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A review by kmardahl
The Garden of the Finzi-Continis by Giorgio Bassani
3.0
A side-note about this particular edition. I read a paperback from Quartet Books that is a reprint from 1978 apparently based on the first English edition from Faber and Faber published in 1965. There is no mention of the translator! According to the Wikipedia page about the book (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Garden_of_the_Finzi-Continis), the translator had to be Isabel Quigley, who is considered, according to her Wikipedia page (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isabel_Quigly), one of the top ten translators of Italian literature in the past 70 years (comment from 1998). I think her name should be mentioned(*) because I read the English version, and it is quite important to have a feeling of how well the translation is done. I cannot compare translations in any way, but it felt like a job well done, if I can put it that way. There are long drawn-out sentences that convey the slow and even lethargic passing of time, which is quite suitable for the warm weather scenes. The way the sentences ramble make it all seem conversational. Perhaps the narrator is telling you this tale from the depths of an armchair, pipe in hand. I ended up looking at a Google map of Ferrara multiple times during the reading of this book because the place and the people seemed so alive despite knowing they were dead. These places were so real.
Yes, I am commenting on the length of sentences because they did make me step back from the actual story now and then, and yet, they were the length they needed to be. They fit the story. The looking back and all that. I "only" liked the book as per the 3-star rating here even though the book is a classic. Toward the end, I felt an irritation at both the narrator and Micol. For some reason, I was reminded of my own change of heart toward the book "Crime and Punishment". There is no real connection between the two books. It's just that when I read it at age 18, I felt sorry for everyone in the book and probably would have given it a 5-star rating. 7 years later, I read it in a book club of women all in their 20s and 30s and we all thought Raskolnikov was an idiot and that we could have committed murder far better than he had. With this book, I was past the "romantic tragedy" (if those are even appropriate words at all) of lives soon to be lost. I was angry that they weren't doing more to fight back. Of course, I was unaware of how fascism had unfolded in Italian and how insidious it crept into society. I know Bassani didn't attempt to write about the bigger picture. This is supposed to be tales from the places he knew from his childhood and his youth. They are indeed beautifully written, but I cannot avoid looking at the terribly tragedy running through it all. It is almost as if the Finzi-Continis in their garden were already living in their tomb while alive.
I can recommended reading this review of the book: https://newrepublic.com/article/99828/griogrio-bassani-garden-finzi-contini
(* - I wrote this on the incorrect version of the book here in Goodreads. My point is that the physical book that I read makes no mention at all of the translator, and that is what I think is a big mistake.)
Yes, I am commenting on the length of sentences because they did make me step back from the actual story now and then, and yet, they were the length they needed to be. They fit the story. The looking back and all that. I "only" liked the book as per the 3-star rating here even though the book is a classic. Toward the end, I felt an irritation at both the narrator and Micol. For some reason, I was reminded of my own change of heart toward the book "Crime and Punishment". There is no real connection between the two books. It's just that when I read it at age 18, I felt sorry for everyone in the book and probably would have given it a 5-star rating. 7 years later, I read it in a book club of women all in their 20s and 30s and we all thought Raskolnikov was an idiot and that we could have committed murder far better than he had. With this book, I was past the "romantic tragedy" (if those are even appropriate words at all) of lives soon to be lost. I was angry that they weren't doing more to fight back. Of course, I was unaware of how fascism had unfolded in Italian and how insidious it crept into society. I know Bassani didn't attempt to write about the bigger picture. This is supposed to be tales from the places he knew from his childhood and his youth. They are indeed beautifully written, but I cannot avoid looking at the terribly tragedy running through it all. It is almost as if the Finzi-Continis in their garden were already living in their tomb while alive.
I can recommended reading this review of the book: https://newrepublic.com/article/99828/griogrio-bassani-garden-finzi-contini
(* - I wrote this on the incorrect version of the book here in Goodreads. My point is that the physical book that I read makes no mention at all of the translator, and that is what I think is a big mistake.)