Giorgio Bassani was a writer whose work delved into the complexities of memory, identity, and the search for truth. His narratives, often set against the backdrop of Ferrara, explore the experiences of the Italian Jewish community, particularly under the shadow of Fascism. Bassani's distinctive style captures the nuances of human consciousness and the challenges of navigating moral landscapes. Through his prose, he offers a profound examination of marginalization and the search for belonging.
Set in the evocative backdrop of Ferrara, Giorgio Bassani's work intertwines the essence of his hometown with profound literary themes. This collection features six of his classics, meticulously revised by Bassani himself, showcasing his mastery of narrative and character. The stories reflect the intricate relationship between place and identity, making Ferrara a vital character in its own right. This anthology serves as a significant contribution to twentieth-century literature, highlighting Bassani's unique voice and perspective.
Un Bassani inedito, questo: un trattamento per il cinema, che è un racconto lungo; una insospettata «storia milanese», che dialoga con le Cinque storie ferraresi del 1956, e fra esse si incunea come «esperimento» morale e civile su e con Manzoni. Scrisse Anna Banti che, nel 1955, rilesse I Promessi Sposi insieme a Bassani: «la quasi fatale incongruenza delle leggi annonarie nei tempi di crisi, quel lazzaretto (oggi si direbbe "campo di concentramento") dove i fortuiti mendicanti eran raccolti e poi rinchiusi a forza; infine il talento distruttivo dei lanzichenecchi nei poveri paesi lombardi, trovano nei nostri recentissimi ricordi di guerra e di miseria collettiva dei riscontri e delle conferme sorprendenti [...] Come sta, dunque, che quando leggiamo dei bruciamenti, delle distruzioni, del luridume, soprattutto dell'orrendo fetore lasciato dalle soldatesche nelle case dei paesetti lombardi ci par di riconoscere le descrizioni di un ipotetico e sublime "inviato speciale" dei nostri giorni? Il fatto è che il genio meditativo e rappresentativo del Manzoni, nutrito dei documenti più disparati e in fondo, meno precisati, ha letto come nel più esatto dei referti quel che potessero lasciarsi dietro le spalle tanto i lontani lanzichenecchi come i loro tardi successori: cenere, sangue, lordura, riuniti in uno spettacolo che, purtroppo, non cambierà mai».
Hlavním tématem Bassaniho příběhů není holocaust, i když je vlastně v pozadí každého z nich, ale dehumanizace lidského společenství v konfliktu s totalitním systémem. Základní situací jeho vyprávění je zdánlivě spořádaný život maloměsta, z něhož válka strhne idylickou starosvětskou masku a odhalí zoufalou situaci lidí zavržených, osamocených a zranitelných.
V povídkách tohoto výboru sledujeme, jak se autor snaží proniknout do mentality všech zúčastněných a vypátrat, co se vlastně stalo: jak je možné, že se líbezné městečko proměnilo v místo obestřené strachem a poznamenané zločinem, a proč se valná většina jeho mírumilovných obyvatel proměnila v netečný dav trpně přihlížející tomu, jak jsou jejich spoluobčané hnáni na porážku.
Výbor obsahuje dosud česky nevydaná autorova díla, kromě nového překladu Dlouhé prosincové noci v 43., která poprvé česky vyšla v souboru Pět italských novel (1967).
'It was useless to think I'd ever be able to throw open the door behind which I was yet again hiding ... Not now. Not ever.' School is a place of unspoken hierarchies and rivalries for a young teenage boy growing up in the provincial town of Ferrara. But as the everyday classroom and playground dramas are played out, they begin to reflect the disturbing undertones of 1930s Italy, and the narrator realizes that being Jewish means he will always be excluded. The fourth book in Bassani's Romanzo di Ferrara cycle, Behind the Door is a luminous portrayal of childhood friendship and the loss of innocence. A new translation by Jamie McKendrick 'Giorgio Bassani is one of the great witnesses of this century, and one of its great artists' Guardian 'Powerful new translations . . . Bassani began as a poet, and McKendrick's redelivery of this taut uncompromising fiction reveals resonance and generosity' Ali Smith
'Exquisite. . . a classic tour de force' The New York Times 'It struggled to keep itself aloft, to gain height. But then it suddenly gave up, and dropped as though it were breaking into many pieces' Early on a cold Sunday morning, forty-five-year-old Edgardo Limentani gets up to join a shooting party in the countryside surrounding the town of Ferrara. As the day passes, he contemplates his past, his disappointments and how he has got here. Like the birds he shoots, he realizes, he is trapped, broken, waiting alone for the final coup de grâce. Then he sees a way out. The fifth book in Bassani's Novel of Ferrara sequence, and his final novel, The Heron is a taut, poignant portrait of a middle-aged man's reckoning with his life.
Svet autorovej mladosti tvorí predvojnová Ferrara a jej židovská obec so svojimi tradíciami a zvykmi, z ktorých sa svojou aristokratickou izolovanosťou vymyká rodina Finzi-Continiovcov. Obsah románu netvorí sága tejto rodiny, ale skôr intenzívny, veľmi premenlivý a nie celkom vyjasnený vzťah hrdinu románu k mladým členom rodiny.
