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3.9 AVERAGE
3.9 AVERAGE
emotional
funny
informative
reflective
medium-paced
emotional
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
adventurous
funny
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
dark
emotional
informative
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
Family Lexicon is the autobiographical account of the author's family's life, as an Italian Jewish family in amidst the early years of Fascism.
I found that the language, being written in such a colloquial, conversational style, was surprisingly easy to read in italian. I read somewhere that Ginzburg did this on purpose so that her books were accessible, even to a non-native speaker. Another particularity, was the fact that there was very little discussion of politics and despite Ginzburg's close relationship with some very high profile intellectual figures, like Adriano Olivetti, there was little discussion of the public life of these figures and their impact. Instead, her book focuses on the personal, domestic sphere, occasionally punctured by political turbulence. The humorous pairing of her fussy, loud, short-tempered, anti-fascist father and her distracted, happy, adventurous mother bring warmth to the book. I loved the idea of family being tied together by a collection of repeated phrases and sayings. The strength of this "family lexicon" is given by this evocative analogy:
"If my siblings and I were to find ourselves in a dark cave or among millions of people, just one of those phrases or words would immediately allow us to recognise each other"
As there is little explanation of these high-profile figures in italian history, it helps to do a bit of reading up on 21st century Italian history whilst reading the book.
I found that the language, being written in such a colloquial, conversational style, was surprisingly easy to read in italian. I read somewhere that Ginzburg did this on purpose so that her books were accessible, even to a non-native speaker. Another particularity, was the fact that there was very little discussion of politics and despite Ginzburg's close relationship with some very high profile intellectual figures, like Adriano Olivetti, there was little discussion of the public life of these figures and their impact. Instead, her book focuses on the personal, domestic sphere, occasionally punctured by political turbulence. The humorous pairing of her fussy, loud, short-tempered, anti-fascist father and her distracted, happy, adventurous mother bring warmth to the book. I loved the idea of family being tied together by a collection of repeated phrases and sayings. The strength of this "family lexicon" is given by this evocative analogy:
"If my siblings and I were to find ourselves in a dark cave or among millions of people, just one of those phrases or words would immediately allow us to recognise each other"
As there is little explanation of these high-profile figures in italian history, it helps to do a bit of reading up on 21st century Italian history whilst reading the book.
Content Warnings
Minor: Racism, Suicide, War
funny
reflective
medium-paced
reflective
sad
fast-paced
lighthearted
mysterious
slow-paced
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
sad
medium-paced
challenging
emotional
reflective
slow-paced