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adryonsk 's review for:
Family Lexicon
by Natalia Ginzburg
My first book of 2021! I spent Christmas without my parents or most of my family, and the blurb of this book, as one that Natalia Ginzburg wrote while in London in the 60s and homesick for her family and home, appealed to me as the right book for the moment. And make no mistake, this is definitely a book about family, and all of the tiny, insignificant, private moments of family--the inside jokes abound, with Ginzburg freely alternating between including the reader on the joke or leaving them outside, with only a fleeting glimpse into the secrets and rooms.
Initially the bewildering role call of the family members overwhelmed me--what did I care about uncle Silvio or numerous cousins, grandparents, family friends? But that is the true strength of this unique book. It is the story of Ginzburg's family over several decades, through several homes, as she and her siblings grow up from children to adults with families of their own.
It is set against the backdrop of Mussolini's regime, and you come to know her entire family as passionate and active anti-fascists. The lessons of that time, and how they fought ceaselessly against the totality of fascism, even when it seemed hopeless and that they may be the only anti-fascists left, is as relevant and important now as it was in 1920s-1940s Italy. For that reason alone I'd recommend reading this now; however I can also recommend it for the powerful core of this book: the intimate, personal, loving account of her family, remembered longingly and to the smallest details. It almost doesn't feel as if it were written for an audience, but for Ginzburg herself, and one feels privileged to glimpse inside her family lexicon.
Initially the bewildering role call of the family members overwhelmed me--what did I care about uncle Silvio or numerous cousins, grandparents, family friends? But that is the true strength of this unique book. It is the story of Ginzburg's family over several decades, through several homes, as she and her siblings grow up from children to adults with families of their own.
It is set against the backdrop of Mussolini's regime, and you come to know her entire family as passionate and active anti-fascists. The lessons of that time, and how they fought ceaselessly against the totality of fascism, even when it seemed hopeless and that they may be the only anti-fascists left, is as relevant and important now as it was in 1920s-1940s Italy. For that reason alone I'd recommend reading this now; however I can also recommend it for the powerful core of this book: the intimate, personal, loving account of her family, remembered longingly and to the smallest details. It almost doesn't feel as if it were written for an audience, but for Ginzburg herself, and one feels privileged to glimpse inside her family lexicon.