Mate Booguy’s Reviews > Lies and Sorcery > Status Update

P. 5, §3 done. I'm exhausted. It’s gotten difficult to will myself to continue reading. Morante is relentless. She doesn’t keep you at a safe height from the ruins: she drags you down into a mire where illusions—many bred by the terror of the ordinary—are chained by vanity, envy, and class-hatred. This story is a bleakness that refuses anesthesia.

P. 5, §1 done. I was waiting for this moment and it utterly defied my expectations. P. 4 closed with a massive narrative rupture, leaving me suspicious and feeling betrayed. Yet P. 5 opens as if _nothing_ happened. And, the devastation hits as if nothing did happen. Tears, sobs, and the air punched out of me all atest to Morante’s merciless sorcery—it doesn’t break when the frame does: it turns the screw. Holy shit.

P. 4, §3 is heavy and contains a collection of quotable prose—but these two, in their timing, hit especially hard: "Tears shed for a woman are like the water in the sea / not good to drink from, but good to drown in"; "Although I am your mother, don’t I still have the eyes of a woman? A true wife would see you just as your mother made you, because your scars are due neither to guilt nor to nature, but to misfortune."

Part 3 and the first section of Part 4 done. The writing remains ornate, elaborate, and demanding. The dark psychologies of the characters and their intricate relationships between one another keep building—growing ever more entangled; humanly tragic. I'm truly unsure where Morante is taking me, though her writing and Elisa’s narration remain strangely compelling. What an alien and captivating descent this has been.

Part 3 and the first section of Part 4 done. The writing remains ornate, elaborate, and demanding. The dark psychologies of the characters and their intricate relationships between one another keep building—growing ever more entangled; humanly tragic. I'm truly unsure where Morante is taking me, though her writing and Elisa’s narration remain strangely compelling. What a strange and captivating descent this has been.

This story just gets stranger and stranger. Morante's use of meta-narrative is strong: Elisa speaks to the reader an ample amount; her timing and—just now anyway—her presumption both fuel my interest to keep reading.

This story just gets stranger and stranger. Morante’s use of meta-narrative is strong: Elisa speaks to the reader and ample amount; her timing and—just now anyway—her presumption fuel my interest to keep reading.

A third read, a third enjoyed. Morante’s complex language and grammar are so stimulating; but, man, do my attention and mental focus have to be sharp!

At the threshold of the closing section of Part 2, I’m eager to see how it ends and what Part 3 brings. I enjoyed the novel from the start, but subtle doubts lingered after Part 1. Those are gone now. Part 2 has been deeply rewarding: the writing remains excellent, the pacing engaging, and the characters’ dark psychologies have pulled me in completely—not to mention there have been some very quotable lines/passages.

Part 1 done. This is very distinct from what I’ve read recently—it's certainly that Italian soap opera the NYT called it. I never would have found myself enjoying soapy novels, but Morante’s prose—beautifully translated—is mesmerizing; spellbinding. Elisa’s narration is pompous and excessive, yet in a fittingly great way that fuels my interest. Her elegant narration makes even the most disliked characters attractive.