazy, sensual but not unlikeable! A life of being taken care of by his family led to a sort of failure to launch.

Good News: Ginzburg's novella perfectly created to read with a morning coffee (80 pg). It has a "soap opera' quality and you just want to know what will happen in Catarina's family: father, mother, sister, brother Valentino. There are NO skeleton's in the family closet... but still the reader hopes for a family shock. It comes in the name of Maddalena!


Personal: It's the same in fiction as in real life: sometimes it takes something radical to get us going...when will Valentino finally..."get going?"
New to me author Natalie Ginzburg...and I want to read more!

Reading: Elias Portolu

by Grazia Deledda

Update:
Sardinia 1926: Accident waiting to happen: Elias is inoxicated by his brother’s fiancé, Maddalena. She is not terribly in love with her husband to be, Pietro. And watch out for Father Porcheddu....he as his eyes on Maddelena instead of his church. Feels like this powder keg ready to expolode!

I'm almost finished Tutti i nostri ieri/All Our Yesterdays by Natalia Ginzburg.
It's about a family of mostly young people set in a small town in northern Italy before and during the second world war. After the father dies, and they're already without a mother, they sort of drift along without any guidance.
In the second part of the book, the focus is on the youngest daughter who moves to an isolated village further south to get even farther from the war.
There are other reasons for the move, but you'll have to read the book to find out!

Finished: Elias Portolu by Grazia Deledda

My thoughts

Rosemarie wrote: "I'm almost finished Tutti i nostri ieri/All Our Yesterdays by Natalia Ginzburg.
It's about a family of mostly young people set in a small town in northern I..."
Ginzburg is the better writer of the two! (Deledda)

For me, Reeds in the Wind by Grazia Deledda is a wonderful book!
It's nothing like the book you read, Nancy.

Rosemarie wrote: "For me, Reeds in the Wind by Grazia Deledda is a wonderful book!
It's nothing like the book you read, Nancy."

Okay, I’ll give Gazia second chance! :)

I've finished Tutti i nostri ieri/All Our Yesterdays and the ending ruined the book for me.
I'm in the minority of goodreads reviewers who liked the book, but it left me cold. I gave it two stars, mainly because of her detached style.

Rosemarie wrote: "I've finished Tutti i nostri ieri/All Our Yesterdays and the ending ruined the book for me.
I'm in the minority of goodreads reviewers who liked the book, but it left me ..."

I looked at Deledda's photo...not a ray of sunshine in her face and no whiff of a smile. Detached, indeed.

Nancy wrote: "Rosemarie wrote: "I've finished Tutti i nostri ieri/All Our Yesterdays and the ending ruined the book for me.
I'm in the minority of goodreads reviewers who liked the boo..."

The author of that book is Ginzburg.

Rosemarie wrote: "Nancy wrote: "Rosemarie wrote: "I've finished Tutti i nostri ieri/All Our Yesterdays and the ending ruined the book for me.
I'm in the minority of goodreads reviewers who..."
Oh, sorry...my mistake.

Nancy wrote: "Rosemarie wrote: "Nancy wrote: "Rosemarie wrote: "I've finished Tutti i nostri ieri/All Our Yesterdays and the ending ruined the book for me.
I'm in the minority of goodr..."

No worries!

Unfortunately, Reeds in the Wind is not available to me from my library system. I had planned on reading it.

That's too bad, Chad.

I believe Reeds in the Wind is available on Internet Archive

Jen wrote: "I believe Reeds in the Wind is available on Internet Archive"

It is! Thanks for that, Jen.

I started Family Lexicon. I read 50 pages yesterday and 50 today. I’ll do the same tomorrow and Sunday to finish it. I like it. I think it’s absolutely hilarious at times. It’s a kind of autobiographical look at the author’s life. I find it really entertaining and it also lays out what was going on politically in Italy between the world wars.

I started also Léxico Familiar by Ginzburg.

Chad and Luis, you're reading the same book, but in different languages.

Rosemarie wrote: "Chad and Luis, you're reading the same book, but in different languages."

Yeah! I already saw that. Funniest, to be honest.

Rosemarie wrote: "Chad and Luis, you're reading the same book, but in different languages."

And both are translations! I’ll have another leftover turkey sandwich to that!

Happy reading!

I enjoyed the read.

Chad wrote: "I enjoyed the read."

Good!

Not the excellent book I expected.

I hear you on that, Luis. I enjoyed it enough to give it 3 stars. It is difficult to pack two plus generations into 200 pages and so I found it a bit choppy but any book that makes me laugh out loud on more than one occasion gets a thumbs up from me. I liked her novella The Dry Heart much more. So she’s a keeper.

Luís wrote: "Not the excellent book I expected."

That's too bad, but I didn't like the book I read by Ginzburg either.

Hi Chad and Rosemarie, Thank you for both of your comments. After all, it's a family case. Your comments have already influenced my thoughts.

I finished After the Divorce by Grazia Deledda. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would after reading the description of the book, which called it a tragedy.

Deledda portrays life in her native Sardinia with her story of Giovanna and Constantino. When Constantino is sent to prison for supposedly killing his cruel uncle, Giovanna takes advantage of a new law allowing wives of convicts to divorce and remarry. The reader follows both characters over the years.