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丕賲乇兀丞 賲賳 乇賵賲丕
乇賵丕賷丞 卮賴賷乇丞 賱賱丕丿賷亘 丕賱丕賷胤丕賱賷 丕賱亘乇鬲賵 賲賵乇丕賮賷丕 鬲賳丕賵賱 賮賷賴丕 賯囟賷丞 丕賱噩賲丕賱 丕賱丕賳孬賵賷 毓賳丿賲丕 賷丨丕賵賱 丕賱賮乇丿 丕爻鬲睾賱丕賱賴 賱賱賵氐賵賱 丕賱賶 賲乇賰夭 丕噩鬲賲丕毓賷 賲乇賲賵賯 賵賱賰賳 丕賱馗乇賵賮 丕丨賷丕賳丕 鬲毓丕賰爻賴 賮賷 賵丕賯毓 丕噩鬲賲丕毓賷 賲乇賷乇...
丕賱乇賵丕賷丞 亘丿賷毓丞 賵賮賷賴丕 賳賱鬲賲爻 毓亘賯乇賷丞 丕賱丕亘丿丕毓 丕賱鬲丨賱賷賱賷 賱賲賵乇丕賮賷丕
丕賱乇賵丕賷丞 胤亘毓鬲 賲乇丕乇丕 賵鬲丨賵賱鬲 丕賱賶 丕賮賱丕賲 爻賷賳賲丕卅賷丞
丕賱乇賵丕賷丞 亘丿賷毓丞 賵賮賷賴丕 賳賱鬲賲爻 毓亘賯乇賷丞 丕賱丕亘丿丕毓 丕賱鬲丨賱賷賱賷 賱賲賵乇丕賮賷丕
丕賱乇賵丕賷丞 胤亘毓鬲 賲乇丕乇丕 賵鬲丨賵賱鬲 丕賱賶 丕賮賱丕賲 爻賷賳賲丕卅賷丞
141 pages
First published January 1, 1947
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3,567 people want to read
About the author
Alberto Moravia
483听books1,165听followersAlberto Moravia, born Alberto Pincherle, was one of the leading Italian novelists of the twentieth century whose novels explore matters of modern sexuality, social alienation, and existentialism. He was also a journalist, playwright, essayist and film critic.
Moravia was an atheist, his writing was marked by its factual, cold, precise style, often depicting the malaise of the bourgeoisie, underpinned by high social and cultural awareness. Moravia believed that writers must, if they were to represent reality, assume a moral position, a clearly conceived political, social, and philosophical attitude, but also that, ultimately, "A writer survives in spite of his beliefs".
Moravia was an atheist, his writing was marked by its factual, cold, precise style, often depicting the malaise of the bourgeoisie, underpinned by high social and cultural awareness. Moravia believed that writers must, if they were to represent reality, assume a moral position, a clearly conceived political, social, and philosophical attitude, but also that, ultimately, "A writer survives in spite of his beliefs".
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February 8, 2019
This is the first time other than Paris, I have read a book set in the very place I happened to be, after spending a couple of days in Rome. Although it's a wonderful city with some fantastic sights, call me old fashioned, but I would rather have gone back there in the days of Federico Fellini, but for obviously reasons that wasn't possible. Alberto Moravia's passionate 1947 novel is narrated by Adriana, a young woman living with her mother in a small flat in a poor part of town. They both sew to get by, whilst Adriana also models for artists, who think of her as exceedingly beautiful, which, considering the amount of men attracted to her, she clearly is.
Life is simple, and dominated by dreams and aspirations. Adriana spends a lot of her spare time stuck in the cramped bedroom, wondering about the future. Her mother wants nothing more than her daughter to meet a man with a heavy wallet, get married, start a family, and live by higher standards. If only is was that easy?. Well, it sort of is, after the oldest profession gains it's newest member. Adriana, gains experience of men, the good and the bad, is offered money after a sexual encounter, and realises she's onto a winner. Why not just make it official, and class herself as a prostitute. What starts as a squalid street life, soon takes a turns for the better, but Adriana always keeps her feet firmly on the ground.
Three men would enter her love life, the older political figure, Astarita. The criminal, Sonzogno. And the student, Mino, whom she feels captures her heart the most. There is also a side-story involving a murder, which connects the main characters towards the end. Adriana's story is a poignant one, there are lighter moments of humour, but also darker moments of jealousy.
Moravia's simple prose, written at a time when Italy was recovering from war, touches on fascism and how the lower classes struggled to make ends meet. Told in the first person, Adriana's thoughts and feelings play highly throughout the novel, and Moravia isn't afraid to use lengthy time on one moment. Up to fifty pages could cover a small amount of time, this helps create an intimate narrative that works so well for this type of story.
from the outset, Moravia faced a dilemma though. Would a woman of Adriana's uneducated class be able to tell her story in the way it's told. He could either adopt a realistic, photographic, spoken type of language, using a clumsy poor dialect, incapable of expressing more than a limited number of feelings. Or secondly go with his characters customary intellectual style, used many times over in other novels. Moravia stuck with what he knows best. Simply because the language of literature is always truer and more poetically expressive than the language spoken. Representing her moral world, you cannot deny that a women like Adriana would usually speak as she does, nevertheless, he attributed to her only those feelings and ideas one would express if they had the verbal and mental power to do so. It's a novel afterall. Not a documentary.
This was my fifth Moravia, the story itself is nothing spectacular, but his writing I just admire a great deal.
Life is simple, and dominated by dreams and aspirations. Adriana spends a lot of her spare time stuck in the cramped bedroom, wondering about the future. Her mother wants nothing more than her daughter to meet a man with a heavy wallet, get married, start a family, and live by higher standards. If only is was that easy?. Well, it sort of is, after the oldest profession gains it's newest member. Adriana, gains experience of men, the good and the bad, is offered money after a sexual encounter, and realises she's onto a winner. Why not just make it official, and class herself as a prostitute. What starts as a squalid street life, soon takes a turns for the better, but Adriana always keeps her feet firmly on the ground.
Three men would enter her love life, the older political figure, Astarita. The criminal, Sonzogno. And the student, Mino, whom she feels captures her heart the most. There is also a side-story involving a murder, which connects the main characters towards the end. Adriana's story is a poignant one, there are lighter moments of humour, but also darker moments of jealousy.
Moravia's simple prose, written at a time when Italy was recovering from war, touches on fascism and how the lower classes struggled to make ends meet. Told in the first person, Adriana's thoughts and feelings play highly throughout the novel, and Moravia isn't afraid to use lengthy time on one moment. Up to fifty pages could cover a small amount of time, this helps create an intimate narrative that works so well for this type of story.
from the outset, Moravia faced a dilemma though. Would a woman of Adriana's uneducated class be able to tell her story in the way it's told. He could either adopt a realistic, photographic, spoken type of language, using a clumsy poor dialect, incapable of expressing more than a limited number of feelings. Or secondly go with his characters customary intellectual style, used many times over in other novels. Moravia stuck with what he knows best. Simply because the language of literature is always truer and more poetically expressive than the language spoken. Representing her moral world, you cannot deny that a women like Adriana would usually speak as she does, nevertheless, he attributed to her only those feelings and ideas one would express if they had the verbal and mental power to do so. It's a novel afterall. Not a documentary.
This was my fifth Moravia, the story itself is nothing spectacular, but his writing I just admire a great deal.
Shelved as 'abandoned'
April 28, 2021Nope. I just can't read a page more of this right now. I've reached the one-quarter mark. This book suffers following on the heels of Annie Ernaux's A Frozen Woman. I just can't muster up any compassion for Adriana at the moment. It's all far too melodramatic for me. It reads along easily enough but there's something about it that feels contrived. I'm not sure I believe these characters. Maybe it's just me. I absolutely adored Ernaux's book, so bad timing on my part.
No rating, since I left more unread than read.
No rating, since I left more unread than read.
November 17, 2019
We have an exhibition now in the Thyssen museum that explores the relationship between Impressionist painting and photography. There hangs a pastel similar to the one at the top of this review. As I was reading this Italian novel when I visited the exhibition I remember thinking of the connection between models and prostitution, as treated in the novel, and as (partly) suggested in Degas鈥檚 work.
But a significant difference between the two, apart from their medium, their geographical origin and date of creation, is the point of view and the relationship between the subject and object. Degas the painter sees the woman in her intimacy. He may have seen her face, we don鈥檛. While in Moravia鈥檚 novel the narrator is the young woman, Adriana, who begins modelling and gradually moves into prostitution. We get more than seeing her face. We know her identity, have her thoughts, feel her feelings, and see everything through her eyes, slowly . She is observed insofar as she is the one who observes. And the greatest interest of the novel is her personality and the way she reacts to life: her psychological mettle. She faces her choices, her opportunities, considering her inclinations and often the moral implications. This is a study of Adriana鈥檚 way of living and thinking. So much so that I remember thinking that Moravia when writing this book was like his own character in "Contempt" (), Riccardo, the writer who has to work for the film industry because he needs the money but whose wish is to devote his writing abilities to explore the human psyche. Moravia is presenting may be what his Riccardo would have liked to have written.
The novel is from 1947 and was a huge success and is possibly considered Moravia鈥檚 greatest. I find the title, however, somewhat disconcerting, for the sense of this taking place in Rome and during the period it was written is very vague. Any large Italian city would do, and the political, social and economic conditions remain somewhat undefined--even if it seems some other readers want to see a more clearly political statement from the part of the author. For me, the main focus was the exploration of the moral choices of someone who has a very positive way of facing her own self. For Adriana is someone who can face destiny in the face, candidly, realising that this destiny is not what she would have chosen had she full control of her life, but who does not despair. I found very captivating the way Adriana judges, or not judges, what happens around her and the actions of those who surround her. Finding guilt is not her game. For gradually she acquires a deep understanding of herself and of how humans, given their conditions and constraints, act.
It is all relative then and life has to be embraced as it comes.
November 27, 2012
My first time to read an Alberto Moravia's (1907-1990) novel and I am... enchanted.
Originally written in Italian, the translator must have done a good job in translating it to English. I had a wonderful time reading because of the prose: clear, crisp, incandescent. I did not have feeling at all that I was reading a old first-published in 1949 book.
Told in first person by an unnamed narrator, this is the story of an 18-y/o prostitute, Adriana who at first did not know she was a prostitute because her mother was a prostitute and she thought it was a decent job. She first starts as a nude model because she has a perfect Venus-like body even at her very young age. Men, all sorts of men, get captivated by her because of her body matched with her beautiful exotic face. This was during the reign of fascist Benito Mussolini in 1922 to 1943. The prostitution, murder, crime and sex are in contrast to the image of Rome in my mind as the center of Holy Catholic faith.
However, this is not all about prostitution of the body. There is also the prostitution of the mind. There is an idealistic scholar, who when interrogated by Fascist soldiers, betrayed all his colleagues and he could not tell why he did that. It led to his isolation and self-alienation. One would easily (but depicted subtly) see the striking contrast: the beautiful but uneducated Adriana with men flocking to her body and the intelligent scholar who used to have so many friends but had to exist alone because of his betrayal.
Then there is also an Italian Fascist officer who obeys whatever the dictator government asks him to do. He seems to present to the reader the third choice: blind obedience. Do you prostitute yourself to protest against the government? Or is blind obedience the worse kind of prostitution because you support the evil that it represents? Which one is more moral?
I almost gave this a 5-star rating but the prose was too easy to read and I was not really challenged like when I was reading James Joyce. So, I settled for 4 stars. But trust me, this is a thought-provoking as well as sensually-entertaining read.
Originally written in Italian, the translator must have done a good job in translating it to English. I had a wonderful time reading because of the prose: clear, crisp, incandescent. I did not have feeling at all that I was reading a old first-published in 1949 book.
Told in first person by an unnamed narrator, this is the story of an 18-y/o prostitute, Adriana who at first did not know she was a prostitute because her mother was a prostitute and she thought it was a decent job. She first starts as a nude model because she has a perfect Venus-like body even at her very young age. Men, all sorts of men, get captivated by her because of her body matched with her beautiful exotic face. This was during the reign of fascist Benito Mussolini in 1922 to 1943. The prostitution, murder, crime and sex are in contrast to the image of Rome in my mind as the center of Holy Catholic faith.
However, this is not all about prostitution of the body. There is also the prostitution of the mind. There is an idealistic scholar, who when interrogated by Fascist soldiers, betrayed all his colleagues and he could not tell why he did that. It led to his isolation and self-alienation. One would easily (but depicted subtly) see the striking contrast: the beautiful but uneducated Adriana with men flocking to her body and the intelligent scholar who used to have so many friends but had to exist alone because of his betrayal.
Then there is also an Italian Fascist officer who obeys whatever the dictator government asks him to do. He seems to present to the reader the third choice: blind obedience. Do you prostitute yourself to protest against the government? Or is blind obedience the worse kind of prostitution because you support the evil that it represents? Which one is more moral?
I almost gave this a 5-star rating but the prose was too easy to read and I was not really challenged like when I was reading James Joyce. So, I settled for 4 stars. But trust me, this is a thought-provoking as well as sensually-entertaining read.
August 20, 2017
Pero yo me he preguntado con frecuencia por qu茅 la tristeza y la rabia habitan tan a menudo el alma de aquellos que quieren vivir seg煤n ciertos preceptos o acomodarse a ciertos ideales, y por qu茅, en cambio, aquellos que aceptan la propia vida, que es, sin embargo, nulidad, oscuridad y flaqueza est谩n por el contrario alegres y despreocupados.
