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crismarcut's review against another edition
5.0
"Cosa potrò insegnarti, io che non credo nella gioia, io che punisco la bellezza, io che amo una donnetta dalle natiche magre, io che sventro corpi senza sussultare, io che piscio in piedi e piango di nascosto? Forse un giorno ti parlerò di me, forse un giorno saprai farmi una carezza e ti sembrerà strano che quello sotto la tua mano sono io."
"Ero felice, non ci si accorge mai di esserlo, Angela, e mi chiesi perché l'assimilazione di un sentimento così benevolo ci trovi sempre impreparati, sbadati, tanto che conosciamo solo la nostalgia della felicità, o la sua perenne attesa."
"Chi ti ama c'è sempre, Angela, c'è prima di conoscerti, c'è prima di te."
"Ero felice, non ci si accorge mai di esserlo, Angela, e mi chiesi perché l'assimilazione di un sentimento così benevolo ci trovi sempre impreparati, sbadati, tanto che conosciamo solo la nostalgia della felicità, o la sua perenne attesa."
"Chi ti ama c'è sempre, Angela, c'è prima di conoscerti, c'è prima di te."
la_cori's review against another edition
2.0
ormai inizio a pensare che io e la Mazzantini non leghiamo.. ho fatto davvero tanta fatica a finire questo romanzo, sia per lo stile decisamente troppo melodrammatico, sia perchè la storia non mi interessava granchè!
elsamurasaki's review against another edition
1.0
Mientras que su hija adolescente le hacen una cirugía de vida o muerte, este medico hace un recuento de su vida amorosa, que para mi es bastante extraña.
Disfrute poco este libro, no lo recomendaría, pero cada quien debe hacerse una opinión por si mismo.
Disfrute poco este libro, no lo recomendaría, pero cada quien debe hacerse una opinión por si mismo.
matwolinski's review against another edition
3.0
Przedziwna książka. Wprawiającą w dziwny nastrój. Wydawałoby się, że zbudowana na prostych kliszach. Starzejący się mężczyzna robi rachunek sumienia. Opowiada o wielkiej miłości, która nie miała prawa trwać.
Mazzantini ma niewiarygodną umiejętność opowiadania o ludziach. O wszystkich stanach emocji, które człowiek przeżywa. Nie jest to historia prosta i ckliwa. Jest niewygodna i trudna. Ale pozwala zatrzymać się i spojrzeć.
Mazznatini uczy empatii. Nie pozwala na łatwe ocenianie swoich bohaterów. Nie idzie na skróty. Bohaterowie nie są łatwi do zrozumienia. Bywają wręcz odstręczający. Ale są przy tym niesamowicie prawdziwi.
Mazzantini ma niewiarygodną umiejętność opowiadania o ludziach. O wszystkich stanach emocji, które człowiek przeżywa. Nie jest to historia prosta i ckliwa. Jest niewygodna i trudna. Ale pozwala zatrzymać się i spojrzeć.
Mazznatini uczy empatii. Nie pozwala na łatwe ocenianie swoich bohaterów. Nie idzie na skróty. Bohaterowie nie są łatwi do zrozumienia. Bywają wręcz odstręczający. Ale są przy tym niesamowicie prawdziwi.
miwsher's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Car accident
Moderate: Alcoholism and Child abuse
francescagrace's review against another edition
Book #3 by Italian author.
Idk what to say about this book, it was deeply creepy and disturbing but that is also the point? Maybe I'll have more collected thoughts later.
Idk what to say about this book, it was deeply creepy and disturbing but that is also the point? Maybe I'll have more collected thoughts later.
sputniksweetheart's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
drx's review against another edition
1.0
Boy, I really hated this book. This book was this month's read for our informal book club, and it is also apparently one of the 1000 books you should read before you die. This book nearly killed me.
OK, perhaps that's melodramatic, but such melodrama has nothing on this book. The book tells the story of a doctor whose daughter is in an accident, but most of the book is about the doctor screwing this person that both he and the reader find despicable. Well, actually, first he raped her, but then he continued to screw her for reasons that are never really established. This woman, Italia, is a real catch. "She breathes through her mouth; her breath is like a rat's breath...Her eyes with their dark shadows look huge; they dart about under her eyebrows like two imprisoned insects." Later, she has "dismal breath...like breath from a decaying body, like the breath of patients when they wake up from anesthesia." There are tons of these descriptions through out the book, of this woman and her depressing apartment, but yet the protagonist is drawn to her, seeking the dark portions of himself, perhaps, or seeking something in her that he does not get from his wife.
