“At certain times in life we are more or less close to who we really are.” Let’s start by saying that there’s something extremely essential about this book: everything revolves around a funeral, and—with the exception of the church where it takes place—we move from one house to another, almost without ever changing characters. Now, having said that, I challenge anyone to choose this book, but the author’s power lies precisely here, in our opinion:...
“…the idea belongs to whoever develops it, and I will pretend I never had this idea of becoming a startupper.” The book is a collection of stories (we can’t say whether they’re autobiographical or free reworkings of stories the author heard), some of which appeared as newspaper articles, others unpublished, written during his long stay in California. This long period allowed Masneri to gather life experiences and testimonies that help us understand the American world,...
Valley of Flowers by Niviaq Korneliussen is undoubtedly the novel I loved the most last year, a book capable of getting under your skin, uncomfortable and powerful just like its author. A writer who had already established herself in Greenland in 2014, when with her debut she had spoken, for the first time in her country, of queer issues. Issues so current that they return in this novel too. The story is that of an...
“FRIDAY RE-VERSO” “Don’t let anyone convince you that no one is interested in ideas.” Have you ever seen “Three on the Run”? It’s a 1989 film starring Nick Nolte and Martin Short. Not many people have seen it, but we kept thinking about it while reading. In the film, an absurd trio consisting of a former bank robber just out of prison, a shabby thief who chooses him as a hostage, and his very quiet little...
“FRIDAY RE-VERSO” ““What are your requests?” – “We want to see the sun.”” There are so many things we would like to say – it is so difficult to allow ourselves to talk about such great, so unjustified suffering. However we try, because that’s what we can do. “Mulberry Leaves” comes out in 2020. We are in 2024. We would like to say that the situation has worsened but reading these pages we immediately...
“I have never understood happiness. The idea seemed obscene.” A symphony orchestra, perfectly in time, interpreting a score written just for it. Here is the relationship that binds the protagonists of this book. The author is instead the director, who explains to the reader his own setting of the story, dictating the times of the individual lines. The center of the story is Harmony, a small town in the southern United States, similar to many...
The books chosen by Andrea Salonia This review is available only in the original language _________________________________________________________________________ Apro a caso, pagina 174: “…una cosa che ha imparato è che innamorarsi disperatamente, perdutamente è in realtà un processo molto selettivo…” L’avevo acquistato appena comparso nel radar degli occhi, circa un anno addietro; un poco per quella sua copertina molto Iris Apfel, occhiali grandi tondi e arancioni, capello corto, maglione a collo alto; un poco per quel titolo...
The books chosen by Andrea Salonia This review is available only in the original language _________________________________________________________________________ Di questo Storia del figlio in un’estate tanto afosa quanto insopportabile ricorderò soprattutto la freschezza delle parole. I giochi di sostantivi, verbi, aggettivi, articoli, pronomi, e tutte armoniosamente insieme, capaci di rappresentare sensazioni plastiche e vive, che si fan poi emozioni. Disegni acquarellati, oppure geometrici, come nel miglior Broadway Boogie Woogie di quel Piet Mondrian che disponeva solamente i...
Written by Alessia Colombo This review is available only in the original language. Tipologia: albo illustrato Tematiche principali: rivisitazione fiabe, ironia, uso del bagno Tecnica delle illustrazioni: digitale Età consigliata: 2-6 anni Accipicchia! Devo fare la pipì... dice correndo Cappuccetto Rosso. Per fortuna dentro un albero, in mezzo al bosco, c’è un bagno. Toc, Toc ,Toc Occupato! Rispondono da dentro. Ecco che arrivano pure due porcellini e un uccellino, anche a loro scappa tanto la...
The books chosen by Andrea Salonia This review is available only in the original language _________________________________________________________________________ Anche qui: perché? Perché ho cominciato a leggerlo, perché Le meraviglie – queste, in particolare, e non altre, fatte di altre parole, di altre storie, di altre suggestioni, di altro… Questo Le meraviglie, edizioni Einaudi, di Elena Medel, poetessa e scrittrice spagnola che non conoscevo, è un romanzo corale, un romanzo di formazione, un romanzo difficile. La traduzione in italiano è...