Hab铆a dicho que ten铆a 鈥渦na buena justificaci贸n鈥� para la nota que le puse, un poco a la contraria del buen promedio que posee este libro en 欧宝娱乐. En realidad, no s茅 si es buena o mala: esta opini贸n refleja simplemente mi experiencia como lectora de una novela que, en apariencia, retrata la vida de una mujer en la Italia de Mussolini. Yo dudo. Lo hago porque el contexto hist贸rico aparece en la mitad de la novela y, mientras el lector espera pinceladas de la 茅poca, tiene que soportar los problemas sentimentales de una joven que se encuentra al margen de la comprensi贸n 驴Porque se pas贸 la mitad de su vida en una isla? Nada de eso: no le interesa porque no quiere entender. Por ende, Moravia le arma un s茅quito de personajes masculinos que se encargan de iluminarla en lo que se refiere a pol铆tica y dem谩s embrollos. He aqu铆 la cuesti贸n: la novela se lee desde una 贸ptica que puede hallar la Historia en partes min煤sculas y no desde una perspectiva de g茅nero, que encontrar铆a temas del tama帽o de un elefante. Este es el momento en el cual pueden cerrar el navegador o abrir Instagram porque me pongo densa con algo que s贸lo cinco personas querr铆an leer y debatir. Ya advert铆. Rechazo reclamos en los comentarios.
La romana cuenta la historia de Adriana, una joven romana que atraviesa dificultades econ贸micas desde que tiene memoria. Su madre es camisera y pr谩cticamente la obliga a posar para artistas debido a su gran belleza. Por lo general, lo hace desnuda y le pagan miserias, as铆 que la madre se pelea constantemente con los pintores mientras la vende como si fuera un florero porque la quiere bien (seg煤n Adriana). Cuando su pareja, Gino, la ilusiona con el casamiento y su amiga Gisela, junto con otras personas, la fuerzan a una situaci贸n horrible, Adriana cambia de parecer. Ella quer铆a un futuro con un marido, hijos y una casa limpia y ordenada hasta que se da cuenta de que ejercer como prostituta la ayuda a obtener aquello que antes s贸lo pod铆a admirar sin tocar en el presente.
La decisi贸n es dr谩stica y no tiene demasiada profundidad de por medio. La protagonista necesita un punto de quiebre para lanzarse a esa profesi贸n (la palabra puede ser discutible, pero es la que usa Adriana para conceptualizar lo que hace) y Moravia le da dos que parecen endebles. Sin embargo, puede que al final de todo sea entendible, porque esta novela muestra c贸mo la desesperaci贸n puede llevar a tomar decisiones igualmente desesperadas sin importar qui茅n hayas sido en el pasado. Moravia plantea, a trav茅s de la voz de Adriana (la narradora es ella), una idea que aparentemente se halla en todos sus libros: no hay que rebelarse contra el destino, sino seguirlo. Lo resume la cita que dej茅 al principio de la rese帽a. Ahora bien, hay cosas que pueden aceptarse como vienen, pero otras no. Ah铆 est谩 el problema.
Adriana conoce a muchos hombres. Con algunos s贸lo mantiene la relaci贸n prostituta- cliente, pero a otros los trata con m谩s asiduidad y se meten en la trama para complejizarla. Todos son personajes masculinos desagradables por distintas razones y no hay ninguno que sea querible o eche un poco de luz en esta novela tan s贸rdida. All铆 aparecen las justificaciones que Adriana, siempre tambaleando entre la ingenuidad y la astucia, se inventa para 鈥渃ubrir鈥� a estos hombres. Los principales son Gino, Astarita, Jacobo y Sonzogno. Cada uno esconde secretos y se comportan muy mal con ella: la cosifican, le gritan, la tratan de est煤pida, la golpean, la manipulan, la acosan. No dir茅 qui茅n hace qu茅. Y Adriana sigue narrando como si nada, preguntando el motivo de esas actitudes y rebaj谩ndose a s铆 misma porque, a fin de cuentas, s贸lo es una prostituta. De esta forma se ubica a s铆 misma por debajo de todas las mujeres pero se siente superior a otras porque sabe hacer bien el amor. Estas no son mis opiniones: son las suyas. Adriana siente simpat铆a y compasi贸n por cada hombre que se le cruza en la vida y busca la identificaci贸n para seguir con su trato 鈥渂ondadoso鈥�. Se enamora de uno y se vuelve muy pesada, hasta un poco infantil. Mientras, los v铆nculos con su madre (este personaje es turbio y dice cosas con mucha raz贸n, pero la hacen quedar como una loca) y con su amiga Gisela se vuelven extra帽os y cada vez que mira a una mujer lo hace critic谩ndola. Podr铆a extenderme en esto, pero lo reservo para no agotar (o alg煤n futuro ensayo, quiz谩).
La romana consta de trescientas sesenta p谩ginas utilizadas para que Adriana muestre lo triste que se hace vivir en una Roma de sombras, en donde se extiende la mano de un r茅gimen que puede llevarse por delante al hombre que m谩s quiere (aunque 茅l a ella la deteste). A esto se suma una subtrama que empieza con el robo de una polvera y su viaje en manos de delincuentes. De esa cantidad de p谩ginas, s贸lo un cuarto se dedica a complejizar y resolver estos temas. El resto se ocupa de las cosas que describ铆 en el p谩rrafo anterior: las relaciones t贸xicas, el patetismo de Adriana, su sentimentalismo constante. La novela termina de manera forzosa y con una sucesi贸n de deus ex machina, dejando a los verdaderos protagonistas de la misma (los hombres), en un punto sin retorno. Est谩 bien escrita pero no presenta ninguna traba estil铆stica, ni siquiera est茅tica, as铆 que considero que eso es un punto fuerte para que la novela guste y no sea desechada por otras cuestiones. Detect茅 problemas que pueden parecer m铆nimos pero que inciden en mi calificaci贸n negativa. Existen ciertas situaciones, sobre todo las relacionadas a la salud, que me hicieron preguntar si Moravia ahorr贸 detalles para autocensurarse o si lo hizo por desconocimiento de la materia, ya que adem谩s concern铆an a la mujer. En fin, la escritura de Moravia no es algo que haya replanteado mi lista de autores favoritos porque no encontr茅 nada nuevo en 茅l. Adriana, para ser una chica sin educaci贸n (lo repite todo el tiempo), es una buena narradora. Lo acepto. Sin embargo, no se condice con su poca voluntad para entender la pol铆tica y la literatura.
Me quedan cosas en el tintero pero prefiero cerrar este texto tan amargo. Leo libros para disfrutarlos y siempre trato de sacar lo bueno, incluso cuando califico con pocas estrellas. Quer铆a sentir el ambiente de la Italia fascista y me top茅 con una historia de amores violentos que no van a ninguna parte, mientras la protagonista est谩 cegada por sus ansias de amar y ser amada. Es tr谩gico y real, pero no cumple la promesa del libro o, al menos, las promesas de las rese帽as que le铆. No ayuda en absoluto que se romantice tanto la prostituci贸n y se presente a Adriana como una mujer librada a su destino cuando queda claro que puede cambiarlo positivamente porque tiene capacidad. Y que conste que La romana se qued贸 a medio camino por su escasa brillantez literaria y no s贸lo por mi decepci贸n con respecto al contenido.
Hab铆a dicho que ten铆a 鈥渦na buena justificaci贸n鈥� para la nota que le puse, un poco a la contraria del buen promedio que posee este libro en 欧宝娱乐. En realidad, no s茅 si es buena o mala: esta opini贸n refleja simplemente mi experiencia como lectora de una novela que, en apariencia, retrata la vida de una mujer en la Italia de Mussolini. Yo dudo. Lo hago porque el contexto hist贸rico aparece en la mitad de la novela y, mientras el lector espera pinceladas de la 茅poca, tiene que soportar los problemas sentimentales de una joven que se encuentra al margen de la comprensi贸n 驴Porque se pas贸 la mitad de su vida en una isla? Nada de eso: no le interesa porque no quiere entender. Por ende, Moravia le arma un s茅quito de personajes masculinos que se encargan de iluminarla en lo que se refiere a pol铆tica y dem谩s embrollos. He aqu铆 la cuesti贸n: la novela se lee desde una 贸ptica que puede hallar la Historia en partes min煤sculas y no desde una perspectiva de g茅nero, que encontrar铆a temas del tama帽o de un elefante. Este es el momento en el cual pueden cerrar el navegador o abrir Instagram porque me pongo densa con algo que s贸lo cinco personas querr铆an leer y debatir. Ya advert铆. Rechazo reclamos en los comentarios.
La romana cuenta la historia de Adriana, una joven romana que atraviesa dificultades econ贸micas desde que tiene memoria. Su madre es camisera y pr谩cticamente la obliga a posar para artistas debido a su gran belleza. Por lo general, lo hace desnuda y le pagan miserias, as铆 que la madre se pelea constantemente con los pintores mientras la vende como si fuera un florero porque la quiere bien (seg煤n Adriana). Cuando su pareja, Gino, la ilusiona con el casamiento y su amiga Gisela, junto con otras personas, la fuerzan a una situaci贸n horrible, Adriana cambia de parecer. Ella quer铆a un futuro con un marido, hijos y una casa limpia y ordenada hasta que se da cuenta de que ejercer como prostituta la ayuda a obtener aquello que antes s贸lo pod铆a admirar sin tocar en el presente.
La decisi贸n es dr谩stica y no tiene demasiada profundidad de por medio. La protagonista necesita un punto de quiebre para lanzarse a esa profesi贸n (la palabra puede ser discutible, pero es la que usa Adriana para conceptualizar lo que hace) y Moravia le da dos que parecen endebles. Sin embargo, puede que al final de todo sea entendible, porque esta novela muestra c贸mo la desesperaci贸n puede llevar a tomar decisiones igualmente desesperadas sin importar qui茅n hayas sido en el pasado. Moravia plantea, a trav茅s de la voz de Adriana (la narradora es ella), una idea que aparentemente se halla en todos sus libros: no hay que rebelarse contra el destino, sino seguirlo. Lo resume la cita que dej茅 al principio de la rese帽a. Ahora bien, hay cosas que pueden aceptarse como vienen, pero otras no. Ah铆 est谩 el problema.
Adriana conoce a muchos hombres. Con algunos s贸lo mantiene la relaci贸n prostituta- cliente, pero a otros los trata con m谩s asiduidad y se meten en la trama para complejizarla. Todos son personajes masculinos desagradables por distintas razones y no hay ninguno que sea querible o eche un poco de luz en esta novela tan s贸rdida. All铆 aparecen las justificaciones que Adriana, siempre tambaleando entre la ingenuidad y la astucia, se inventa para 鈥渃ubrir鈥� a estos hombres. Los principales son Gino, Astarita, Jacobo y Sonzogno. Cada uno esconde secretos y se comportan muy mal con ella: la cosifican, le gritan, la tratan de est煤pida, la golpean, la manipulan, la acosan. No dir茅 qui茅n hace qu茅. Y Adriana sigue narrando como si nada, preguntando el motivo de esas actitudes y rebaj谩ndose a s铆 misma porque, a fin de cuentas, s贸lo es una prostituta. De esta forma se ubica a s铆 misma por debajo de todas las mujeres pero se siente superior a otras porque sabe hacer bien el amor. Estas no son mis opiniones: son las suyas. Adriana siente simpat铆a y compasi贸n por cada hombre que se le cruza en la vida y busca la identificaci贸n para seguir con su trato 鈥渂ondadoso鈥�. Se enamora de uno y se vuelve muy pesada, hasta un poco infantil. Mientras, los v铆nculos con su madre (este personaje es turbio y dice cosas con mucha raz贸n, pero la hacen quedar como una loca) y con su amiga Gisela se vuelven extra帽os y cada vez que mira a una mujer lo hace critic谩ndola. Podr铆a extenderme en esto, pero lo reservo para no agotar (o alg煤n futuro ensayo, quiz谩).
La romana consta de trescientas sesenta p谩ginas utilizadas para que Adriana muestre lo triste que se hace vivir en una Roma de sombras, en donde se extiende la mano de un r茅gimen que puede llevarse por delante al hombre que m谩s quiere (aunque 茅l a ella la deteste). A esto se suma una subtrama que empieza con el robo de una polvera y su viaje en manos de delincuentes. De esa cantidad de p谩ginas, s贸lo un cuarto se dedica a complejizar y resolver estos temas. El resto se ocupa de las cosas que describ铆 en el p谩rrafo anterior: las relaciones t贸xicas, el patetismo de Adriana, su sentimentalismo constante. La novela termina de manera forzosa y con una sucesi贸n de deus ex machina, dejando a los verdaderos protagonistas de la misma (los hombres), en un punto sin retorno. Est谩 bien escrita pero no presenta ninguna traba estil铆stica, ni siquiera est茅tica, as铆 que considero que eso es un punto fuerte para que la novela guste y no sea desechada por otras cuestiones. Detect茅 problemas que pueden parecer m铆nimos pero que inciden en mi calificaci贸n negativa. Existen ciertas situaciones, sobre todo las relacionadas a la salud, que me hicieron preguntar si Moravia ahorr贸 detalles para autocensurarse o si lo hizo por desconocimiento de la materia, ya que adem谩s concern铆an a la mujer. En fin, la escritura de Moravia no es algo que haya replanteado mi lista de autores favoritos porque no encontr茅 nada nuevo en 茅l. Adriana, para ser una chica sin educaci贸n (lo repite todo el tiempo), es una buena narradora. Lo acepto. Sin embargo, no se condice con su poca voluntad para entender la pol铆tica y la literatura.
