Memory, History and the Literary Conscience

Radio3 Roma put together a fantastic line-up of authors and round tables in their "Libri come. Festa del libro" - The NYC Edition, this month. The program included readings from Jonathan Galassi's very excellent translation of Leopardi's "Canti" and a conversation between Benedetta Tobagi and Stefan Merrill Block about their books, "Come mi batte forte il tuo cuore. Storia di mio padre" and "The Story of Forgetting", respectively. Both writers explore the idea of memory, albeit from very different perspectives, as if they were pushing forward, probing a dark continent, looking for the edges and borders, discovery and meaning.

Benedetta's memoir, is as the title suggests, a story about her father - but the memories, or lack there of, are hers and the voice is very much that of a daughter struggling to chart her own course. Similarly, Stefan has written a "story", a fictional account of Alzheimer's disease, but the cluster of imaginary characters and situations which range from scientific and sociological to fantastical - give voice to the inspired enquête of a young man in search of third way. Clearly marked by his grandmother's illness, he is also candid about the possible corruption of his own DNA.

Here is a link to my article: http://www.i-italy.org/15990/memory-history-and-literary-conscience

The Secrect Life of Gabriele D'Annunzio

Speaking of 19th Century buildings and villas - here is my article on the Gabriele D'Annunzio exhibit at NYU's Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò : http://www.i-italy.org/node/15747. The show will be on view through December 15th.