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Bezig met laden... The Iguana (1965)door Anna Maria Ortese
Bezig met laden...
Meld je aan bij LibraryThing om erachter te komen of je dit boek goed zult vinden. Op dit moment geen Discussie gesprekken over dit boek. Related essay coming soon in Tin House. ( ) This is a hard book for me to review. It’s clearly some form of dreamy fantasy, almost fairy-tale like, but the book equally obviously targets real-life societal disillusionment. I suspect that parts of it may be, if not allegory, then at least socio-political commentary on issues I know too little about, which is why I find this hard to review. Things start of very simple. Naïve and good-humoured Count Aleardo di Grees, from Milan, sets out on his yacht for a lucrative trip around the western Mediterranean and the Atlantic coast. He ends up on a Portuguese island that cannot be found on any of his maps and that is owned by an impoverished set of three brothers, nobles all. Their domestic help is a walking, talking iguana called Estrellita, a long-suffering menial servant who behaves at times like a ten-year-old child. Most cruelly, Estrellita’s obvious affections for one of her owners are unscrupulously abused. Count Aleardo takes pity on the poor creature, but finds that he, too, finds himself becoming very fond of Estrellita’s crush, Marquis Felipe. Initially, this tale that has all the trappings of an allegory -- the fairy-tale quality, the sea voyage into unknown lands, a barely-inhabited island, a talking animal, the focus on aristocracy, the well-worn stereotypes (decrepit aristocracy; profit-obsessed American business moguls; naïve and well-willing main characters, the evil step-siblings). Some of the social commentary is blindingly obvious -- money-hungry capitalism, the impractical benign benevolence of the upper crust. But as the narrative lurches from revelation to revelation, it loses more and more of its attitude of simplicity and one-to-one correspondences. The story gains a few levels of depth and complexity that feel radically different from how it all started. I’ll readily admit that some of it went over my head, but I think I know enough about 1950s (dis)illusions to follow at least Ortese's general direction. L'iguane est considéré comme le chef-d'oeuvre de Anna Maria Ortese et un critique l'a justement classé dans "romans hallucinatoires". Il semble que l'on soit sur une ile portugaise, où des voyageurs à la recherche d'un manuscrit font halte, chez deux frères nobliaux et plus qu'étranges. Leur pauvre servante est un iguane...Ortese ne se rattache a aucun auteur ou style.Mais son étrangeté extrême est aussi attirante. geen besprekingen | voeg een bespreking toe
Is opgenomen in
When young Count Aleardo di Grees sails from Milan, he chances upon an uncharted island off the coast of Portugal. The island is Ocana, said to belong to the devil. Intrigued, the Count drops anchor and is welcomed by the young Portuguese marquis who lives there. That evening, dinner is served by the family's servant, Estrellita, a "shrunken old woman" who is actually an iguana dressed in women's clothes. The Count is fascinated by this creature, and his fascination becomes pity, obsession, even desire. Is Estrellita indeed the embodiment of evil, as the marquis seems to believe, or is she simply an innocent beast cruelly maligned? This strange and lyric novel was first published in Italy in 1965 and winner of the prestigious Fiuggi Prize. Geen bibliotheekbeschrijvingen gevonden. |
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Google Books — Bezig met laden... GenresDewey Decimale Classificatie (DDC)853.914Literature Italian Italian fiction 1900- 20th Century 1945-1999LC-classificatieWaarderingGemiddelde:
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