Me quedan cosas en el tintero pero prefiero cerrar este texto tan amargo. Leo libros para disfrutarlos y siempre trato de sacar lo bueno, incluso cuando califico con pocas estrellas. Quer铆a sentir el ambiente de la Italia fascista y me top茅 con una historia de amores violentos que no van a ninguna parte, mientras la protagonista est谩 cegada por sus ansias de amar y ser amada. Es tr谩gico y real, pero no cumple la promesa del libro o, al menos, las promesas de las rese帽as que le铆. No ayuda en absoluto que se romantice tanto la prostituci贸n y se presente a Adriana como una mujer librada a su destino cuando queda claro que puede cambiarlo positivamente porque tiene capacidad. Y que conste que La romana se qued贸 a medio camino por su escasa brillantez literaria y no s贸lo por mi decepci贸n con respecto al contenido.
September 2, 2024
Amor Fati In Fascist Italy
Alberto Moravia was a leading mid-Twentieth Century Italian novelist and short story writer. Although his works were quickly translated into English, they were little read in the United States. Fortunately for interested readers, many of his books are now in print again and accessible, including his 1949 novel, "The Woman of Rome".
The book tells the story of Adriana, a beautiful, poor, and uneducated young woman who begins as an artist's model at the age of 16. Although she dreams of a quiet, modest home with a loving husband and children, she becomes both a prostitute and a thief. As a prostitute, she is involved with a number of men with competing ideologies and interests including Astarita, a Fascist chief of police, Giacomo, a student revolutionary against the Fascists and Sozmogo, a criminal and a thug.
The story is told in the first person. Adriana is always on stage and the character of highest interest. The reader gets to know her well. The book is told in a linear, easy-to-follow style which builds to a large crescendo at the end of the first part. The second part of the book loses slightly in dramatic intensity and in construction.
As with any work of depth, this book functions on a number of levels which reject easy paraphrase or simple meaning. Many readers see the book as a picture of corruption in Rome while others see it more as the story of Adriana. I am more inclined to the second view. As far as I can tell, however, there is a strong spiritual theme in the book which sometimes gets too little emphasis in the pull of conflicting readings.
There are no less than four pivotal scenes in The Woman of Rome set in a church. Although the book is replete with sex, violence and raw brutality, it is also highly internalized. Many of its most effective moments are those in which Adriana reflects (in church or out) on her life and on the course it has taken.
The German philosopher Frederich Nietzsche (Adriana does not mention and would not have known of him) used the phrase "amor fati" to describe the wise person's attitude towards life. The phrase means loving one's destiny or, to use another related Nietzschean phrase, "becoming who one is". The specific facts of one's life may be determined by circumstance. What is not determined is one's attitude. A person can understand his or her life and accept it joyfully, regardless of its state. It is in the acceptance and understanding that choice resides and that gives life its value and dignity.
The novel shows the attempt of a poor, but intelligent woman to find "amor fati" and to become who she is. She struggles to accept her nature and her being as a prostitute. Many of Adriana's reflections in the church are quite explicit and insightful. Adriana, alas, is no more successful than are most people in staying with her insight into herself. That, in my opinion, is the tragedy of the story which leads to the downfall of the men involved with Adriana.
The spiritual tone of the book goes well beyond Nietzsche. Together with the theme of amor fati, there is a religiosity that emphasizes, in the context of Western theology, God as merciful and as all-forgiving rather than God as a moralizer or judge. This God -- or self-understanding is open to all regardless of creed or station. The religion that seems to be espoused in the book recognizes the sinful, fallen nature of people and their frequent inability to change. It seems to suggest the possibility of atonement and forgiveness offered to everyone by a turning of the heart, even if, perhaps, behavior cannot be changed. It is a powerful picture of a God of mercy and forgiveness who holds the possibility of love out to all.
"The Woman of Rome" is a first-rate Twentieth Century novel.
Robin Friedman
Alberto Moravia was a leading mid-Twentieth Century Italian novelist and short story writer. Although his works were quickly translated into English, they were little read in the United States. Fortunately for interested readers, many of his books are now in print again and accessible, including his 1949 novel, "The Woman of Rome".
The book tells the story of Adriana, a beautiful, poor, and uneducated young woman who begins as an artist's model at the age of 16. Although she dreams of a quiet, modest home with a loving husband and children, she becomes both a prostitute and a thief. As a prostitute, she is involved with a number of men with competing ideologies and interests including Astarita, a Fascist chief of police, Giacomo, a student revolutionary against the Fascists and Sozmogo, a criminal and a thug.
The story is told in the first person. Adriana is always on stage and the character of highest interest. The reader gets to know her well. The book is told in a linear, easy-to-follow style which builds to a large crescendo at the end of the first part. The second part of the book loses slightly in dramatic intensity and in construction.
As with any work of depth, this book functions on a number of levels which reject easy paraphrase or simple meaning. Many readers see the book as a picture of corruption in Rome while others see it more as the story of Adriana. I am more inclined to the second view. As far as I can tell, however, there is a strong spiritual theme in the book which sometimes gets too little emphasis in the pull of conflicting readings.
There are no less than four pivotal scenes in The Woman of Rome set in a church. Although the book is replete with sex, violence and raw brutality, it is also highly internalized. Many of its most effective moments are those in which Adriana reflects (in church or out) on her life and on the course it has taken.
The German philosopher Frederich Nietzsche (Adriana does not mention and would not have known of him) used the phrase "amor fati" to describe the wise person's attitude towards life. The phrase means loving one's destiny or, to use another related Nietzschean phrase, "becoming who one is". The specific facts of one's life may be determined by circumstance. What is not determined is one's attitude. A person can understand his or her life and accept it joyfully, regardless of its state. It is in the acceptance and understanding that choice resides and that gives life its value and dignity.
The novel shows the attempt of a poor, but intelligent woman to find "amor fati" and to become who she is. She struggles to accept her nature and her being as a prostitute. Many of Adriana's reflections in the church are quite explicit and insightful. Adriana, alas, is no more successful than are most people in staying with her insight into herself. That, in my opinion, is the tragedy of the story which leads to the downfall of the men involved with Adriana.
The spiritual tone of the book goes well beyond Nietzsche. Together with the theme of amor fati, there is a religiosity that emphasizes, in the context of Western theology, God as merciful and as all-forgiving rather than God as a moralizer or judge. This God -- or self-understanding is open to all regardless of creed or station. The religion that seems to be espoused in the book recognizes the sinful, fallen nature of people and their frequent inability to change. It seems to suggest the possibility of atonement and forgiveness offered to everyone by a turning of the heart, even if, perhaps, behavior cannot be changed. It is a powerful picture of a God of mercy and forgiveness who holds the possibility of love out to all.
"The Woman of Rome" is a first-rate Twentieth Century novel.
Robin Friedman
May 24, 2013
One of the best novels that I have read in my life.... and one of those that once started you cannot put down, you just have to make trough all the 500 or how many pages no matter what. Such a sad, brutally honest and beautiful prose, I just loved it...
I think what I liked most about The Woman of Rome is a certain sense of doom...an atmosphere of darkness, filled with restrictions, a suggestions of how tragic life really is and how the horrors of it are not easily avoided. In fact, it is questionable can they be avoided at all.
We're all in many ways trapped by the society we found ourselves in...and tied by strings that we cannot ever completely free ourselves from...that is what I've gathered from it anyway. In any case, it really is quite a book.
Brilliant characterization...I just cannot believe how good this writer is at getting inside a women's head...particularly the protagonist, she seems as natural as any character can seem natural.
Having read a few novels with a similar theme (yes the story of prostitute with a golden heart is definitely a common one) one would think that I would have been tired of it. This subject may have been overused...but in this case...even if you're tired of such stories, make an exception for this really is an exceptional novel.
I think what I liked most about The Woman of Rome is a certain sense of doom...an atmosphere of darkness, filled with restrictions, a suggestions of how tragic life really is and how the horrors of it are not easily avoided. In fact, it is questionable can they be avoided at all.
We're all in many ways trapped by the society we found ourselves in...and tied by strings that we cannot ever completely free ourselves from...that is what I've gathered from it anyway. In any case, it really is quite a book.
Brilliant characterization...I just cannot believe how good this writer is at getting inside a women's head...particularly the protagonist, she seems as natural as any character can seem natural.
Having read a few novels with a similar theme (yes the story of prostitute with a golden heart is definitely a common one) one would think that I would have been tired of it. This subject may have been overused...but in this case...even if you're tired of such stories, make an exception for this really is an exceptional novel.
July 4, 2022
"The woman of Rome" by Alberto Moravia is a novel set in the Italy of Fascism and tells the story of Adriana, a girl of the people who, to get out of the misery in which she and her mother are, becomes a prostitute. Adriana tells firsthand and through her reflections Moravia describes in depth human psychology and its weaknesses.
Adriana's decision to prostitute was not taken suddenly, on the contrary, at the beginning, her plans were to get married and make a family with her boyfriend and live in a nice house. But things go differently: Adriana lives with her mother, a woman who only wants the financial success of her daughter, rather than her true happiness. To take advantage of Adriana's beauty, she pushes her to pose naked for some painters, both because she earns money and because she becomes a little famous. Adriana obeys, although she keeps alive her dream of starting a family with Gino, her boyfriend. Gino however is a hypocrite and a traitor and so, at the height of his despair, Adriana gives in to the requests of Gisella, a high-profile prostitute who pushes Adriana to meet men in exchange for money. Throughout the book, Adriana remains a good and innocent girl, who is however ruined by the corruption around her. Together with her, we get to know a little about the men she meets: there is a fascist officer who is willing to do anything for her; there is a violent man who wants her in a brutal and animalistic way; there is a young student with a slightly weak character, who falls in love with her and with whom Adriana falls madly in love. Among these men who are part of Adriana's life, complex intricacies are created, which then lead to a series of misunderstandings that will lead the book to a surprise ending.
In the novel, Adriana's reflections are very numerous and she brings out the most profound aspects of the human soul. She is able to have no grudge against those who exploit her because she is able to understand that weakness is part of the human soul, of everyone, and therefore she can forgive herself and her errors, forgiving those of others. These profound reflections, inter alia made with complex sentences, sound a little inappropriate coming out of the mouth of a prostitute of the people and we realize this after a few pages, but precisely for the fact that this contradiction is very apparent, we understand that Moravia wanted it just like that and in any case we forget it quickly, captured by the story. A story that is also erotic, like many of Moravia's stories: Adriana's love adventures are described both in a romantic and physical sense, with precision, passion, intensity, but without vulgarity. Adriana's sexuality, and also her profession, appear as something normal, natural and pleasant. Moravia wanted to create a woman full of contradictions and errors, who is however able to overcome them and arrive at an out of the ordinary vision and balance. Through Adriana we understand that Moravia sees contradictions as an integral part of human beings; human鈥檚 inconsistency, its non-linearity, its making mistakes, make humanity what it is, human, and not robots without feelings.
Adriana's decision to prostitute was not taken suddenly, on the contrary, at the beginning, her plans were to get married and make a family with her boyfriend and live in a nice house. But things go differently: Adriana lives with her mother, a woman who only wants the financial success of her daughter, rather than her true happiness. To take advantage of Adriana's beauty, she pushes her to pose naked for some painters, both because she earns money and because she becomes a little famous. Adriana obeys, although she keeps alive her dream of starting a family with Gino, her boyfriend. Gino however is a hypocrite and a traitor and so, at the height of his despair, Adriana gives in to the requests of Gisella, a high-profile prostitute who pushes Adriana to meet men in exchange for money. Throughout the book, Adriana remains a good and innocent girl, who is however ruined by the corruption around her. Together with her, we get to know a little about the men she meets: there is a fascist officer who is willing to do anything for her; there is a violent man who wants her in a brutal and animalistic way; there is a young student with a slightly weak character, who falls in love with her and with whom Adriana falls madly in love. Among these men who are part of Adriana's life, complex intricacies are created, which then lead to a series of misunderstandings that will lead the book to a surprise ending.
In the novel, Adriana's reflections are very numerous and she brings out the most profound aspects of the human soul. She is able to have no grudge against those who exploit her because she is able to understand that weakness is part of the human soul, of everyone, and therefore she can forgive herself and her errors, forgiving those of others. These profound reflections, inter alia made with complex sentences, sound a little inappropriate coming out of the mouth of a prostitute of the people and we realize this after a few pages, but precisely for the fact that this contradiction is very apparent, we understand that Moravia wanted it just like that and in any case we forget it quickly, captured by the story. A story that is also erotic, like many of Moravia's stories: Adriana's love adventures are described both in a romantic and physical sense, with precision, passion, intensity, but without vulgarity. Adriana's sexuality, and also her profession, appear as something normal, natural and pleasant. Moravia wanted to create a woman full of contradictions and errors, who is however able to overcome them and arrive at an out of the ordinary vision and balance. Through Adriana we understand that Moravia sees contradictions as an integral part of human beings; human鈥檚 inconsistency, its non-linearity, its making mistakes, make humanity what it is, human, and not robots without feelings.
January 17, 2025
Viso ovale, occhi grandi e dolci, gambe dritte e forti, vita stretta, fianchi larghi: quella di Adriana, la protagonista di questo romanzo, 猫 una bellezza classica, di altri tempi, che ricorda quella di Danae. Una bellezza che, secondo la madre, le pu貌 consentire di avere una vita diversa, conoscendo uomini ricchi e innalzandosi dalla miseria del ceto popolare. Adriana non condivide questa speranza; il suo pi霉 grande desiderio 猫 molto pi霉 umile: 猫 quello di sposarsi, avere dei figli e mandare avanti la casa, un modesto villino di periferia.
Alla fine, n茅 il desiderio della madre n茅 quello di Adriana riusciranno a realizzarsi, perch茅 la vita 猫 assurda e imprevedibile. Ma, nonostante tutto, Adriana non sar脿 infelice.
听
鈥淟a romana鈥� appartiene, come 鈥淟a ciociara鈥�, alla seconda fase della produzione di Moravia, quella del Neorealismo. Ed 猫, infatti, uno dei suoi romanzi pi霉 positivi. Adriana, rappresentante del popolo, 猫 una ragazza semplice, umile, dall鈥檌ndole allegra e incapace di serbare rancore. 脠 consapevole dell鈥檃ssurdit脿 della vita e ha dei momenti di angoscia, ma riesce ad accettare i cambiamenti e ad andare avanti, concentrandosi sul lato positivo delle cose. Ci riesce perch茅 non ascolta solo la mente e il cuore, ma anche il proprio corpo - quel corpo massiccio, simbolo di forza e resilienza, che le fa provare l鈥檌stinto animalesco di vivere, senza porsi troppe domande: 鈥渟矛, io ero incoraggiata a vivere, sebbene nulla capissi della vita e del perch茅 si vivesse.鈥� Adriana usa il suo corpo anche per capire meglio le persone che la circondano; una sera, ad esempio, si siede al posto della madre e riesce a immaginare, fisicamente, di essere lei. Il corpo di Adriana, quindi, fa da intermediario tra l鈥檃nima e il mondo esterno, consentendole di accettare il divenire delle cose e di vivere.
听
Opposto ad Adriana c鈥櫭� il personaggio di Giacomo, uno studente di legge di famiglia borghese. Giacomo 猫 angosciato dall鈥檃ssurdit脿 della vita e questa angoscia lo fa sprofondare in una forte apatia: si impone di fare le cose con la forza di volont脿, non per un reale interesse. A differenza di Adriana, che 猫 capace di ascoltare anche il proprio corpo, Giacomo 猫 concentrato esclusivamente sulla sua mente e finisce per perdersi in pensieri negativi che non gli prospettano via d鈥檜scita. Inutile dire che Giacomo 猫 il tipico intellettuale borghese che compare in tantissimi romanzi di Moravia - giusto per citare i due pi霉 famosi, 猫 molto simile al Michele degli 鈥淚ndifferenti鈥� e anticipa Dino della 鈥淣oia鈥�.
听
鈥淟a romana鈥� ha ricevuto molte critiche per la mancanza di realismo dato che Adriana, pur essendo priva di istruzione, si esprime con un linguaggio molto elevato. Quella di Moravia, ovviamente, non 猫 affatto una svista: lo scopo del romanzo non 猫 di usare un realismo lessicale, ma un realismo psicologico-esistenzialistico - ovvero di rappresentare al meglio l鈥檌nteriorit脿 dei personaggi e rimandare a una visione generale dell鈥檜omo e della vita.
E ci riesce alla perfezione: il personaggio di Adriana 猫, secondo me, uno dei personaggi pi霉 complessi e riusciti dell鈥檃utore.
听
Avrei tante altre cose da aggiungere, come il fatto che il romanzo ha come modello 鈥淢oll Flanders鈥�, che da un punto di vista stilistico ha affinit脿 con 鈥淚 promessi sposi鈥� e che ha tanti punti in comune con altri romanzi di Moravia - basti pensare al canto di Adriana nella parte finale, che ricorda molto, come valore simbolico, quello di Rosetta nella 鈥淐iociara鈥� -, ma mi limito a dire questo: 鈥淟a romana鈥� 猫, secondo me, uno dei romanzi pi霉 sottovalutati dell鈥檃utore. Si parla sempre degli 鈥淚ndifferenti鈥�, della 鈥淣oia鈥� o della 鈥淐iociara鈥�, ma 鈥淟a romana鈥�, da un punto di vista psicologico, li supera tutti. Ho rivalutato tantissimo questo romanzo rispetto alla mia lettura precedente e non vedo l鈥檕ra di proseguire il mio percorso moraviano.
Alla fine, n茅 il desiderio della madre n茅 quello di Adriana riusciranno a realizzarsi, perch茅 la vita 猫 assurda e imprevedibile. Ma, nonostante tutto, Adriana non sar脿 infelice.
听
鈥淟a romana鈥� appartiene, come 鈥淟a ciociara鈥�, alla seconda fase della produzione di Moravia, quella del Neorealismo. Ed 猫, infatti, uno dei suoi romanzi pi霉 positivi. Adriana, rappresentante del popolo, 猫 una ragazza semplice, umile, dall鈥檌ndole allegra e incapace di serbare rancore. 脠 consapevole dell鈥檃ssurdit脿 della vita e ha dei momenti di angoscia, ma riesce ad accettare i cambiamenti e ad andare avanti, concentrandosi sul lato positivo delle cose. Ci riesce perch茅 non ascolta solo la mente e il cuore, ma anche il proprio corpo - quel corpo massiccio, simbolo di forza e resilienza, che le fa provare l鈥檌stinto animalesco di vivere, senza porsi troppe domande: 鈥渟矛, io ero incoraggiata a vivere, sebbene nulla capissi della vita e del perch茅 si vivesse.鈥� Adriana usa il suo corpo anche per capire meglio le persone che la circondano; una sera, ad esempio, si siede al posto della madre e riesce a immaginare, fisicamente, di essere lei. Il corpo di Adriana, quindi, fa da intermediario tra l鈥檃nima e il mondo esterno, consentendole di accettare il divenire delle cose e di vivere.
听
Opposto ad Adriana c鈥櫭� il personaggio di Giacomo, uno studente di legge di famiglia borghese. Giacomo 猫 angosciato dall鈥檃ssurdit脿 della vita e questa angoscia lo fa sprofondare in una forte apatia: si impone di fare le cose con la forza di volont脿, non per un reale interesse. A differenza di Adriana, che 猫 capace di ascoltare anche il proprio corpo, Giacomo 猫 concentrato esclusivamente sulla sua mente e finisce per perdersi in pensieri negativi che non gli prospettano via d鈥檜scita. Inutile dire che Giacomo 猫 il tipico intellettuale borghese che compare in tantissimi romanzi di Moravia - giusto per citare i due pi霉 famosi, 猫 molto simile al Michele degli 鈥淚ndifferenti鈥� e anticipa Dino della 鈥淣oia鈥�.
听
鈥淟a romana鈥� ha ricevuto molte critiche per la mancanza di realismo dato che Adriana, pur essendo priva di istruzione, si esprime con un linguaggio molto elevato. Quella di Moravia, ovviamente, non 猫 affatto una svista: lo scopo del romanzo non 猫 di usare un realismo lessicale, ma un realismo psicologico-esistenzialistico - ovvero di rappresentare al meglio l鈥檌nteriorit脿 dei personaggi e rimandare a una visione generale dell鈥檜omo e della vita.
E ci riesce alla perfezione: il personaggio di Adriana 猫, secondo me, uno dei personaggi pi霉 complessi e riusciti dell鈥檃utore.
听
Avrei tante altre cose da aggiungere, come il fatto che il romanzo ha come modello 鈥淢oll Flanders鈥�, che da un punto di vista stilistico ha affinit脿 con 鈥淚 promessi sposi鈥� e che ha tanti punti in comune con altri romanzi di Moravia - basti pensare al canto di Adriana nella parte finale, che ricorda molto, come valore simbolico, quello di Rosetta nella 鈥淐iociara鈥� -, ma mi limito a dire questo: 鈥淟a romana鈥� 猫, secondo me, uno dei romanzi pi霉 sottovalutati dell鈥檃utore. Si parla sempre degli 鈥淚ndifferenti鈥�, della 鈥淣oia鈥� o della 鈥淐iociara鈥�, ma 鈥淟a romana鈥�, da un punto di vista psicologico, li supera tutti. Ho rivalutato tantissimo questo romanzo rispetto alla mia lettura precedente e non vedo l鈥檕ra di proseguire il mio percorso moraviano.
August 7, 2019
Romanzo del 1947, successo di pubblico e di critica ma ben lontano da quella forma perfetta raggiunta nel romanzo d鈥檈sordio 鈥淕li indifferenti鈥�. Potremmo definirlo un romanzo appartenente al genere del realismo psicologico, interessante per ambientazione, Roma fascista ai tempi della guerra d鈥橢tiopia, e per i personaggi ritratti: una popolana, prostituta e in coppia con una madre vedova e sconfitta dalla vita, un ragazzo popolano autista presso una ricca famiglia, un giovane studente provinciale appartenente alla media borghesia, un poliziotto , un delinquente. Se vogliamo 猫 presente, con la sua impronta, anche tutto un sottosuolo di umanit脿 sfatta, povera ma viva e pulsante: sono le amiche di Adriana, la giovane prostituta, sono i clienti che si aggirano per strade buie e per taverne e per logore stanze in affitto il tempo necessario per consumare. Il tutto rappresentato dalla voce narrante della stessa Adriana che racconta pochi anni della sua esistenza , dalle pressioni subite dalla madre che, data la sua bellezza giunonica ma non pi霉 alla moda, cerca di farla sfondare, appena sedicenne, come modella riuscendo per貌 solo a farla posare nuda per alcuni pittori, fino al suo primo innamoramento, alla delusione per una storia che non potr脿 avere futuro e al tramonto delle sue speranze giovanili di matrimonio e figli fatte coincidere con il passaggio al mestiere. Da quel momento Adriana diventa un personaggio autonomo, tutta la prima parte era invece tesa a rappresentarla come succube di una madre arrivista, 猫 ora capace di scelte, vittima a questo punto solo della sua condizione sociale. Tuttavia, proprio i molteplici rapporti intrattenuti con i vari clienti la portano a una razionale decodifica della realt脿 che, pur non facendole mancare momenti di grande sconforto, le daranno anche la possibilit脿 di rafforzare la sua personale attitudine verso la vita, un sano ottimismo, una rassegnata accettazione. Lei diventa il fulcro sul quale convergono individui molto pi霉 combattuti intimamente, incapaci di vivere, preda dei propri istinti, delle proprie emozioni o peggio in balia di una totale assenza di linfa vitale, come nel caso di Mino, il giovane studente borghese, vero e proprio nichilista . Questa complessit脿 umana 猫 filtrata dallo sguardo di una popolana, Adriana appunto, e bench茅 lei stessa si rappresenti limitata nell鈥檌ntelletto e profondamente ignorante , risulta per貌 capace di una lettura che 猫 evidente traduzione del sentire dell鈥檃utore che l鈥檋a messa in scena. La sua voce, le sue parole, la profondit脿 di analisi psicologica tradiscono purtroppo l鈥檌ntellettuale Moravia, e questo 猫 il limite, a mio avviso, pi霉 evidente dell鈥檕pera. Il romanzo 猫 tuttavia scorrevole, godibilissimo, a tratti noir, capace ad ogni modo di evidenziare una critica al mondo borghese, costante dell鈥檕pera dell鈥檃utore, che, rispetto al vivace pullulare di vita del ceto popolare privo di sovrastrutture culturali, ne esce sconfitto e mortificato. Ancora una volta sull鈥檕nda di un latente esistenzialismo.
May 6, 2020
啸屑, 泻邪泻胁芯 胁褋械 锌邪泻 懈屑邪屑械 褌褍泻... 袦谢邪写芯 芯斜懈泻薪芯胁械薪芯 屑芯屑懈褔械, 卸械褉褌胁邪 薪邪 斜械蟹褋泻褉褍锌褍谢薪邪, 芯褌胁褉邪褌懈褌械谢薪邪 屑邪泄泻邪 屑邪褌械褉懈邪谢懈褋褌泻邪, 泻芯褟褌芯 褋屑褟褌邪 写邪 褋械 胁褗蟹锌芯谢蟹胁邪 芯褌 泻褉邪褋芯褌邪褌邪 薪邪 写褗褖械褉褟 褋懈, 蟹邪 写邪 锌褉芯写邪胁邪 褌褟谢芯褌芯 褲, 锌褗泻 屑邪泻邪褉 懈 褋邪屑芯 泻邪褌芯 蟹邪 屑芯写械谢 薪邪 褏褍写芯卸薪懈褑懈. 袧械, 褔械 懈蟹锌懈褌胁邪 芯褋芯斜械薪芯 谐芯谢械屑懈 锌褉懈褌械褋薪械薪懈褟 写褗褖械褉褟 褲 写邪 褋褌邪薪械 懈 锌褉芯褋褌懈褌褍褌泻邪, 褌芯, 薪邪谢懈, 卸懈胁芯褌邪 褌褉褟斜胁邪 写邪 褋械 褍褉械写懈, 写邪 懈屑邪 锌邪褉懈, 褋邪屑芯 锌邪褉懈褌械 褋邪 胁 褌芯褟 卸懈胁芯褌.
袛械胁芯泄泻邪褌邪 锌褗泻 屑械褔褌邪械 写邪 褋械 芯屑褗卸懈 懈 写邪 懈屑邪 薪芯褉屑邪谢械薪 卸懈胁芯褌, 芯斜邪褔械 斜懈胁邪 懈蟹屑邪屑械薪邪 懈 褉邪蟹芯褔邪褉芯胁邪薪邪 懈 - 褏芯锌! - 褋褌邪胁邪屑械 锌褉芯褋褌懈褌褍褌泻邪, 蟹邪褖芯褌芯 薪懈褖芯 写褉褍谐芯 胁 褌芯褟 卸懈胁芯褌 胁械褔械 薪褟屑邪 蟹薪邪褔械薪懈械, 蟹邪褖芯 锌褗泻 写邪 懈屑邪屑械 胁芯谢褟 懈 卸械谢邪薪懈械 写邪 褋械 斜芯褉懈屑 蟹邪 屑械褔褌懈褌械 褋懈, 斜谢褟, 泻邪褉邪泄 写邪 胁褗褉胁懈.
小谢械写胁邪 褋褉邪胁薪懈褌械谢薪芯 "薪芯褉屑邪谢薪芯" 胁褋械泻懈写薪械胁懈械 薪邪 械写薪邪 锌褉芯褋褌懈褌褍褌泻邪, 锌芯-谐芯谢褟屑邪褌邪 褔邪褋褌 芯褌 泻薪懈谐邪褌邪. 袧邪泻褉邪褟 蟹邪斜褗褉泻胁邪屑械 械写薪邪 懈褋褌芯褉懈褟 蟹邪 谢邪褌懈薪芯邪屑械褉懈泻邪薪褋泻懈 褋械褉懈邪谢, 泻褉邪泄 薪邪 懈褋褌芯褉懈褟褌邪.
袙褋懈褔泻懈 褏芯褉邪 胁 褌芯蟹懈 褉芯屑邪薪 褋邪 斜械蟹薪邪写械卸写薪芯 锌褉芯褋褌芯胁邪褌懈 懈 谐谢褍锌邪胁懈... 孝褗卸薪邪 写械泄褋褌胁懈褌械谢薪芯褋褌, 褋锌芯褉械写 邪胁褌芯褉邪.
袛械胁芯泄泻邪褌邪 锌褗泻 屑械褔褌邪械 写邪 褋械 芯屑褗卸懈 懈 写邪 懈屑邪 薪芯褉屑邪谢械薪 卸懈胁芯褌, 芯斜邪褔械 斜懈胁邪 懈蟹屑邪屑械薪邪 懈 褉邪蟹芯褔邪褉芯胁邪薪邪 懈 - 褏芯锌! - 褋褌邪胁邪屑械 锌褉芯褋褌懈褌褍褌泻邪, 蟹邪褖芯褌芯 薪懈褖芯 写褉褍谐芯 胁 褌芯褟 卸懈胁芯褌 胁械褔械 薪褟屑邪 蟹薪邪褔械薪懈械, 蟹邪褖芯 锌褗泻 写邪 懈屑邪屑械 胁芯谢褟 懈 卸械谢邪薪懈械 写邪 褋械 斜芯褉懈屑 蟹邪 屑械褔褌懈褌械 褋懈, 斜谢褟, 泻邪褉邪泄 写邪 胁褗褉胁懈.
小谢械写胁邪 褋褉邪胁薪懈褌械谢薪芯 "薪芯褉屑邪谢薪芯" 胁褋械泻懈写薪械胁懈械 薪邪 械写薪邪 锌褉芯褋褌懈褌褍褌泻邪, 锌芯-谐芯谢褟屑邪褌邪 褔邪褋褌 芯褌 泻薪懈谐邪褌邪. 袧邪泻褉邪褟 蟹邪斜褗褉泻胁邪屑械 械写薪邪 懈褋褌芯褉懈褟 蟹邪 谢邪褌懈薪芯邪屑械褉懈泻邪薪褋泻懈 褋械褉懈邪谢, 泻褉邪泄 薪邪 懈褋褌芯褉懈褟褌邪.
袙褋懈褔泻懈 褏芯褉邪 胁 褌芯蟹懈 褉芯屑邪薪 褋邪 斜械蟹薪邪写械卸写薪芯 锌褉芯褋褌芯胁邪褌懈 懈 谐谢褍锌邪胁懈... 孝褗卸薪邪 写械泄褋褌胁懈褌械谢薪芯褋褌, 褋锌芯褉械写 邪胁褌芯褉邪.
October 10, 2019
I read its Hindi translation. A pathetic story of a simple and beautiful girl who fell in prostitution and how her life leads to a tragic end. The story gives the message that being ambitious is good, but always care of the means by which you want to get the target. Sometimes instincts can't differentiate in good and bad and that leads to suffering.
January 23, 2025
袩褉械写懈 谐芯写懈薪懈 褌邪蟹懈 泻薪懈谐邪 薪邪懈褋褌懈薪邪 屑薪芯谐芯 屑械 斜械褕械 褟写芯褋邪谢邪, 薪芯 褋械谐邪 褍卸邪褋薪芯 褋褗卸邪谢褟胁邪屑, 褔械 懈蟹锌褗谢薪懈褏 蟹邪泻邪薪邪褌邪 褋懈 懈 褟 芯褋褌邪胁懈褏 胁 芯褌泻褉懈褌邪 斜懈斜谢懈芯褌械泻邪 胁 械写懈薪 锌邪褉泻. 袧邪褋泻芯褉芯 褟 褌褗褉褋懈褏 胁泻褗褖懈, 薪芯 褋械 褋械褌懈褏, 褔械 泻芯谐邪褌芯 褟 褔械褌芯褏, 胁械褔械 斜褟褏 蟹邪锌芯褔薪邪谢邪 写邪 懈蟹锌芯谢蟹胁邪屑 欧宝娱乐 懈 褉械胁褞褌芯 屑懈 锌褉懈锌芯屑薪懈 泻褗写械 械 胁褋褗褖薪芯褋褌...
袝, 蟹薪邪褔懈, 蟹邪褋谢褍卸邪胁邪 锌芯胁械褔械 芯褌 械写薪邪 蟹胁械蟹写邪, 褖芯屑 屑械 械 褟写芯褋邪谢邪 褌邪泻邪. - 2025
"袩芯蟹邪泻褗褋薪褟谢邪 褋褗屑 蟹邪 褌邪蟹懈 泻薪懈谐邪, 屑芯卸械 斜懈 薪褟泻芯泄 写褉褍谐 锌褗褌 薪邪 写褗谢谐芯 懈 薪邪 褕懈褉芯泻芯 褖械 褉邪蟹泻邪卸邪 蟹邪褖芯.
袛邪卸械 泻芯谐邪褌芯 屑懈薪邪褏邪 薪褟泻芯谢泻芯 写薪懈, 芯褋褗蟹薪邪褏, 褔械 褑褟谢邪褌邪 懈褋褌芯褉懈褟 懈蟹芯斜褖芯 薪械 屑懈 褏邪褉械褋胁邪. 袨斜褗褉泻邪薪邪 谐谢邪胁薪邪 谐械褉芯懈薪褟, 褌芯褌邪谢薪芯 芯斜褗褉泻邪薪邪, 斜械蟹 薪懈泻邪泻褗胁 懈薪褋褌懈薪泻褌 蟹邪 褋邪屑芯褋褗褏褉邪薪械薪懈械. 袪邪蟹芯褔邪褉芯胁邪谢邪 褋械 - 芯泻械泄. 袠 芯褌泻褉懈谢邪 锌褉芯褋褌懈褌褍褌泻邪褌邪 胁 褋械斜械 褋懈, 懈 锌芯褋谢械 薪懈 褉邪蟹泻褉懈胁邪 械写懈薪 屑薪芯谐芯 芯斜褗褉泻邪薪 胁褗褌褉械褕械薪 褋胁褟褌, 泻芯泄褌芯 薪褟屑邪 写邪 写芯薪械褋械 薪懈褖芯 薪邪 屑谢邪写懈褌械 褔械褌褟褖懈 写邪屑懈, 泻芯懈褌芯 胁褟褌褗褉 谐懈 胁械械 薪邪 斜褟谢 泻芯薪. 袗 屑褗卸械褌械 - 斜械蟹 写褍屑懈. 袨褌 芯褌褉械锌泻懈 薪邪谐芯褉械.
小械谐邪 褌邪褟 泻薪懈谐邪 褖械 褟 芯褋褌邪胁褟 薪褟泻褗写械, 蟹邪褖芯褌芯 屑械 褟写芯褋邪. 袠 薪邪 袗谢斜械褉褌芯 袦芯褉邪胁懈邪 褖械 屑褍 写邪屑 卸褗谢褌 泻邪褉褌芯薪." - 2019
袝, 蟹薪邪褔懈, 蟹邪褋谢褍卸邪胁邪 锌芯胁械褔械 芯褌 械写薪邪 蟹胁械蟹写邪, 褖芯屑 屑械 械 褟写芯褋邪谢邪 褌邪泻邪. - 2025
"袩芯蟹邪泻褗褋薪褟谢邪 褋褗屑 蟹邪 褌邪蟹懈 泻薪懈谐邪, 屑芯卸械 斜懈 薪褟泻芯泄 写褉褍谐 锌褗褌 薪邪 写褗谢谐芯 懈 薪邪 褕懈褉芯泻芯 褖械 褉邪蟹泻邪卸邪 蟹邪褖芯.
袛邪卸械 泻芯谐邪褌芯 屑懈薪邪褏邪 薪褟泻芯谢泻芯 写薪懈, 芯褋褗蟹薪邪褏, 褔械 褑褟谢邪褌邪 懈褋褌芯褉懈褟 懈蟹芯斜褖芯 薪械 屑懈 褏邪褉械褋胁邪. 袨斜褗褉泻邪薪邪 谐谢邪胁薪邪 谐械褉芯懈薪褟, 褌芯褌邪谢薪芯 芯斜褗褉泻邪薪邪, 斜械蟹 薪懈泻邪泻褗胁 懈薪褋褌懈薪泻褌 蟹邪 褋邪屑芯褋褗褏褉邪薪械薪懈械. 袪邪蟹芯褔邪褉芯胁邪谢邪 褋械 - 芯泻械泄. 袠 芯褌泻褉懈谢邪 锌褉芯褋褌懈褌褍褌泻邪褌邪 胁 褋械斜械 褋懈, 懈 锌芯褋谢械 薪懈 褉邪蟹泻褉懈胁邪 械写懈薪 屑薪芯谐芯 芯斜褗褉泻邪薪 胁褗褌褉械褕械薪 褋胁褟褌, 泻芯泄褌芯 薪褟屑邪 写邪 写芯薪械褋械 薪懈褖芯 薪邪 屑谢邪写懈褌械 褔械褌褟褖懈 写邪屑懈, 泻芯懈褌芯 胁褟褌褗褉 谐懈 胁械械 薪邪 斜褟谢 泻芯薪. 袗 屑褗卸械褌械 - 斜械蟹 写褍屑懈. 袨褌 芯褌褉械锌泻懈 薪邪谐芯褉械.
小械谐邪 褌邪褟 泻薪懈谐邪 褖械 褟 芯褋褌邪胁褟 薪褟泻褗写械, 蟹邪褖芯褌芯 屑械 褟写芯褋邪. 袠 薪邪 袗谢斜械褉褌芯 袦芯褉邪胁懈邪 褖械 屑褍 写邪屑 卸褗谢褌 泻邪褉褌芯薪." - 2019
February 1, 2020
丕賱鬲乇噩賲丞 噩乇賾丿鬲 丕賱乇賵丕賷丞 賲賳 賰賱 丨爻 賮賳賷 賵兀丿亘賷..
September 7, 2012
Leggere Moravia ,per me, 猫 come seguire una linea dritta e chiara.La sua prosa 猫 misurata ed egli ci prende per mano accompagnandoci lungo il racconto,con calma e pacatezza.Da maestro paziente ci fa notare tutti i particolari,ci descrive con tale accuratezza gli ambienti che 猫 come se ci fossimo dentro,e dei personaggi esalta con cos矛 tanta maestria carattere e particolari fisici da farceli immaginare come fossero davanti a noi,pronti a chiederci qualcosa.Di loro ci descrive e spiega chiaramente motivazioni e pensieri,con i suoi modi un p貌 freddi e distaccati ma pieni di lirismo.In questo caso in particolare l'effetto 猫 accentuato dal fatto che il romanzo 猫 scritto in prima persona e noi ci ritroviamo a seguire la protagonista dal di dentro,passo passo,lungo tutta la sua evoluzione sentimentale e psicologica,capendo perfettamente (anche se magari non le condividiamo in alcun modo)le motivazioni che la conducono lungo il percorso di vita che essa sceglie.Per l'ennesima volta:leggiamo Moravia.
April 3, 2015
Adriana is a young woman of Mussolini鈥檚 Italy who becomes a prostitute, or more accurately, grows into her destiny鈥攚hat she believes she was born to be. Like another Moravia novel, 鈥淭he Conformist,鈥� this one suggests that, in a cynical world, surrendering to fate can be the ultimate expression of freedom. But unlike Clerici, the protagonist of 鈥淭he Conformist鈥� who resists his own nature, Adriana surrenders to hers with dedication, even optimism. One of the miracles of this book is Adriana鈥檚 phlegmatic first-person narration. In her calm voice, she exposes the corruption and brutality of daily life in Fascist Italy without passing judgment on the individuals who must navigate it for their own survival.
July 17, 2014
Almost, almost perfect--the second half was not as good as the first, and I think it was due to my dislike of Mino, who I found irritating, superficial, and boring (he's intended to be this way, I know); not to mention the ending was rushed and kind of cray. But it's easy to forgive, especially when everything else about the book was so enjoyable. Definitely a favorite.
Full review forthcoming.
Full review forthcoming.
May 14, 2025
鈥滻o ero quella che ero e dovevo essere quella che ero e nient鈥檃ltro.鈥�
Adriana lo sa. Sua madre non fa altro che ripeterglielo; giorno dopo giorno finch猫 l鈥檌mmagine riflessa allo specchio le conferma questa verit脿: 鈥滱 sedici anni ero una vera bellezza鈥�.
Il corpo: la sua arma, la sua ricchezza di cui si servir脿 dopo amare delusioni che le faranno abbandonare il sogno borghese di un matrimonio, dei bambini ed una semplice casetta in provincia.
Gina Lollobrigida interpreta La Romana ( 1954- Regia di Luigi Zampa)
Pubblicato nel 1947 ed ambientato durante la Guerra d鈥橢tiopia (una decina di anni prima), il romanzo si muove tra il mondo dei sogni e delle speranze di una giovane ragazza nata in povert脿 e l鈥檃mara realt脿 da affrontare.
鈥滱vevo capito che la mia forza non era di desiderare di essere quello che non ero, ma di accettare quello che ero. La mia forza erano la povert脿, il mio mestiere, la mamma, la mia brutta casa, i miei vestiti modesti, le mie umili origini, le mie disgrazie e, pi霉 intimamente, quel sentimento che mi faceva accettare tutte queste cose e che era profondamente riposto nel mio animo come una pietra preziosa dentro la terra.鈥�
Le convenzioni, la morale sono solo costruzioni adatte a chi pu貌 permetterselo e Adriana far脿 sue le parole della madre quando inveisce cos矛:
鈥澝� morale forse sfacchinare tutto il santo giorno, lavar piatti, cucire, cucinare, stirare, spazzare, strofinare pavimenti e poi, alla sera, vedersi arrivare il marito stanco morto che appena mangiato va a letto, si volta verso il muro e se la dorme?... Questo 猫 morale eh? Sacrificarsi, non avere mai un momento di respiro, diventare vecchi e brutti, crepare, questo 猫 morale eh?... Ma sapete che cosa vi dico? Che non si vive che una volta sola e, dopo morti, buonanotte... che ve ne potete andare al diavolo voi e la vostra morale...鈥�
Chi parla e racconta 猫 la stessa Adriana, anni dopo, riflettendo su ci貌 che 猫 stato e soprattutto sugli incontri che cos矛 tanto hanno determinato la sua vita
鈥漁ggi mi domando se allora fossi felice. In certo senso lo ero, perch茅 desideravo fortemente una cosa e questa cosa ritenevo prossima e possibile. Poi ho appreso che la vera infelicit脿 viene quando non si hanno pi霉 speranze; e non giova allora star bene e non aver bisogno di nulla.鈥�
Non ai livelli de ma comunque notevole romanzo.
Adriana lo sa. Sua madre non fa altro che ripeterglielo; giorno dopo giorno finch猫 l鈥檌mmagine riflessa allo specchio le conferma questa verit脿: 鈥滱 sedici anni ero una vera bellezza鈥�.
Il corpo: la sua arma, la sua ricchezza di cui si servir脿 dopo amare delusioni che le faranno abbandonare il sogno borghese di un matrimonio, dei bambini ed una semplice casetta in provincia.
Gina Lollobrigida interpreta La Romana ( 1954- Regia di Luigi Zampa)
Pubblicato nel 1947 ed ambientato durante la Guerra d鈥橢tiopia (una decina di anni prima), il romanzo si muove tra il mondo dei sogni e delle speranze di una giovane ragazza nata in povert脿 e l鈥檃mara realt脿 da affrontare.
鈥滱vevo capito che la mia forza non era di desiderare di essere quello che non ero, ma di accettare quello che ero. La mia forza erano la povert脿, il mio mestiere, la mamma, la mia brutta casa, i miei vestiti modesti, le mie umili origini, le mie disgrazie e, pi霉 intimamente, quel sentimento che mi faceva accettare tutte queste cose e che era profondamente riposto nel mio animo come una pietra preziosa dentro la terra.鈥�
Le convenzioni, la morale sono solo costruzioni adatte a chi pu貌 permetterselo e Adriana far脿 sue le parole della madre quando inveisce cos矛:
鈥澝� morale forse sfacchinare tutto il santo giorno, lavar piatti, cucire, cucinare, stirare, spazzare, strofinare pavimenti e poi, alla sera, vedersi arrivare il marito stanco morto che appena mangiato va a letto, si volta verso il muro e se la dorme?... Questo 猫 morale eh? Sacrificarsi, non avere mai un momento di respiro, diventare vecchi e brutti, crepare, questo 猫 morale eh?... Ma sapete che cosa vi dico? Che non si vive che una volta sola e, dopo morti, buonanotte... che ve ne potete andare al diavolo voi e la vostra morale...鈥�
Chi parla e racconta 猫 la stessa Adriana, anni dopo, riflettendo su ci貌 che 猫 stato e soprattutto sugli incontri che cos矛 tanto hanno determinato la sua vita
鈥漁ggi mi domando se allora fossi felice. In certo senso lo ero, perch茅 desideravo fortemente una cosa e questa cosa ritenevo prossima e possibile. Poi ho appreso che la vera infelicit脿 viene quando non si hanno pi霉 speranze; e non giova allora star bene e non aver bisogno di nulla.鈥�
Non ai livelli de ma comunque notevole romanzo.
March 5, 2024
4,5 - Ik heb al lang niet meer zo鈥檔 sterke emoties gevoeld bij het lezen van een boek. Schrijnend verhaal, prachtig geschreven!
September 10, 2022
Turobno! I za拧to je moralo ba拧 tako da bude? 鈥� odzvanjalo je u meni dok sam i拧膷itavao 鈥濺imljanku鈥�. To ne zna膷i da sam mislio kako je knjiga lo拧a ili nedostojna pa啪nje. Naprotiv! Takav utisak je i 啪eleo da ostavi Moravija oslikavaju膰i jedno vreme, trenutak i sudbinu.
U pore膽enju sa dana拧njicom devojka poput Adrijane, najbla啪e re膷eno, deluje vrlo naivno, 膷ak moralno. Njeni najsvesniji 啪ivotni trenuci odi拧u impulsom, odnosno jasnom 啪eljom za ispunjenjem kroz najsvetliji i najodr啪iviji ideal 鈥� porodicu. Ona ma拧ta o skromnom domu, mu啪u, deci i ljubavi kojom 膰e sve zaodenuti.
Me膽utim, svet i ljudi oko nje nisu obuzeti obi膷nostima. Oni prime膰uju isklju膷ivo njenu lepotu, u 膷emu prednja膷i njena majka 鈥� koja u spoljnoj lepoti svoje 膰erke vidi izlaz iz bede u kojoj ceo 啪ivot robuje. Ni svi ljudi sa kojima se susre膰e: 膼ino, 膼izela, Astarita... ne udubljuju se u njeno unutra拧nje bi膰e ili to 膷ine tek u tolikoj meri da bi se poigrali sa njim i iskoristili ga za svoje najni啪e porive.
A njeno bi膰e polako bledi, izlo啪eno spoljnim uticajima, sa sve izvesnijim nedostatkom snage da ih nadvlada, postepeno im se podre膽uje i prilago膽ava. Zbog toga ose膰a olak拧anje, ali i nezadovoljstvo. Ona 拧iri vrata takvom svetu, dovodi ka k sebi i predaje mu se, grabe膰i od njega po neku kap 膷ulnog zadovoljstva. Poku拧ava da u啪iva u tome i da istovremeno ostane svoja. 沤elja za 啪ivotom je iznad svega.
Prikaz ovog romana napisao sam otprilike na polovini pro膷itane knjiga. Sklopiv拧i poslednju stranicu uzdahnuo sam odustaju膰i od namere da jo拧 ne拧to dodam. Najzad, niko ne voli kad mu se razotkrije kraj nepro膷itane knjige, a ono navedeno je sasvim dovoljna mera da radoznalog zainteresuje. Nadam se...
U pore膽enju sa dana拧njicom devojka poput Adrijane, najbla啪e re膷eno, deluje vrlo naivno, 膷ak moralno. Njeni najsvesniji 啪ivotni trenuci odi拧u impulsom, odnosno jasnom 啪eljom za ispunjenjem kroz najsvetliji i najodr啪iviji ideal 鈥� porodicu. Ona ma拧ta o skromnom domu, mu啪u, deci i ljubavi kojom 膰e sve zaodenuti.
Me膽utim, svet i ljudi oko nje nisu obuzeti obi膷nostima. Oni prime膰uju isklju膷ivo njenu lepotu, u 膷emu prednja膷i njena majka 鈥� koja u spoljnoj lepoti svoje 膰erke vidi izlaz iz bede u kojoj ceo 啪ivot robuje. Ni svi ljudi sa kojima se susre膰e: 膼ino, 膼izela, Astarita... ne udubljuju se u njeno unutra拧nje bi膰e ili to 膷ine tek u tolikoj meri da bi se poigrali sa njim i iskoristili ga za svoje najni啪e porive.
A njeno bi膰e polako bledi, izlo啪eno spoljnim uticajima, sa sve izvesnijim nedostatkom snage da ih nadvlada, postepeno im se podre膽uje i prilago膽ava. Zbog toga ose膰a olak拧anje, ali i nezadovoljstvo. Ona 拧iri vrata takvom svetu, dovodi ka k sebi i predaje mu se, grabe膰i od njega po neku kap 膷ulnog zadovoljstva. Poku拧ava da u啪iva u tome i da istovremeno ostane svoja. 沤elja za 啪ivotom je iznad svega.
Prikaz ovog romana napisao sam otprilike na polovini pro膷itane knjiga. Sklopiv拧i poslednju stranicu uzdahnuo sam odustaju膰i od namere da jo拧 ne拧to dodam. Najzad, niko ne voli kad mu se razotkrije kraj nepro膷itane knjige, a ono navedeno je sasvim dovoljna mera da radoznalog zainteresuje. Nadam se...
October 20, 2020
Il mio primo incontro con Moravia 猫 stato sicuramente d'impatto, grazie a questo romanzo tanto intenso. E' stata una lettura vertiginosa che ha cercato, come la sua protagonista, di districarsi da quel senso di oppressione che la trama della vita offre. Sebbene alle volte si abbiano delle aspirazioni pure, la vita spesso le insozza, ed 猫 ci貌 che accade ad Adriana, la narratrice di questo lungo racconto, che si ritrova suo malgrado intrappolata in un ruolo triste impostole dalla societ脿.
Brutale e torbido, sono rimasta semplicemente affascinata dallo stile di Moravia e dalla sua abilit脿 di comprensione della natura femminile.
Brutale e torbido, sono rimasta semplicemente affascinata dallo stile di Moravia e dalla sua abilit脿 di comprensione della natura femminile.
April 30, 2021
Easily one of my new favourite novels. I related deeply with Adriene and her wants and desires and personality rlly spoke to me. This incredible tale explores sexuality, women's role in the world, men and women's dynamic and the inlustrial issue beauty and wealth, all whilst being told against the backdrop of Mussolinis Rome and it is true incredible. The writing aswell is this amazing mixture between accsessible, simple diolague and lyrical philosophical reflections which is exactly my cup of tea. It doesn't come across as boring or pretentious unlike many classics so I could not recommend enough. A true masterpiece.
November 12, 2009
The Woman of Rome, is told from the point of view of a prostitute.Moravia's skillful chronicle of the moral education of Adriana, an impressionable and essentially kind woman, remains potent, its naturalism complicated by excursions in voyeurism.
Moravia has incorporated in his world the soul of women, he has become woman --- and in this transformation, he makes Adriana such that we, too, become her. At the same time, the men he creates are perfect. We should think of Moravia as a chess master, one who not only plays beautifully, but carves the various pieces as well: Gino the small-time thief and chauffeur, Sonzogno the hood, with his " muscles of steel," Giacomo the intellectual student revolutionary, Astarita the police official. All of them are swept up by this whore, all reacting to her in a different way, all smitten by her, all destroyed by her.
Adriana is a whore, and she is a good one. She tells us that early on, "I had taken up a very hard profession --- the simulation of passionate love for men who actually roused the most contrary feelings in me..." She tells us the way she accomplished what every prostitute must accomplish with every man --- that is, satisfying them, despite her own feelings: "I quickly learned to pick out at first glance the one good or pleasing aspect in each man that would make intimacy bearable".
Moravia has incorporated in his world the soul of women, he has become woman --- and in this transformation, he makes Adriana such that we, too, become her. At the same time, the men he creates are perfect. We should think of Moravia as a chess master, one who not only plays beautifully, but carves the various pieces as well: Gino the small-time thief and chauffeur, Sonzogno the hood, with his " muscles of steel," Giacomo the intellectual student revolutionary, Astarita the police official. All of them are swept up by this whore, all reacting to her in a different way, all smitten by her, all destroyed by her.
Adriana is a whore, and she is a good one. She tells us that early on, "I had taken up a very hard profession --- the simulation of passionate love for men who actually roused the most contrary feelings in me..." She tells us the way she accomplished what every prostitute must accomplish with every man --- that is, satisfying them, despite her own feelings: "I quickly learned to pick out at first glance the one good or pleasing aspect in each man that would make intimacy bearable".
July 23, 2020
Ho divorato questo sublime racconto. Adriana, giovane, povera, appena ventenne, ignorante ma bellissima, mi ha ammaliato con suoi pensieri, i suoi racconti e le descrizioni cos矛 accurate e vivide della madre, di Gino, Astarita, Sonzogno e del tormentato Giacomo.
