Just finished reading
The Mortal and Immortal Life of the Girl from Milan, by
Domenico Starnone.
This book is about two obsessions - at least that's how I see it - and how, as we continue to age, the 'obsession' we had for someone in our youth continues to haunt us; that is, until something traumatic happens in our life that forces us to grow up and to recognize the obsession for what it is/was and why it impacted our life. I won't say anymore. This novella is full of many Truths about life and, as one can probably construe from this brief paragraph, the reading was extremely rewarding. But then, I love the way Starnone interrogates his characters through narrative and incident. This is, of course, a literary novel.
My next read was going to be Starnone's
The House on Via Gemito one that has garnered many awards, but I'm going to save that for a bit later.
Instead, I just now started
I Who Have Never Known Men, by
Jacqueline Harpman. This is a 'philosophical' dystopian novel that is nevertheless a literary novel. Forty women are kept in an underground bunker and yet one woman is different than the others. It is her difference, curiosity, and determination that sets the pace for the novel - so far - because I've only read 9 pages.
After that I look forward to re-reading, after 40 years,
The Lover, by
Marguerite Duras. This novel was so incredible when I first discovered it that I'm getting antsy about re-reading it. I can't wait! I thoroughly enjoyed the way she breaks down the concepts of death, desire, memory, and even fantasy. I discovered her through my readings of the
Nouveau Roman writers, most notably Claude Simon and Nathalie Sarraute.
Happy reading you Borg Cubes! (That includes me.)
