tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2609668304633418767.post7256144608784512876..comments2023-12-24T17:41:42.989-08:00Comments on seraillon: "A survivor of myself" - Luce d'Eramo's Deviationseraillonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17654593356535433945noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2609668304633418767.post-86057497028980227022019-02-14T11:56:19.304-08:002019-02-14T11:56:19.304-08:00I stumbled on the film while hunting down informat...I stumbled on the film while hunting down information on d'Eramo's relations with other prominent Italian writers - and unfortunately I don't yet have anything new enlightenment on that subject. <br /><br />Just to be clear, by "ugly" I did not mean to make an aesthetic judgment on the quality of d'Eramo's writing, which at times is impressive, but rather to denote the messiness of the recursive, exhausting attempts to get at "repressed" memories, which really did remind me of this long case study of psychoanalysis. <br /><br />I'll give some thought to what we might try next!seraillonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17654593356535433945noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2609668304633418767.post-88293139996533465272019-02-13T20:04:31.760-08:002019-02-13T20:04:31.760-08:00Woah! That film looks fascinating! How'd you c...Woah! That film looks fascinating! How'd you come across it? The psychoanalysis comparison is a good one; even better is your description: an "ugly narrative with no clean edges and too many questions at the end of it." <br />I'm pretty surprised to hear D'Eramo was friends with the writers you name (all anti-Fascists, correct?). SHM, as the kids say.<br />Well, feel free to suggest a title to read together at any time.Dorian Stuberhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10502464360299604387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2609668304633418767.post-22016113531780064622019-02-04T15:56:05.306-08:002019-02-04T15:56:05.306-08:00Dorian, I've always greatly appreciated the ch...Dorian, I've always greatly appreciated the chance to read a book together with you, and <i>Deviation</i> was no exception. And I also appreciated the challenge of it. I'm still not settled on the book, which seems deliberately <i>unsettling</i>. What it has most called to mind, the more I think about it, is a 400-page transcript of a course of psychoanalysis I once read for a psychology class: a kind of ugly narrative with no clean edges and too many questions at the end of it all. From what I've been able to gather, d'Eramo became highly regarded among her literary cohort in Italy, including becoming close friends with Ignazio Silone, Alberto Moravia and Elena Morante, among others. The book feels so hermetically sealed, so intimately concentrated on d'Eramo's <i>internal</i> reconciliation, that it's difficult to know what the external one might have looked like. I haven't yet run across any explicit testimonials about the book from these authors (but a few raves from others that don't really answer any questions), though I plan to keep looking.<br /><br />By the way, there's a film:<br /><br />https://www.german-films.de/film-archive/browse-archive/view/detail/film/luce-wanda-yelena-it-wasnt-their-war/index.htmlseraillonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17654593356535433945noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2609668304633418767.post-41880618201115740632019-01-30T20:27:52.777-08:002019-01-30T20:27:52.777-08:00Again, thanks for agreeing to read with me this di...Again, thanks for agreeing to read with me this difficult and disagreeable (deviant, as you say, but not in an enlivening or enlarging sense). As my post makes clear, I'm also glad to be done with it.<br />Certainly her caginess (to put it kindly) about her fascist past (which I am unconvinced she ever abandons) is unusual, unless of course it really isn't a case of "youthful indiscretion." I was frustrated that Appel, in her introduction, doesn't say more about the book's reception and D'Eramo's place in post-war Italy's literary scene.<br />I think we agree that the book's details are the best thing about it. I was glad that we cited some of the same ones, but at the same time pleased that we referenced different ones. Between our two responses, I think readers get a strong, clear sense of the book.<br />Of course, as you say, D'Eramo makes us so suspicious/untrustworthy that I'm not sure what the exact value of those details is. We could, in other words, say that the book offers a window into an unexplored aspect of Nazi Germany; but veracity doesn't seem to be in D'Eramo's nature--or interest.Dorian Stuberhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10502464360299604387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2609668304633418767.post-1095450109301775412019-01-30T12:54:05.518-08:002019-01-30T12:54:05.518-08:00Hmm. I don't know. I'm not sure what the g...Hmm. I don't know. I'm not sure what the goal of inducing a feeling of mental exhaustion would accomplish. The book is quite intentionally "literary," and not simply confessional as some books on the subject can be. But it's this section of the book I actually found least appealing, as it's presented as such a tortured effort to get at repressed memory, when it actually comes across as more like an extremely labored manner of admitting to having been a young Fascist. And I found that confusing, given the many