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3.9 AVERAGE
3.9 AVERAGE
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
challenging
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
Scrittura interessante che ti resta impressa anche mesi dopo la lettura. Insegna a fare caso alle piccole stranezze di ogni famiglia, ai segreti che nessuno al di fuori potrà mai capire
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
funny
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
this book had some breathtakingly beautiful lines, and I recognize how important it is in capturing life during fascism in Italy. however, it should be ILLEGAL for 200 pages to not contain any chapters. just one long body of text.
i think the fact that I didn’t know much about the subject matter hindered the experience of this book for me. i was expecting a memoir and mainly got confusing character descriptions and wartime events.
It’s a stunning, important book that took me WEEKS to get through because I also found it boring and confusing. Three stars!
i think the fact that I didn’t know much about the subject matter hindered the experience of this book for me. i was expecting a memoir and mainly got confusing character descriptions and wartime events.
It’s a stunning, important book that took me WEEKS to get through because I also found it boring and confusing. Three stars!
emotional
funny
reflective
relaxing
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
How intimate Natalia Ginzburg's writing is! How specific and personal! I this specificity, I think Ginzburg reveals a universality: I felt that in hearing these reminisces of her family, I was seeing a little of my own family come to life. In the daily lives of interwar Italians and in the heady and turbulent post-war years, I saw something of my own experiences of our times.
This book, in its small way, is an achievement. It was completely engrossing, and Ginzburg has a confessional style that is really accessible and attractive. A definite recommend.
This book, in its small way, is an achievement. It was completely engrossing, and Ginzburg has a confessional style that is really accessible and attractive. A definite recommend.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
3 stars. A tale of one family in Italy in the years leading up to World War 2, including the rise of Mussolini, and the immediate aftermath. The afterward describes this book as "an eccentric family chronicle, not a historical document" and I think this description sums it up nicely. You meet lots of truly unique, quirky, and sometimes frightening family members whose regular nonsense becomes a source of genuine comedy. But you do get very short-changed on life during the war, a time when the family was clearly struggling but you get only crumbs in the way of their experience. This (likely deliberate) omission is a shame as it was the part of the book I was most looking forward to (most books on the lead up to World War 2 seem to be set in Germany/France/England).
A short, enjoyable, but not fully satisfying book. I had never heard of Natalia Ginzburg before reading this work, but I have no doubt her celebrity among "those in the know" is well deserved.
A short, enjoyable, but not fully satisfying book. I had never heard of Natalia Ginzburg before reading this work, but I have no doubt her celebrity among "those in the know" is well deserved.
informative
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes