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4.06 AVERAGE
4.06 AVERAGE
Loved it initially but then nothing happened. Might be better for a holiday read tbh
challenging
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I think Sally Rooney said it best in her introduction to the book, “All Our Yesterdays is a perfect novel”. This book takes you through seemingly insignificant parts of the characters lives and through life-altering events all within pages of each other. Having gone through WW2 herself, it is evident that Ginzberg’s own life experiences shaped this novel. Her writing gave me a deeper understanding of what it is like to go through the war and come out of it on the other side.
This is an emotional and at times intense novel that I absolutely loved.
This is an emotional and at times intense novel that I absolutely loved.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
slow-paced
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I still don’t know what to think of this book. Sally Rooney really likes it which makes sense because the writing is a bit spare. For me this book feels like nothing and everything happened. But for some reason I just couldn’t really get into it as much as I kept hoping.
This novel is set against the backdrop of WW2 in Northern Italy and follows two families that must navigate their circumstances in the face of war and facism. This novel explores many different experiences that can shape and define a person, as well as themes of hopelessness, resilience and resistance in the face of hardship.
These families become intertwined; every character has their own flaws and Ginzburg does an excellent job of ensuring they are realistic. Something I really appreciated throughout the novel is that each character played a significant role in the story.
In part one, the characters are plagued with familial issues and domestic life, with war looming in the background. Ginzburg excellently places war as a secondary matter rather than the primary issue. You are anticipating something you know is coming, but Ginzburg highlights the more ‘mundane’ parts of the characters lives that are given equal importance.
In the second half of the novel, Anna begins to emerge as the main protagonist. I won’t say too much, but in the second half the cha racters circumstances change dramatically. Again, Ginzburg remains grounded in her storytelling. They are not dramatised or overstated, which adds to understanding how people adapted during the war.
Family is still central to the novel in the second half, but they are dispersed through Northern and Southern Italy, dealing with the realities of war in their own lives. Even at this point in the novel, with war on the precipice, the banalities of everyday life are highlighted and given equalfooting. Moments of history are happening to ordinary people, living ordinary lives in extraordinary circumstances.
This book, as well as the tenacity of the characters will stay with me for a long time. I’m glad I spent weeks rather than days soaking in this book, as I felt I really understood and appreciated it’s purpose. Ginzburg will forever be an author that I appreciate and admire greatly.
These families become intertwined; every character has their own flaws and Ginzburg does an excellent job of ensuring they are realistic. Something I really appreciated throughout the novel is that each character played a significant role in the story.
In part one, the characters are plagued with familial issues and domestic life, with war looming in the background. Ginzburg excellently places war as a secondary matter rather than the primary issue. You are anticipating something you know is coming, but Ginzburg highlights the more ‘mundane’ parts of the characters lives that are given equal importance.
In the second half of the novel, Anna begins to emerge as the main protagonist. I won’t say too much, but in the second half the cha racters circumstances change dramatically. Again, Ginzburg remains grounded in her storytelling. They are not dramatised or overstated, which adds to understanding how people adapted during the war.
Family is still central to the novel in the second half, but they are dispersed through Northern and Southern Italy, dealing with the realities of war in their own lives. Even at this point in the novel, with war on the precipice, the banalities of everyday life are highlighted and given equalfooting. Moments of history are happening to ordinary people, living ordinary lives in extraordinary circumstances.
This book, as well as the tenacity of the characters will stay with me for a long time. I’m glad I spent weeks rather than days soaking in this book, as I felt I really understood and appreciated it’s purpose. Ginzburg will forever be an author that I appreciate and admire greatly.
The story of two bourgeois families from a small town in northern Italy during Fascism and WWII. Beautiful and funny and sad and moving, Ginzburg's prose is genius. Her characters are very real people, and some of them I will never forget. I love details such as an old man laughing away because the King and Mussolini have no idea what cutting remarks he is writing about them in his memoirs.
The book was originally published in the 1950s and has just come out in a new translation from the Italian.
The book was originally published in the 1950s and has just come out in a new translation from the Italian.