I margini e il dettato

In an article written by Jhumpa Lahiri about Calvino (which a coincidentally I read just as I was writing this review) she quotes him as saying that Italian writers "always have a problem with their own language (and they live) in a state of linguistic neurosis". That is certainly true of Ferrante a Leggi tutto

I believe that the sense I have of writing — and all the struggles it involves — has to do with the satisfaction of staying beautifully within the margins and, at the same time, with the impression of loss, of waste, because of that success. In an opening Editor’s Note, it is explained that Elena Leggi tutto

Sometimes I wonder if working—whether as an academic, or even as a literary critic—on Ferrante might be both a blessing and a curse? On the one hand, what a treasure trove of literary, historical, philosophical, and feminist references we find in her essays. It makes reading her and analyzing her wo Leggi tutto

Elena Ferrante could write a long-form essay about making toast for breakfast, and I would want to read it. Just a heads up, though: even though the essays in In The Margins were ostensibly written for a generalist audience, Ferrante’s language, expression, and references still feel quite advanced a Leggi tutto

Interesting, fascinating and informative. The language is to die for, I so wish I knew Italian well enough to be able to read Ferrante in the original.