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3.9 AVERAGE
3.9 AVERAGE
reflective
medium-paced
Excellent proof of the importance of shared aural memories in creating and maintaining human bonds. At times very funny. I even recognised members of my own family. Delightful!
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
challenging
funny
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
Yes
Because this book has no chapter breaks but flows smoothly from one topic to another, I found it easy to read while I was immersed in it but really hard to pick it back up again. I read the first half on the TGV from Nice to Paris in late December, and didn’t really properly pick it back up again until March.
This is the most unique and fascinating form of memoir I have seen. Ginzburg all but deletes herself from the narrative of her childhood, instead acting as a passive observer of the comings and goings of her family and friends in the interwar period. Each person is remembered through their repeated catchphrases (their lexicon) in a humorous way, painting a complex portrait of what her family looked and sounded like.
By the time WWII rolls around, Ginzburg has married Leone and they have two young children. Leone is barely present in this book, seemingly too personal a topic for Natalia to broach. The war years pass by rather quickly in the narrative, it is mentioned in a one sentence afterthought that Leone was killed in jail, and we move on to life after WWII.
Politics and war form the backdrop for this family portrait, but they remain minor plot points in the narrative. Instead, we continue to see mundane, everyday life events depicted in an incredibly normal way. This is the quality that first fascinated me about Ginzburg (thanks to Sally Rooney’s Beautiful World, Where Are You no less).
Also: an award for the clearest depiction of ADHD in literature I have ever seen: Balbo and his family.
This is the most unique and fascinating form of memoir I have seen. Ginzburg all but deletes herself from the narrative of her childhood, instead acting as a passive observer of the comings and goings of her family and friends in the interwar period. Each person is remembered through their repeated catchphrases (their lexicon) in a humorous way, painting a complex portrait of what her family looked and sounded like.
By the time WWII rolls around, Ginzburg has married Leone and they have two young children. Leone is barely present in this book, seemingly too personal a topic for Natalia to broach. The war years pass by rather quickly in the narrative, it is mentioned in a one sentence afterthought that Leone was killed in jail, and we move on to life after WWII.
Politics and war form the backdrop for this family portrait, but they remain minor plot points in the narrative. Instead, we continue to see mundane, everyday life events depicted in an incredibly normal way. This is the quality that first fascinated me about Ginzburg (thanks to Sally Rooney’s Beautiful World, Where Are You no less).
Also: an award for the clearest depiction of ADHD in literature I have ever seen: Balbo and his family.
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
This is a lovely book spanning time and the sayings that each family has across many years. In lyrical prose Ginzburg takes readers through vignettes of family and the changes that occur across generations. Beautiful.
funny
informative
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
A whimsy account of a rather eccentric middle class italian family, growing up alongside -and in the aftermath, of fascism and World War II.
I absolutely loved the premise of this book and there’s no doubt Ginzburg writes so charmingly of family life; from the monotony of the mundane to the damn right unimaginable.
However, about midway through, my attention seriously started to wain. And although I initially loved the -often meandering accounts, of humdrum domestic life. At times these rituals and routines (much like their nature), became rather repetitive to read.
I also found some sections of the novel slightly fragmented in sentence structure -though I’m not sure if this is a translation issue (?) Needless to say there were definitely paragraphs that didn’t flow as well as others...
All in, a rather charming -albeit mundane (at least around the midway mark) celebration of the bizarre rituals, routines and classic witty in-jokes and wise cracking insults, that so often make up family life.
3 stars
I absolutely loved the premise of this book and there’s no doubt Ginzburg writes so charmingly of family life; from the monotony of the mundane to the damn right unimaginable.
However, about midway through, my attention seriously started to wain. And although I initially loved the -often meandering accounts, of humdrum domestic life. At times these rituals and routines (much like their nature), became rather repetitive to read.
I also found some sections of the novel slightly fragmented in sentence structure -though I’m not sure if this is a translation issue (?) Needless to say there were definitely paragraphs that didn’t flow as well as others...
All in, a rather charming -albeit mundane (at least around the midway mark) celebration of the bizarre rituals, routines and classic witty in-jokes and wise cracking insults, that so often make up family life.
3 stars
Me molestó el énfasis en el viejito cascarrabias