tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2609668304633418767.post2522406098417725461..comments2023-12-24T17:41:42.989-08:00Comments on seraillon: Alberto Moravia: Contemptseraillonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17654593356535433945noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2609668304633418767.post-32397029624592861782015-06-28T08:00:44.206-07:002015-06-28T08:00:44.206-07:00I'm glad to hear you're improving. I'm...I'm glad to hear you're improving. I'm be curious to read your take on the film version of <i>Contempt</i>. It's interesting/amusing to see how Godard chooses to interpret the filming of <i>The Odyssey</i>. seraillonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17654593356535433945noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2609668304633418767.post-16135298690074179192015-06-27T17:24:11.513-07:002015-06-27T17:24:11.513-07:00Thanks for your well wishes, every day is better. ...Thanks for your well wishes, every day is better. And since I won't be in Capri any time soon, I think I ought to at least see the film of Contempt. You have mentioned it several times, each one only strengthening my desire to see it.Bellezza https://www.blogger.com/profile/18073864187188953633noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2609668304633418767.post-47764968432530105802015-06-27T16:54:08.754-07:002015-06-27T16:54:08.754-07:00Bellezza - Thanks for commenting, and I'm very...Bellezza - Thanks for commenting, and I'm very sorry to hear about the surgery. I hope you have lots of attentive support (and a pile of books to help you through).<br /><br />Yes, I think that one word really gives away Molteni's whole game right from the start. He's in love with a fantasy. His pursuit of a cold, stable perfection - rather the opposite of embracing conflict and tumult and the normal anxiety that comes with living - continues through right to the last page. <br /><br />I don't think I have time to get to <i>Boredom</i>, at least not this time around. But I too wouldn't mind returning to Capri. I had only about four hours there - just enough time to hunt down and find Malaparte's house, rather a personal obsession - and the real star of Jean-Luc Godard's film adaptation of <i>Contempt</i>. <br /><br />Hope you are better soon.seraillonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17654593356535433945noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2609668304633418767.post-49915532568742824662015-06-27T12:37:05.114-07:002015-06-27T12:37:05.114-07:00How fascinating that you took the one word, "...How fascinating that you took the one word, "perfect", from the first sentence and extrapolated that on how unreliable Molteni was as our narrator. It is wonderful to me that one word can indicate so much if the reader is careful, and perceptive, as you are.<br /><br />Later on you say, "he lacks courage to pursue his own art" which is true enough. And for me, he lacks courage to pursue much of anything. When he does come to his senses enough to pursue his wife, it is too little too late. I think we talked about his timidity before, which to me is one of his ultimate downfalls. Others point to his egotistical nature, but that wasn't as severe to me as his lack of courage.<br /><br />I'm looking forward to reading more of Moravia with <i>Boredom</i> this July (what, in a day or two?). And, your photo of Capri makes me long to return...<br /><br />(Sorry that it took me so long to respond; I've been so ill with this recent surgery.)<br />Bellezza https://www.blogger.com/profile/18073864187188953633noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2609668304633418767.post-49604916230781173512015-06-18T13:47:31.249-07:002015-06-18T13:47:31.249-07:00Thanks very much, Frances - and thanks too for co-...Thanks very much, Frances - and thanks too for co-hosting this group read. I can understand the lack of sympathy you have for Riccardo in the hallucination scenes. I just think the grotto scene is the one moment in which one is allowed to feel the tragedy of his self-deception. But of course he becomes unsympathetic again at the end by seeking out the blue "purity" of sky and sea in which to "fix" his image of Emelia. <br /><br />I don't know if I'll join for <i>Boredom</i>, but will certainly be reading the responses to it. seraillonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17654593356535433945noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2609668304633418767.post-2335074077160136012015-06-17T11:31:45.992-07:002015-06-17T11:31:45.992-07:00Tremendous indeed! That you manage sympathy for ou...Tremendous indeed! That you manage sympathy for our unreliable narrator even after casting such an observant eye over his self-deceptions was a lovely touch. You are a generous reader. The hallucination scenes were among my favorite in the book, but they actually lessened my sympathy for the protagonist as I felt that it took some unexplainable outside force for him to see his circumstances with any objectivity. Hope you are joining us for Boredom?Franceshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12597485569740436880noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2609668304633418767.post-64949823694912787552015-06-16T10:23:54.609-07:002015-06-16T10:23:54.609-07:00Thanks, Séamus. I'm starting to get the sense ...Thanks, Séamus. I'm starting to get the sense that Moravia's novels of disaffection may work together, since those like you who've read another of them keep mentioning parallels (as if the titles themselves don't suggest them!). I may read <i>Boredom</i>, since that appears to be the next Moravia group read, but I'd better get started...seraillonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17654593356535433945noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2609668304633418767.post-18334471980098865182015-06-15T14:31:34.236-07:002015-06-15T14:31:34.236-07:00Great review Scott. I picked The Conformist as it ...Great review Scott. I picked The Conformist as it was on my shelves but Contempt certainly sounds like a must read, at some stage. The parallels with The Conformist seem quite strong, particularly the marriage to a woman from a lower class and the husband's loyalty to ideas of what should be rather than any connection to his own desires. Séamus Dugganhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00574186409184247059noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2609668304633418767.post-31906791393389330192015-06-12T07:07:47.734-07:002015-06-12T07:07:47.734-07:00Brian, this is definitely a book to add to your Od...Brian, this is definitely a book to add to your <i>Odyssey</i> themed year. Actually, i think one could start an <i>Odyssey</i>-related reading group that could go on for <i>many</i> years. I'm starting a re-read of the Fitzgerald translation - planned before I read <i>Contempt</i>, but the latter has suggested some some particular passages to which to pay special attention. I'm curious about that Atwood book.seraillonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17654593356535433945noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2609668304633418767.post-44668047387725548452015-06-12T02:09:42.870-07:002015-06-12T02:09:42.870-07:00It may not be comfort reading but it does sound in...It may not be comfort reading but it does sound interesting. <br /><br />Using issues that occur inside a marriage for an allegory reflecting the outer world seems to be literary device seems appealing and effective.<br /><br />The Odyssey connection is especially interesting to me and seems to be something a theme for me this year, having just made it through Ulysses as well as a rereading of the Odyssey itself, I am currently reading Margaret Atwood's The Penelepiad.Brian Josephhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15139559400312336791noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2609668304633418767.post-84710741718754910142015-06-11T15:20:34.929-07:002015-06-11T15:20:34.929-07:00It's always good to have some contrary views, ...It's always good to have some contrary views, and I've much enjoying seeing the ones about <i>this</i> book. I can well understand Richard's distaste, though; despite the comedy and the expert writing, I'm not sure Moravia will ever be a favorite author for me. I <i>like</i> my illusions.seraillonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17654593356535433945noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2609668304633418767.post-12255177689357791362015-06-10T16:07:09.316-07:002015-06-10T16:07:09.316-07:00Ah, your review makes the novel more appetizing th...Ah, your review makes the novel more appetizing than Richard's lovely flailing. Such contrary views are always interesting.LMRhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08538873868140070018noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2609668304633418767.post-19797289955717396882015-06-10T13:35:03.254-07:002015-06-10T13:35:03.254-07:00Thanks Richard, both for the kind words and for se...Thanks Richard, both for the kind words and for setting this group read in motion! I think on a second read you may find the comedy hard to miss, but it's true that it's so well blended with a kind of atrociousness that one can easy focus on the latter. Being able to see ways in which Moravia uses setting to evoke elements of <i>The Odyssey</i> was certainly helped by a quick visit to Capri last year; for example, when I read that Battista's villa overlooked the Faraglioni rocks, I recalled reading that, at least locally, they're believed to be the sirens' home. It's interesting how Riccardo's narrative itself, in these hallucinatory scenes, somehow manages to do what he himself can't - to convey the poetry of a "modern" <i>Odyssey</i> with neither the spectacle of Battista nor the intellectualism of Rheingold. I may well join you for <i>Boredom</i>!seraillonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17654593356535433945noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2609668304633418767.post-52138500600913178502015-06-10T13:27:00.728-07:002015-06-10T13:27:00.728-07:00Thanks very much, Jacqui. I found writing about th...Thanks very much, Jacqui. I found writing about this novel difficult but increasingly rewarding the more I delved into it. And yes, by all means, since you liked <i>Agostino</i> so much, I think you'll appreciate <i>Contempt</i>.<br /><br />I can't say much about how much <i>Contempt</i> reflects on the state of 1950's Italy - or rather how it reflects on Italy as opposed to the more general rise of materialism and consumerism in post-war Western life. There's certainly a universality to Moravia's ideas, but I'm always curious to know, in translated literature, how certain elements may have particular resonances in their country of origin. I already knew about Mussolini's aim in creating the great Italian film studio Cinecittà, and so when I read Battista's idea for <i>The Odyssey</i> it seemed an obvious allusion. But I'm sure there are many more things like that I did not get.<br /><br />And thanks for the nudge to get me to finish writing this up! seraillonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17654593356535433945noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2609668304633418767.post-4780568360135528332015-06-10T12:02:55.162-07:002015-06-10T12:02:55.162-07:00I second what Jacqui says about the "tremendo...I second what Jacqui says about the "tremendous review," Scott! I think you might have finally persuaded me about the extent of the black humor I'd overlooked with the reference to Battista's recommendations for <em>Ulysses</em> and, more provocatively, that sex scene on the apartment floor that Molteni described so appalingly. Also, I like how you characterized the grotto scenes near the end as the equivalent of "an underworld setting right out of <em>The Odyssey</em>." How true! How ironic! In short, this post was very much worth the wait--thank you!Richardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01746599416342846897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2609668304633418767.post-77310087671574738112015-06-10T01:41:09.463-07:002015-06-10T01:41:09.463-07:00Tremendous review, Scott. Well, I'm going to h...Tremendous review, Scott. Well, I'm going to have to read Contempt, no two ways about it. Interesting you should mention how this novel has something to say about the alienated, disaffected state of post-war Italy. I've been following with interest the various of reviews of Contempt and the novel does seem to reflect a kind of stasis...it must have been a difficult period for the inhabitants of Italy. The different visions of how The Odyssey might be filmed are interesting too - I wonder if they reflect (or at least hint at) some of the possible future directions for the country itself? <br /><br />Anyway, your review (alongside the others I've seen so far) certainly pushes Contempt up the pecking order. I'm still trying to keep a lid on the book buying, but this is high on the list. It sounds deeper and more intense than Agostino...very intriguing. JacquiWinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16220597283351925721noreply@blogger.com