Italian writers who freely admitted their regrets at having been supporters of Fascism. <br /><br />But again, I'm really grasping here (and would love to have someone come help fill in the many blanks), because d'Eramo seems to close the door on her story at the end. What became of her epiphany afterwards? That's something I need to do the work to find out, and rather wish I had done before writing about the book. One thing neither Dorian nor I touched upon is the Dantesque quality of <i>Deviation</i>. When Dante emerges from his tour of hell, he has two more books to go. seraillonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17654593356535433945noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2609668304633418767.post-6699967575771403582019-01-30T02:14:26.252-08:002019-01-30T02:14:26.252-08:00Scott, this is a provocative book you've got. ...Scott, this is a provocative book you've got. I'm drawn to the way you describe the last section of the book. Could it be that D'Eramo intentionally wanted to induce a feeling of mental exhaustion when grappling with such heavy topic. Probably the kind of self-reflexive, modernist treatment of memory and evil that made the whole text somehow appealing, beyond the story of the author's transformation from Holocaust denier to activist.Risehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17446964640160585194noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2609668304633418767.post-85731181573400612092019-01-29T16:36:27.592-08:002019-01-29T16:36:27.592-08:00Funny you mention the escapees - once I got to d&#...Funny you mention the escapees - once I got to d'Eramo's complaint that no one had yet written about that subject, I wanted to read <i>that</i> book, and not the one I was reading!seraillonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17654593356535433945noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2609668304633418767.post-62447442864147186292019-01-29T16:32:22.767-08:002019-01-29T16:32:22.767-08:00I had no idea about the son's essays. What are...I had no idea about the son's essays. What are they about? <br /><br />I found <i>Deviation</i> rather more off-putting than fascinating - indeed, I found it really rough-going during the final part dealing with recovery of supposedly repressed memory - but d'Eramo is a certainly a person I won't easily forget. seraillonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17654593356535433945noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2609668304633418767.post-22174506907124423172019-01-29T14:27:54.463-08:002019-01-29T14:27:54.463-08:00Welcome back!
Great review. As you emphasize, ma...Welcome back! <br /><br />Great review. As you emphasize, many things about this book seem unique and different. <br /><br />I share your interest in the escapees that you mention. I had no idea that so many existed. I will try to delve into a bit of thier history is I can. <br /><br />It is kind of interesting Thad it took so long for this to get translated. Brian Josephhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15139559400312336791noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2609668304633418767.post-62189455177692379432019-01-29T13:47:48.582-08:002019-01-29T13:47:48.582-08:00I second Jacqui's comment - good to see you ba...I second Jacqui's comment - good to see you back. This does sound like a fascinating book, despite its difficulties. I've read quite a few Holocaust memoirs, but never by a former fascist who then ends up imprisoned in Dachau. I've been reading a few essays recently by her son, Marco D'Eramo, but I had no idea his mother had such a fascinating story. Not sure if I'll tackle this one, but it was great to read your take on it.Andrew Blackmanhttps://andrewblackman.netnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2609668304633418767.post-65413398634432477572019-01-29T11:36:00.611-08:002019-01-29T11:36:00.611-08:00Thank you Jacqui, and yes, by all means, everyone ...Thank you Jacqui, and yes, by all means, <i>everyone</i> should get up to speed with Dorian's response to this book. As he notes, the book's chief strength is in the details. But phew, yes, I'm glad to be finished with it. Perhaps as further evidence of the book's unpleasantness, I've returned to reading Uwe Johnson's <i>Anniversaries</i>, hardly "something suitably escapist" as it's another novel concerning Nazism, but I cannot <i>wait</i> to get back into it each morning and evening on my commute.seraillonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17654593356535433945noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2609668304633418767.post-20343639097616331992019-01-29T07:10:46.233-08:002019-01-29T07:10:46.233-08:00Hello! It's lovely to see you back in blogosph...Hello! It's lovely to see you back in blogosphere and posting about your reading. I only wish it were a piece about a less troubling book! (I read Dorian's post about it this morning, so I'm already up to speed with his response.) Anyway, it sounds emotionally exhausting and draining; I hope you've got something suitably escapist lined up as a follow-on read. Maybe a Ross Macdonald or a Camilleri or two. <br /><br />By the way, I wasn't aware of all the subtleties between the different types of camps either. I knew there were some differences, but not all the variations the author mentioned in that passage above. It all makes for very chilling reading. JacquiWinehttps://jacquiwine.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.com