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Bezig met laden... Sagittariusdoor Natalia Ginzburg
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 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.  alanteder | May 17, 2024 |  geen besprekingen | voeg een bespreking toe
'At long last she was playing the role she had alwaysdreamt about, that of a mother, full of anxious solicitude, preparing to confide her daughter into the handsof a young man with good intentions, good prospectsand a good character.' A mother decides to follow her daughter to the city, she settles in the suburbs with her older daughter and son-in-law in tow. She quickly grows restless and is eager to find new friends. Brassy, bossy and perpetually dissatisfied she strikes up a friendship with the mysterious Scilla, and soon the two women are planning to open an art gallery. But there is more to Scilla than meets the eye. After a series of afternoons spent at bars having coffee granitas with cream, and at Scilla's apartment on Via Tripoli, it quickly becomes apparent that the connections and the cul-tured life promised by Scilla may never materialise, despite always being just within reach. What proceeds is a story of the dissolution of a family, and the role that class plays in its downfall. Sagittarius is the story of misplaced confidence and am-bition gone awry, recounted by a wary daughter. Geen bibliotheekbeschrijvingen gevonden. |
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 Google Books — Bezig met laden...GenresDewey Decimale Classificatie (DDC)853.914Literature Italian and related languages Italian fiction 1900- 20th Century 1945-1999WaarderingGemiddelde: (4.5)
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Review of the Daunt Books paperback (May 25, 2023) of the translation by Avril Bardoni first published in "Valentino and Sagittarius: Two Novellas" by Henry Holt & Co. (1988) of the Italian language original "Sagittario" (1957).
It is not often that you come across a writer you have never heard of who has apparently also never been read by any of your GR friends and follows, and yet you discover that someone else whom you know (on screen at least) is reading their book. So it was with my discovery of Natalia Ginzburg (1916-1991), a Sicilian Italian writer of Jewish heritage.
The snobbish mother of the married Giulia and a younger sister (who is the narrator) has moved her family to the city (unnamed, but likely Turin) from the town of Dronero, looking for a more refined and cultured life. Giulia and her husband Chaim (an unambitious family doctor) live with the mother and a servant in the town house. The younger sister is a student living with a friend. All of them are subject to constant berating by the mother who has social aspirations which her family are unable to fulfill.
The mother meets another mother Scilla at a cafe and thinks she has met her ideal companion. The two women plan on opening an art gallery (and possible dress shop) together. They decide on "Sagittarius" (Scilla's birth sign) as the future name of the gallery/shop. Scilla's flirty daughter Barbara also befriends Giulia. But Scilla may have her own agenda and despite what are obvious clues, the mother continues with her reckless plans until all is revealed.
I read Sagittarius in only a few sittings (it is a relatively short novella, 128 pages in this edition) as the suspense builds in the reader who will see all the warning signs which the unnamed mother character is oblivious to. That's what makes a 5-star for me, when you just can't stop reading!
Trivia and Link
What the heck, if it's good enough for Bill Nighy, it's good enough for me 😊
See photograph at https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GHWZe8hXEAEXaIZ?format=jpg&name=small
Actor Bill Nighy reading the Daunt Books edition of "Sagittarius" by Natalia Ginzburg. Image sourced from Twitter. (