Scan barcode
grereads's review against another edition
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
4.25
I unexpectedly really enjoyed the book even though the pace was really slow, mostly because I realised it was made on purpose to portray the monotony of life in confinement.
I really enjoyed Levi's reflections on the life of peasants and how much their world was different from the rest of the nation. Although some of the reflections about the state towards the end were more difficult I grasped most of the concepts.
I loved the parts of the novel in which he talked about the people's folklore and their attachment to things like magic and supernatural creatures.
I didn't know much about the South of Italy in that period, so learning something new was really interesting. The description of Matera made by Levi's sister has really stuck with me, I didn't realise the "sassi" were still that densely inhabited and that the conditions there were so bad.
One thing that kind of pissed me off were the descriptions of the women of the village as being animal-like and immoral, those came off as very misogynistic, especially coming from a wealthy northern man and because the descriptions of the men weren't that exaggerated and judgemental.
I really enjoyed Levi's reflections on the life of peasants and how much their world was different from the rest of the nation. Although some of the reflections about the state towards the end were more difficult I grasped most of the concepts.
I loved the parts of the novel in which he talked about the people's folklore and their attachment to things like magic and supernatural creatures.
I didn't know much about the South of Italy in that period, so learning something new was really interesting. The description of Matera made by Levi's sister has really stuck with me, I didn't realise the "sassi" were still that densely inhabited and that the conditions there were so bad.
One thing that kind of pissed me off were the descriptions of the women of the village as being animal-like and immoral, those came off as very misogynistic, especially coming from a wealthy northern man and because the descriptions of the men weren't that exaggerated and judgemental.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Medical content, and Classism
Moderate: Child death, Sexism, and Alcohol
Minor: Animal death, Infidelity, Violence, Blood, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail