They say that at the point of death, every man reviews his entire life in a flash.
But who knows, perhaps in that fraction of a second we will be granted another opportunity, a second chance: the life that will unfold before our eyes will be the one we did not know, want, or could have had.
From this narrative idea begins a melancholic fairy tale that manages to become a great love story, and at the same time a "metaphysical thriller" (quote Einaudi). more
The great charge of eleven unrestrained, intemperate, splatter-format knights of the Apocalypse in the aisles full of every good thing of supermarket Italia.
Amid everyday atrocities, fierce adolescence, and blood melancholies. (cit. Einaudi) more
The story is set in the scorching summer of 1978 in the countryside of an unidentified region in Southern Italy, yet evoked with rare descriptive power. In this landscape dominated by the contrast between the blinding sunlight and the darkness of night, Ammaniti skillfully alternates between comedy, the world of childhood relationships, the language and the quirky wisdom of children, their tenacity, the strength of friendship, and the drama of betrayal. And at the same time, he outlines an unforgettable array of adults. (cit. Einaudi) more
Like a tightrope walker facing the greatest challenge, Martin Amis stretches the rope between experience and memory and begins his walk into the void. His movements narrate the story of a life. "Why should I tell the story of my life? I know what it takes to make a good tale, and life is almost entirely lacking: structure and balance, form, completeness, measure." Yet, between 1994 and 1995, something happened; "big events" transformed the novelist and short story writer into the author of an original, eccentric autobiography. (quoted from Einaudi) more
All nine stories narrate of inverted or science-fictional worlds. It’s the case of the first one, where fabulously wealthy poets fly business class from Europe to Los Angeles, land of powerful poetic majors that shower them with money and put at their service legions of collaborators. Meanwhile, the screenwriters, tipsy and unrecognized, find themselves at night in the city’s underbelly to hold clandestine readings of their works. In a not-so-distant future – hypothesizes another story – the world could be predominantly populated by homosexuals, while heterosexuals, prideful to the point of arrogance, would increasingly choose to come out. In short, turned upside down worlds... (cit. Einaudi) more
Mary remembers nothing anymore.
She doesn’t even remember her own name, which almost certainly isn’t Mary.
But she doesn’t recall more trivial things, things like clouds, and she thinks they are fat creatures with a dreamy air, in perpetual adoration of the sun.
"When you forget the past, the present becomes unforgettable," and indeed for Mary everything is an enigma and a discovery.
Beyond objects and people, she must relearn emotions and feelings from scratch, especially those that others have towards her for reasons that elude her.
And she discovers that she can hurt people, and attract wickedness, as if in a past life she herself had been perverse and evil. (quoted from Einaudi) more
Jennifer was beautiful, intelligent, and lucky.
And she killed herself.
Why?
The most difficult case for detective Mike Hoolihan.
Detective Mike Hoolihan has a trucker’s bulky physique, bleached blonde hair, and a hoarse voice from too much smoking.
Detective Mike is a woman.
A fat, ugly woman, a former alcoholic.
A childhood friend, Jennifer, shot herself three times with a .22 caliber in the mouth.
Jennifer was stunning, intelligent, professionally accomplished, and romantically happy.
Her father, a big shot in the police, doesn’t believe in suicide and gives Mike a free hand. (cit. Einaudi) more
Richard Tull and Gwyn Barry are friends. They are forty years old, were classmates at Oxford, and both became writers.
But Gwyn is a successful writer, while Richard is a failure.
Yet he had started off better than his friend; he had published a book that was well received by critics and was considered a promise.
Now he survives on reviews and is forced to endure increasingly monumental biographies of lesser poets.
Richard also feeds on hatred: he hates his friend, living in envy of his success.
He seeks not just revenge but wants to elevate revenge to a form of art, humiliating Gwyn on the same ground where he himself was humiliated. (cit. Einaudi) more
"This love story began on the same clear day, with spring sunshine, when the rancher Jesuino Mendonça shot his legitimate wife Sinhzinha Guedes Mendonça dead..." (cit. Gabriella garofano e cannella) more
Life and miracles of Teresa Batista sold at thirteen by her relatives to a vile rapist ogre, avenger of her tyrant, a prostitute able to become a virgin again with each new love, an unmatched sambista, an unyielding vanquisher of the black devil, an indomitable unionist of brothels, a generous catalyst of every uprising against earthly injustice; saint... (quoted from Einaudi) more
“Open is one of the most passionate books against sports ever written by an athlete. It is not just an athlete's memoir, but a truly profound coming-of-age story.”
(cit. New York Times Books Review) more
Several cheerful songs, the only ones I can tolerate (with difficulty) in the post-grunge scene. more
Second solo album by the guitarist who first played with The Modern Lovers, then with the Talking Heads, and finally with The Heads. Here, JH sings and plays the keyboards as well; the third track "Man with a Gun" was featured in the dramatic film "Congiunzione di due lune" ("Two Moon Junction" from 1988, which marked the debut of then thirteen-year-old Milla Jovovich), and in instrumental version in Jonathan Demme's cult road movie "Something Wild" ("Qualcosa di travolgente" starring Melanie Griffith, Jeff Daniels & Ray Liotta). more
A hidden path toward the space more
Pure and crystal clear. "Morning Yearning" gives me chills with every listen. more
It comes from another planet, perhaps from another galaxy. more
I may be biased, but 110 e lode just for composing THE SOUNDTRACK... For everything else, I need to delve deeper. more
Strictly prohibited for those suffering from depression to listen more
After the interlude of Life Among The Ruins, Defeis focuses all his energy on a trilogy between man and divinity, considered by many to be the creative peak of the band. The first part of The Marriage impresses mainly with its compact sound, evident in I Will Come For You, Blood Of The Saints, The Last Supper, but also for the elegance and search for melodies in House Of Dust, Self Crucifixion, and Forever Will I Roam. A Pursino more inspired than ever, and Defeis reaches with his voice emotional and vocal peaks that few will be able to match in the genre. more
More of a character than a singer, I don't know much about him; what little I do know I don't dislike, but it doesn't seem like a masterpiece either....3.. more