Iain Pears
L' uomo caduto dal tetto del mondo

I would recommend this book to readers who sometimes find themselves in need of nothing but a good story, to those who occasionally need to indulge in their own laziness and rely entirely on the author to provide pleasant moments without having to engage too much mental effort.

Two quick notes about the story before I forget:

We are in London, 1909. John Stone, a steadfast London industrialist, disgustingly rich and powerful, dies by falling out of the window of his own home. The possibility of suicide seems unlikely given the character's nature, yet it remains the only plausible explanation for the occurrence. In his will, the man decreed that his entire fortune should go to a son whose existence was unknown to everyone, even his young wife. The woman, particularly beautiful and enchanting, therefore hires a young journalist to search for this alleged son.

The author once again employs the successful formula used more than ten years earlier to create his most famous novel, "La Quarta Verità". The central idea that makes the proposal interesting is that of a historical mystery, in which the main plot is narrated from different perspectives. The novel consists of first-person accounts from some of the key characters involved in the main plot (in this case three, in the previously mentioned novel there were four). It is not a detective story of sorts; there are no detectives or brilliant investigators. I said it's a mystery simply because there is a mystery to unravel. All the accounts seem to reach a resolution, but only in the last one is there true clarity on the matter.

Since the accounts are in first person, the author uses what must have been the writing style of people living in the historical period in which the novel is set, and I would say he does his job well. The style is roughly that of a 19th-century novel. Two broad strokes at the risk of blasphemy, just to give an idea: take Dickens' writing, remove the English humor, the nonsense, and some other tasty ingredients that go beyond the mere description of events, and you will have what awaits you in this book when it comes to the writing style. The book is long, and sometimes the pace slows down, but generally, it goes down quite smoothly until the end.

 "La Quarta Verità" is generally considered Iain Pears' most beautiful novel. Personally, I couldn't say which is more beautiful between that one and this "The Man Who Fell from the Top of the World." In both cases, the ideas I've mentioned are utilized with equal skill. I believe the judgment largely depends on the reading sequence. I happened to read this one first, and at that time, I knew nothing about the author and his intentions, so the element of surprise contributed to making the reading experience more exciting compared to "La Quarta Verità," where I already expected some things. It seems to me that the quality level is roughly the same. One specific quality for each book: "La Quarta Verità" has the peculiarity of being a Victorian tale, and I am crazy about Victorian tales, and the character development is probably better. In "The Man Who Fell from the Top of the World," the mystery is only revealed in the last two pages (the book is about 800 pages long), with a mind-blowing finale. Right after finishing it, I thought back to the beginning of the book, and my jaw dropped. One of the best endings I've ever come across.