All of this would be ok (sort of) were not it for the fakey nature of the whole book. The protagonist is a doctor, but I never believed for a second that he was an actual doctor. Perhaps it's because I recently read Ian McEwan's excellent Saturday. In that book, the doctor protagonist throws around all kinds of medical terminology, but he actually sounds and thinks like I imagine a doctor would. The doctor in this book, on the other hand, says things like, "She's going to die, isn't she? We both know it. Her head is flooded," and, "I don't remember anything about the brain. I wouldn't be any help to you..." Are you kidding me? In other places, it's an odd mix of tossed off medical terms and Kindergardener doctor-speak. "Your pupils are anisocoric. The right one is completely dilated; the intracranial trauma is in that hemisphere. You need immediate surgery so your brain can breathe."
And so it goes through the whole book with hokey writing. "Your mother always has her feet on the ground, even when she's in the air." The book, written by a woman, portrays the protagonist as oddly male. "Tonight my dick has given the world a gift..." and "Then we sit down and eat as men do when there aren't any women around. Quickly and a little crudely, holding a piece of bread at the ready. We eat the way we masturbate, going faster and faster toward the end." Would any guy actually talk like this? The entire book is this way and is filled with oddly aggressive thoughts mixed with histrionic sensitivity. The protagonist of American Psycho made more sense to me.
This book just seemed shockingly bad to me, and I had to force myself to finish it. It's 353 pages, but the writing is simple, the type is large, and there are big spaces between the lines. This should be a quick read if you are into this sort of thing and want to give it a shot.
OK, perhaps that's melodramatic, but such melodrama has nothing on this book. The book tells the story of a doctor whose daughter is in an accident, but most of the book is about the doctor screwing this person that both he and the reader find despicable. Well, actually, first he raped her, but then he continued to screw her for reasons that are never really established. This woman, Italia, is a real catch. "She breathes through her mouth; her breath is like a rat's breath...Her eyes with their dark shadows look huge; they dart about under her eyebrows like two imprisoned insects." Later, she has "dismal breath...like breath from a decaying body, like the breath of patients when they wake up from anesthesia." There are tons of these descriptions through out the book, of this woman and her depressing apartment, but yet the protagonist is drawn to her, seeking the dark portions of himself, perhaps, or seeking something in her that he does not get from his wife.
All of this would be ok (sort of) were not it for the fakey nature of the whole book. The protagonist is a doctor, but I never believed for a second that he was an actual doctor. Perhaps it's because I recently read Ian McEwan's excellent Saturday. In that book, the doctor protagonist throws around all kinds of medical terminology, but he actually sounds and thinks like I imagine a doctor would. The doctor in this book, on the other hand, says things like, "She's going to die, isn't she? We both know it. Her head is flooded," and, "I don't remember anything about the brain. I wouldn't be any help to you..." Are you kidding me? In other places, it's an odd mix of tossed off medical terms and Kindergardener doctor-speak. "Your pupils are anisocoric. The right one is completely dilated; the intracranial trauma is in that hemisphere. You need immediate surgery so your brain can breathe."
And so it goes through the whole book with hokey writing. "Your mother always has her feet on the ground, even when she's in the air." The book, written by a woman, portrays the protagonist as oddly male. "Tonight my dick has given the world a gift..." and "Then we sit down and eat as men do when there aren't any women around. Quickly and a little crudely, holding a piece of bread at the ready. We eat the way we masturbate, going faster and faster toward the end." Would any guy actually talk like this? The entire book is this way and is filled with oddly aggressive thoughts mixed with histrionic sensitivity. The protagonist of American Psycho made more sense to me.
This book just seemed shockingly bad to me, and I had to force myself to finish it. It's 353 pages, but the writing is simple, the type is large, and there are big spaces between the lines. This should be a quick read if you are into this sort of thing and want to give it a shot.
kbc's review against another edition
1.0
I feel bad giving this a low rating but ugh the narrator. I can deal with most unpleasant characters but this guy was the actual worst. Women's bodies were mere vessels for him and the woman that he loved so much - he started their "relationship" raping her and it ended with him removing her uterus. I feel kinda gross reading it.
But hurrah for a woman writing the creepiest, manpainy-ist book I've read in some time?
But hurrah for a woman writing the creepiest, manpainy-ist book I've read in some time?