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Chargement... Lives of the Saints (original 1990; édition 1990)par Nino Ricci
Information sur l'oeuvreLives of the Saints par Nino Ricci (Author) (1990)
Chargement...
Inscrivez-vous à LibraryThing pour découvrir si vous aimerez ce livre Actuellement, il n'y a pas de discussions au sujet de ce livre. Lives of the Saints is the first book in a triology. I read the last book first, and I think that knowing the fate of Cristina and her son, Vittorio, really strengthened my enjoyment of this quiet novel set largely in rural Italy. Seven-year-old Vittorio's mother, Cristina, is pregnant. Since his father has been away in Canada for several years, the child is obviously the product of an adulterous relationship and this causes many of the villagers to shun and scorn Cristina and her family (Vittorio and his grandfather). Nino Ricci is a wonderful writer who can pack a lot of meaning and description into deceptively simple language. His characters' emotions are vivid and real. I look forward to completing this trilogy with the second book. Originally released in 1990, Lives of the Saints is Canadian author Nino Ricci’s first novel in the Vittorio Innocente trilogy and is published in over a dozen countries (it is published as The Book of Saints in the U.S.). Ricci successfully evokes typical childhood growing pains, adding a layer of angst in a story rife with secrets and subtle streams of anger. Vittorio Innocente’s father left their rural town in the Italian Apennines for Canada when Vittorio was barely three years old, leaving the child and his mother, Cristina, to care for a crippled grandfather and a meager farm. Vittorio, now almost seven, faces confusion and moral ambiguity as rumors surrounding his mother circulate among the townspeople. We are introduced to the forces of good and evil that weave through Valle del Sole when Cristina is bitten by a snake, considered at once a symbol of good and an agent of the evil eye. The saying in the village went, ‘Do’l’orgoglio sta, la serpe se neva’—where pride is the snake goes. We are then led through Vittorio’s coming of age in an adult world filled with scandal, mystery, and hypocrisy. Nino Ricci’s powerful prose sweeps the reader into his unsentimental tale of isolation, shame, rebellion, and innocence lost.
Der Roman, Riccis Erstling, der, wie schon oben erwähnt, im Laufe der 90-er Jahre durch zwei weitere Bände über das Leben Vittorio Innocentes in Kanada und Afrika ergänzt wurde, ist im englischen Original flüssig und sehr lesbar geschrieben. Das gleiche kann man von Dirk van Gunsterens Übersetzung sagen, wenn der reißerische deutsche Titel auch der Komplexität des Werks nicht ganz gerecht wird: Ein wichtiger Beitrag zur kanadischen Literatur, dem man auch in der deutschen Übersetzung noch viele weitere Leser wünscht. Appartient à la sériePrix et récompensesListes notables
Spanning twenty years and two continents, Nino Ricci's award-winning trilogy is now an intimate epic of a young boy's journey into adulthood following the death of his free-spirited mother-and the family secrets she defiantly took to her grave. Aucune description trouvée dans une bibliothèque |
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There is so much symbolic about the scene – a woman in the throes of passion, bitten by snake, on the ankle. It is all very biblical, check Genesis. The event begins to peel away Vittorio’s innocence. Everyone can point to some kind of similar event in their youth that quickened the hormonal advances. For Vittorio, the quickening begins at a time when he is just noticing his mother’s worldly beauty and sensuous nature. He loves her, as any boy does his mother, but he is also quite smitten with her, a feeling that Christina fosters in her open and provocative sexuality.
Vittorio, though, learns a great deal about the world from people other than his mother. When she begins to show evidence of her stable tryst, the tight knit village turns on her and her family, showing their true colors as superstitious, vindictive, and judgmental people. He also learns from his teacher at school, who tries to shield and support him from his classmates’ ridicule. And from those classmates, he begins to see what true friendship and loyalty looks like.
The book is about transformation; Vittorio’s transformation from innocence to worldly, Christina’s transformation from idle bitterness to bold action, and the town’s resistance to alter its close-minded, superstitious behavior.
Ricci continued the story with two other books, [In a Glass House] and [Where has She Gone], winning several well-deserved awards for this debut. Ricci is a smart, intuitive writer, able to wiggle into the skin of all of his characters and give the reader a glimpse at the internal lives of a diverse cast.
Bottom Line: A sensuous and very smart coming of age book.
4 bones!!!!! ( )