Ogni singolo personaggio, dagli occhi attenti e ingenui della protagonista assume forma e si cala nella Roma del ventennio, lasciandosi sconvolgere da un'apparentemente insignificante prostituta qual 猫 Adriana, che decide di fare della propria bellezza il mezzo con cui guadagnarsi da vivere.
Moravia mostra chiaramente ogni vicenda, nulla 猫 lasciato sottointeso, gi脿 solo accennando ad un particolare 猫 possibile capire di chi si parla e il luogo in cui 猫 ambientata la scena: ho potuto quasi sentire l'odore della spoglia stanza di Adriana, con quel letto tanto usato e quelle lenzuola diacce e logore. Interessante anche l'evoluzione della madre, presenza costante fin dalla prima pagina, che se all'inizio sembra il vero motore del racconto, verso la conclusione si rivela quasi solo un peso.
Gran lettura, debbo dire!
Ogni singolo personaggio, dagli occhi attenti e ingenui della protagonista assume forma e si cala nella Roma del ventennio, lasciandosi sconvolgere da un'apparentemente insignificante prostituta qual 猫 Adriana, che decide di fare della propria bellezza il mezzo con cui guadagnarsi da vivere.
Moravia mostra chiaramente ogni vicenda, nulla 猫 lasciato sottointeso, gi脿 solo accennando ad un particolare 猫 possibile capire di chi si parla e il luogo in cui 猫 ambientata la scena: ho potuto quasi sentire l'odore della spoglia stanza di Adriana, con quel letto tanto usato e quelle lenzuola diacce e logore. Interessante anche l'evoluzione della madre, presenza costante fin dalla prima pagina, che se all'inizio sembra il vero motore del racconto, verso la conclusione si rivela quasi solo un peso.
Gran lettura, debbo dire!
August 30, 2015
So cruel yet so tender. Full of oposits. Adriana lives a life of a prostitute yet her purpose's so pure. She is so deep yet so superficial . Moravia depicted such a moral decadence with so much understanding and avoided any judgement over the poor girl so as tooffer a reader an opportunity to come to his own verdict.
Truly interesting reading consisting of interesting plot, tricky topic and psychological anlysing of morality deserves 4 and I honestly cecommend.
Truly interesting reading consisting of interesting plot, tricky topic and psychological anlysing of morality deserves 4 and I honestly cecommend.
May 1, 2023
Tengo opiniones encontradas con este libro. Le dar铆a un 3,5.
No est谩 mal, pero flojea en muchos aspectos. Adem谩s me chirr铆a mucho que un hombre (Alberto Moravia) se ponga en la piel de una mujer, hablando en primera persona de unos sentimientos que bajo mi punto de vista a veces romantizan la prostituci贸n en exceso.
Con esto no quiero parecer woke. Es un libro de su tiempo y hay que entenderlo en ese contexto. Pero tampoco la trama, demasiado previsible, ayuda a engancharte.
No est谩 mal, pero flojea en muchos aspectos. Adem谩s me chirr铆a mucho que un hombre (Alberto Moravia) se ponga en la piel de una mujer, hablando en primera persona de unos sentimientos que bajo mi punto de vista a veces romantizan la prostituci贸n en exceso.
Con esto no quiero parecer woke. Es un libro de su tiempo y hay que entenderlo en ese contexto. Pero tampoco la trama, demasiado previsible, ayuda a engancharte.
March 25, 2017
乇亘賲丕 賷賰賵賳 丕賵噩賴 丕賱賯氐賵乇 丕賱賵丨賷丿 賮賷 丕賱乇賵丕賷丞 賴賵 兀賳 賴賳丕賰 噩夭亍 賳丕賯氐 賲賳 乇賵丨 丕賱乇賵丕賷丞 .. 賮乇睾賲 亘乇丕毓丞 賲賵乇丕賮賷丕 賱賰賳 賴賳丕賰 噩夭亍 丿丕禺賱賷 毓賳 丕丨爻丕爻 丕賱賲乇兀丞 丕賱鬲賷 賷兀鬲賷 丕賱爻乇丿 賮賷 丕賱乇賵丕賷丞 賲賳 禺賱丕賱賴丕 兀馗賳賴 睾賷乇 賰丕賲賱
賮賷賲丕 毓丿丕 匕賱賰 賮賲賵乇賮賷丕 賷賳爻噩 禺賷賵胤賴 亘亘乇丕毓丞 賲賳 禺賱丕賱 丕乇亘毓 卮禺氐賷丕鬲 乇卅賷爻賷丞 丕賱賮鬲丕丞 賵丕賲賴丕 賵氐丿賷賯賴丕 賵氐丿賷賯賴 丕賱胤丕賲毓 亘賴丕
賮賷賲丕 毓丿丕 匕賱賰 賮賲賵乇賮賷丕 賷賳爻噩 禺賷賵胤賴 亘亘乇丕毓丞 賲賳 禺賱丕賱 丕乇亘毓 卮禺氐賷丕鬲 乇卅賷爻賷丞 丕賱賮鬲丕丞 賵丕賲賴丕 賵氐丿賷賯賴丕 賵氐丿賷賯賴 丕賱胤丕賲毓 亘賴丕
May 5, 2020
丕賱氐乇丨 丕賱乇賵丕卅賷 丕賱卮亘賴 賲孬丕賱賷 貨 賰賱 卮賷亍 賮賷 賲賰丕賳賴 丕賱氐丨賷丨 .
January 10, 2022
鈥淧ero no deseo atarme con nadie 鈥攁帽ad铆鈥�. Quiero ser libre.鈥�
Tras leer La Campesina, un libro posterior a La Romana del escritor Alberto Moravia, si he de encontrar algo en com煤n, es la principal铆a que tiene la mujer en ambos textos. En ambos textos arbitran dos madres e hijas, con caracter铆sticas comunes y escenarios humedecidos por el fascismo y la Segunda Guerra Mundial, teniendo en cuenta que dichos acontecimientos son solo adornos, est谩n en un segundo plano. La Romana cuenta la historia de una mujer, Adriana, que a su vez, es la narrada del texto, quien con apenas 18 a帽os tiene una extraordinaria belleza, como as铆 su madre hizo tejer. Una narradora que cuenta sus fragilidades y su declive moral en una Italia fascista donde reina la corrupci贸n y la sed de poder.
Adriana, un joven, que desde su ni帽ez fue alejada por su madre de las atracciones que cualquier ni帽o quisiese experimental. En un peque帽o apartamento para empleados ferrocarriles vivieron la viudez y pobreza de su madre. Una madre enigm谩tica que aspira y apuesta al 茅xito econ贸mico de su hija a trav茅s de su mejor materia prima, la belleza de la misma. Ella la enfila a posar desnuda para un pintor. Mas luego, a la madre se le ocurri贸 presentarla a un director de variedades, a fin a la danza. Si bien era bella, las proporciones de su cuerpo, su tez no era atractivo para la 茅poca, bien lo dijo el pintor: 鈥淚ncluso el pintor me lo hab铆a dicho: 芦T煤, Adriana, deber铆as haber nacido cuatro siglos antes... entonces, gustaban las mujeres como t煤... pero hoy, que est谩n de moda las delgadas, eres como un pez fuera del agua... Dentro de cuatro o cinco a帽os ser谩s monumental.鈥� A esto se une tambi茅n el director de variedades: 鈥溌obre Adriana m铆a...! Ya te lo he dicho muchas veces... Tu error est谩 en haber nacido hoy... Deber铆as haber nacido hace cuatro siglos. Los que hoy parecen defectos tuyos, entonces eran cualidades, y al rev茅s... Ese director no se equivocaba, desde su punto de vista... 脡l sabe que el p煤blico quiere mujeres delgadas, con el pecho peque帽o, el trasero peque帽o, las caras maliciosas y provocativas... En cambio t煤, sin ser gorda, est谩s llenita, eres morena, tienes un pecho abundante, lo mismo el trasero, y una cara dulce y tranquila... 鈥�
Adriana es un personaje ambiguo, si bien es cierto, que su mayor deseo es formalizar una familia, vivir una vida tranquila junto a su marido e hijos, a su vez al pasar el tiempo este deseo se franquea con la promiscuidad, pues el desamor hizo cambiar de parecer esa inocencia en aquella sociedad corrupta que le dio otra visi贸n sobre la vida, como bien lo dice la frase al inicio, busco la libertad conociendo a Astarista, un oficial fascista, mas luego a Sonzongno, un violento hombre, y finalmente a Giocomo, conocido como Mino, un estudiante rebelde de mal genio, de quien se enamora perdidamente.
鈥淧or mucho que me esfuerzo, es imposible separar el sentimiento del sentido, tu me gusta, pero no te amo.鈥�
Este texto de Moravia encamina al lector a una introspecci贸n, donde la protagonista nos va contando su historia en primera persona, tal como sucedi贸. Una mujer que evoluciona sin dejar de ser la misma, a veces segura de si misma, pero siempre conservando un velo de inocencia infantil y fr铆vola. Estas fueron las palabras de Moravia: "Con La Romana quise crear la figura de una mujer llena de contradicciones y errores y, sin embargo, capaz por la fuerza de una vitalidad ingenua y un impulso de afecto de superar estas contradicciones y remediar estos errores, y alcanzar una clarividencia y un equilibrio que a menudo se niega a los m谩s inteligentes y dotados禄. Un texto donde el erotismo no es la excepci贸n, pues la misma narradora nos cuenta sus aventuras amorosas, aunque en algunos momentos, quiz谩s no privativos, pues hasta su casa llegaba la prostituci贸n como algo natural: 鈥淪oy una puta禄, dije por fin en voz alta, para ver qu茅 efecto me hac铆a鈥�, pero como dije, algo totalmente ambiguo, pues tenia cierta orientaci贸n religiosa, tanto en lo confesional y su devoci贸n a la virgen. Una novela que fue adoptada el cine.
鈥淎l quedarme sola, me sent铆 casi aliviada en mi dolor por todo lo que hab铆a dicho a aquellos dos individuos. Pens茅 en Mino y pens茅 en mi hijo. Pens茅 que iba a nacer de un asesino y una prostituta, pero a todos los hombres les puede suceder matar y a todas las mujeres darse por dinero, y lo que m谩s importaba era que naciera bien y se criase sano y fuerte. Y decid铆 que si era var贸n lo llamar铆a Giacomo en recuerdo de Mino. Pero si era una hembra la llamar铆a Letizia porque quer铆a que, a diferencia de m铆, tuviese una vida alegre y feliz y estaba segura de que, con la ayuda de la familia de Mino, la tendr铆a.鈥�
Tras leer La Campesina, un libro posterior a La Romana del escritor Alberto Moravia, si he de encontrar algo en com煤n, es la principal铆a que tiene la mujer en ambos textos. En ambos textos arbitran dos madres e hijas, con caracter铆sticas comunes y escenarios humedecidos por el fascismo y la Segunda Guerra Mundial, teniendo en cuenta que dichos acontecimientos son solo adornos, est谩n en un segundo plano. La Romana cuenta la historia de una mujer, Adriana, que a su vez, es la narrada del texto, quien con apenas 18 a帽os tiene una extraordinaria belleza, como as铆 su madre hizo tejer. Una narradora que cuenta sus fragilidades y su declive moral en una Italia fascista donde reina la corrupci贸n y la sed de poder.
Adriana, un joven, que desde su ni帽ez fue alejada por su madre de las atracciones que cualquier ni帽o quisiese experimental. En un peque帽o apartamento para empleados ferrocarriles vivieron la viudez y pobreza de su madre. Una madre enigm谩tica que aspira y apuesta al 茅xito econ贸mico de su hija a trav茅s de su mejor materia prima, la belleza de la misma. Ella la enfila a posar desnuda para un pintor. Mas luego, a la madre se le ocurri贸 presentarla a un director de variedades, a fin a la danza. Si bien era bella, las proporciones de su cuerpo, su tez no era atractivo para la 茅poca, bien lo dijo el pintor: 鈥淚ncluso el pintor me lo hab铆a dicho: 芦T煤, Adriana, deber铆as haber nacido cuatro siglos antes... entonces, gustaban las mujeres como t煤... pero hoy, que est谩n de moda las delgadas, eres como un pez fuera del agua... Dentro de cuatro o cinco a帽os ser谩s monumental.鈥� A esto se une tambi茅n el director de variedades: 鈥溌obre Adriana m铆a...! Ya te lo he dicho muchas veces... Tu error est谩 en haber nacido hoy... Deber铆as haber nacido hace cuatro siglos. Los que hoy parecen defectos tuyos, entonces eran cualidades, y al rev茅s... Ese director no se equivocaba, desde su punto de vista... 脡l sabe que el p煤blico quiere mujeres delgadas, con el pecho peque帽o, el trasero peque帽o, las caras maliciosas y provocativas... En cambio t煤, sin ser gorda, est谩s llenita, eres morena, tienes un pecho abundante, lo mismo el trasero, y una cara dulce y tranquila... 鈥�
Adriana es un personaje ambiguo, si bien es cierto, que su mayor deseo es formalizar una familia, vivir una vida tranquila junto a su marido e hijos, a su vez al pasar el tiempo este deseo se franquea con la promiscuidad, pues el desamor hizo cambiar de parecer esa inocencia en aquella sociedad corrupta que le dio otra visi贸n sobre la vida, como bien lo dice la frase al inicio, busco la libertad conociendo a Astarista, un oficial fascista, mas luego a Sonzongno, un violento hombre, y finalmente a Giocomo, conocido como Mino, un estudiante rebelde de mal genio, de quien se enamora perdidamente.
鈥淧or mucho que me esfuerzo, es imposible separar el sentimiento del sentido, tu me gusta, pero no te amo.鈥�
Este texto de Moravia encamina al lector a una introspecci贸n, donde la protagonista nos va contando su historia en primera persona, tal como sucedi贸. Una mujer que evoluciona sin dejar de ser la misma, a veces segura de si misma, pero siempre conservando un velo de inocencia infantil y fr铆vola. Estas fueron las palabras de Moravia: "Con La Romana quise crear la figura de una mujer llena de contradicciones y errores y, sin embargo, capaz por la fuerza de una vitalidad ingenua y un impulso de afecto de superar estas contradicciones y remediar estos errores, y alcanzar una clarividencia y un equilibrio que a menudo se niega a los m谩s inteligentes y dotados禄. Un texto donde el erotismo no es la excepci贸n, pues la misma narradora nos cuenta sus aventuras amorosas, aunque en algunos momentos, quiz谩s no privativos, pues hasta su casa llegaba la prostituci贸n como algo natural: 鈥淪oy una puta禄, dije por fin en voz alta, para ver qu茅 efecto me hac铆a鈥�, pero como dije, algo totalmente ambiguo, pues tenia cierta orientaci贸n religiosa, tanto en lo confesional y su devoci贸n a la virgen. Una novela que fue adoptada el cine.
鈥淎l quedarme sola, me sent铆 casi aliviada en mi dolor por todo lo que hab铆a dicho a aquellos dos individuos. Pens茅 en Mino y pens茅 en mi hijo. Pens茅 que iba a nacer de un asesino y una prostituta, pero a todos los hombres les puede suceder matar y a todas las mujeres darse por dinero, y lo que m谩s importaba era que naciera bien y se criase sano y fuerte. Y decid铆 que si era var贸n lo llamar铆a Giacomo en recuerdo de Mino. Pero si era una hembra la llamar铆a Letizia porque quer铆a que, a diferencia de m铆, tuviese una vida alegre y feliz y estaba segura de que, con la ayuda de la familia de Mino, la tendr铆a.鈥�
February 19, 2013
'The Woman of Rome' ('La romana' 鈥� Italy, 1947; USA, 1951)
by Alberto Moravia
I can't begin a review this book, which I first read in 1978, without some discussion of prostitution. 'The woman of Rome' is the first-person narrative of a street walker. Not quite the lowest rung on the Roman pay-for-sex ladder, it asks on the cover of the 1951 US edition, Was She Good - or Was She bad?
It will come as no shock to anyone that sex is a commodity bought and sold on the market. And yet, while the sexual revolution of the 1960s and 70s flourished, prostitution remained largely underground. Why was its liberation limited to bigger and brighter red lights districts? The answer seems to be that with marriage no longer the only outlet for lust, the new shame of paying for sex was Inadequacy. On the level playing field of 'free love', anyone resorting to a prostitute was not considered up to the task of attracting a mate. Then it turns out, in kiss-and-tell biographies published since, a good proportion of the 'dolly birds', 'groupies' and 'free-love hippies' on the scene were all the time selling their companionship in one way or another - as were many gay and straight men - through clubs, contact magazines and what have you. Nowadays prostitution is, like, the new rock'n'roll.
'The Woman of Rome' was written just post-World War Two, while the sexual revolution was barely in its gestation period. It is set in 1936, in Mussolini's fascist Italy, a time and place of much give-and-take in private morals. Would it be true to say, therefore, that a different moral code should be applied when reading it? Should we look very differently on Adriana, 'The Woman of Rome', than on a trafficked Asian woman of 2013? According to her own account, Adriana's family has lived in the city for seven generations. The daughter of a seamstress and (deceased) railway worker, at the age of 21 she discovers her chauffeur 'fianc茅'/lover is already a husband and father. She is raped by a high official in the fascist police. Thereafter, thwarted of her marriage dream and in order to escape a life of drudgery, she decides to go on the streets. She does so, moreover, with the support and approval of her mother.
A great conundrum is the extent to which Adriana enjoys her sex work and considers it wholesome. Having lost her virginity to the chauffeur, and being raped with the collusion of a friend who is already a prostitute, the life she turns to holds little horror for her; she has a healthy appetite for sleeping with men, young or elderly, strange or familiar. Nor do visits to church and the confessional persuade her there is very much morally wrong in her work. Some of her clients are old and uncouth, others knock her about a bit, and yet she always manages to find some aspect of them attractive enough to be an enthusiastic participant in the bed act. All this would be hard to credit, and harder still with the stark realism of the writing. Somehow, though, Adriana is not a fantasy figure, even in the way she finds sexual fulfilment with both casual clients, and the men she gets deeply involved with. Firmly rooted in her time and setting, it's somehow even possible to picture her life as charmed and idyllic. For Adriana is discerning about who she sleeps with; she only works when she feels in the mood; and she scorns the attitude of her friend Gisella, who forever haggles over money with her clients. Unlike her friend, 'The Woman of Rome' takes a special kind of pride in her profession, as she calls it, never claiming to be anything she is not.
The novel sets Adriana's life against the political situation of the day when she reminds us that 1936 was the year Italy brutally invaded Abyssinia. In revenge for the chauffeur's lies, she has stolen a valuable compact from his employer. It is a small crime but sets off a chain of tragic events that involves all her men: the cheating ex-lover Gino; Astarita, the fascist policeman who is madly in love with her; a psychopathic murderer, Sonzogno; and the student Mino, an anti-fascist with whom she in turn has fallen in love. Her relationship with Mino is scarred by the masochistic acceptance, even enjoyment, of the pain he brings her. He doesn't return her love and neither does he pay her to sleep with him. Nevertheless, she risks everything to help him, even when he lets her - and everyone else - down. No matter how strong Adriana's love for Mino is, she admits it is the brutal Sonzogno who possesses her most completely - a feeling she maintains even in the face of his evil intent. Being the lover of all these men, Adriana takes a little from each. Her positive attitude, although she herself feels suicidal at times, continuously asserts itself and in her way, given that a disastrous war is just around the corner, she comes to represent the spirit and beauty of the Italian people.
I can't help wondering if Moravia wasn't writing from some personal experience in pre-World War Two Italy, as Adriana's voice is so vivid and full of little twists of character. At the same time, the portrayal of a prostitute, without ever stooping into sentimentalism, is so strong and vibrant, Adriana transcends those around her. There are weaknesses in the novel's other portrayals, particularly Astarita's unprobed obsession with the lowly prostitute, but in a way this enforces her otherness, as nobody really deserves her.
Though Moravia was supposed to be an atheist, it would be difficult to read this book without drawing some comparison with the Madonna. In fact there is Adriana's meeting with the mysterious and Christ-like Father Elia and then her 鈥� apparently rejected 鈥� prayer to the Virgin. There is, at least, a supra-religious statement here regarding the imminent birth of the fatherless child.
As to me, reading the book again after thirty-five years, I am confirmed in my admiration for this kind of writing. Like the two-part film 1900 by Bertolucci (which I saw around the same time I first read the book) it is pellucid (a term the translator chooses twice), stark, super-real and romantic in a detached way. It's easy to fall in love with Adriana, and to maintain a sense of proportion. She is both a fictional character (someone that can't be possessed) and, aw shucks, a prostitute (ditto). I don't think a man could write a book like 'The Woman of Rome' today without receiving a lot of flak 鈥� or peppering it with graphic sex. More pertinently, these days it's less credible for an author to paste an uneducated person's voice over a complex narrative. You're going to have to find some clever angle to give it spin. Without all our post-modern clutter, the pulse of this book is strong and inspiring. We could do with a return to writing of this sort.
Note on the text:
The translation in my (lovely old paperback) copy, by Lydia Holland, seems reasonable except for lapses in tense, which frequently attribute habitual behaviour to characters Adriana has just met, as in 鈥渉e used to...鈥�, or 鈥渉e would...鈥�. There is also an inconsistency in the plot, when Adriana invites Astarita to visit her the night after Mino reappears, which is a tantamount promise to sleep with him; then six weeks pass before their next meeting. Given Astarita is madly in love with her, it seems rather far-fetched. Perhaps this is also down to a fault in translation - a missed nuance, perhaps - as the action is otherwise delicately plotted?
by Alberto Moravia
I can't begin a review this book, which I first read in 1978, without some discussion of prostitution. 'The woman of Rome' is the first-person narrative of a street walker. Not quite the lowest rung on the Roman pay-for-sex ladder, it asks on the cover of the 1951 US edition, Was She Good - or Was She bad?
It will come as no shock to anyone that sex is a commodity bought and sold on the market. And yet, while the sexual revolution of the 1960s and 70s flourished, prostitution remained largely underground. Why was its liberation limited to bigger and brighter red lights districts? The answer seems to be that with marriage no longer the only outlet for lust, the new shame of paying for sex was Inadequacy. On the level playing field of 'free love', anyone resorting to a prostitute was not considered up to the task of attracting a mate. Then it turns out, in kiss-and-tell biographies published since, a good proportion of the 'dolly birds', 'groupies' and 'free-love hippies' on the scene were all the time selling their companionship in one way or another - as were many gay and straight men - through clubs, contact magazines and what have you. Nowadays prostitution is, like, the new rock'n'roll.
'The Woman of Rome' was written just post-World War Two, while the sexual revolution was barely in its gestation period. It is set in 1936, in Mussolini's fascist Italy, a time and place of much give-and-take in private morals. Would it be true to say, therefore, that a different moral code should be applied when reading it? Should we look very differently on Adriana, 'The Woman of Rome', than on a trafficked Asian woman of 2013? According to her own account, Adriana's family has lived in the city for seven generations. The daughter of a seamstress and (deceased) railway worker, at the age of 21 she discovers her chauffeur 'fianc茅'/lover is already a husband and father. She is raped by a high official in the fascist police. Thereafter, thwarted of her marriage dream and in order to escape a life of drudgery, she decides to go on the streets. She does so, moreover, with the support and approval of her mother.
A great conundrum is the extent to which Adriana enjoys her sex work and considers it wholesome. Having lost her virginity to the chauffeur, and being raped with the collusion of a friend who is already a prostitute, the life she turns to holds little horror for her; she has a healthy appetite for sleeping with men, young or elderly, strange or familiar. Nor do visits to church and the confessional persuade her there is very much morally wrong in her work. Some of her clients are old and uncouth, others knock her about a bit, and yet she always manages to find some aspect of them attractive enough to be an enthusiastic participant in the bed act. All this would be hard to credit, and harder still with the stark realism of the writing. Somehow, though, Adriana is not a fantasy figure, even in the way she finds sexual fulfilment with both casual clients, and the men she gets deeply involved with. Firmly rooted in her time and setting, it's somehow even possible to picture her life as charmed and idyllic. For Adriana is discerning about who she sleeps with; she only works when she feels in the mood; and she scorns the attitude of her friend Gisella, who forever haggles over money with her clients. Unlike her friend, 'The Woman of Rome' takes a special kind of pride in her profession, as she calls it, never claiming to be anything she is not.
The novel sets Adriana's life against the political situation of the day when she reminds us that 1936 was the year Italy brutally invaded Abyssinia. In revenge for the chauffeur's lies, she has stolen a valuable compact from his employer. It is a small crime but sets off a chain of tragic events that involves all her men: the cheating ex-lover Gino; Astarita, the fascist policeman who is madly in love with her; a psychopathic murderer, Sonzogno; and the student Mino, an anti-fascist with whom she in turn has fallen in love. Her relationship with Mino is scarred by the masochistic acceptance, even enjoyment, of the pain he brings her. He doesn't return her love and neither does he pay her to sleep with him. Nevertheless, she risks everything to help him, even when he lets her - and everyone else - down. No matter how strong Adriana's love for Mino is, she admits it is the brutal Sonzogno who possesses her most completely - a feeling she maintains even in the face of his evil intent. Being the lover of all these men, Adriana takes a little from each. Her positive attitude, although she herself feels suicidal at times, continuously asserts itself and in her way, given that a disastrous war is just around the corner, she comes to represent the spirit and beauty of the Italian people.
I can't help wondering if Moravia wasn't writing from some personal experience in pre-World War Two Italy, as Adriana's voice is so vivid and full of little twists of character. At the same time, the portrayal of a prostitute, without ever stooping into sentimentalism, is so strong and vibrant, Adriana transcends those around her. There are weaknesses in the novel's other portrayals, particularly Astarita's unprobed obsession with the lowly prostitute, but in a way this enforces her otherness, as nobody really deserves her.
Though Moravia was supposed to be an atheist, it would be difficult to read this book without drawing some comparison with the Madonna. In fact there is Adriana's meeting with the mysterious and Christ-like Father Elia and then her 鈥� apparently rejected 鈥� prayer to the Virgin. There is, at least, a supra-religious statement here regarding the imminent birth of the fatherless child.
As to me, reading the book again after thirty-five years, I am confirmed in my admiration for this kind of writing. Like the two-part film 1900 by Bertolucci (which I saw around the same time I first read the book) it is pellucid (a term the translator chooses twice), stark, super-real and romantic in a detached way. It's easy to fall in love with Adriana, and to maintain a sense of proportion. She is both a fictional character (someone that can't be possessed) and, aw shucks, a prostitute (ditto). I don't think a man could write a book like 'The Woman of Rome' today without receiving a lot of flak 鈥� or peppering it with graphic sex. More pertinently, these days it's less credible for an author to paste an uneducated person's voice over a complex narrative. You're going to have to find some clever angle to give it spin. Without all our post-modern clutter, the pulse of this book is strong and inspiring. We could do with a return to writing of this sort.
Note on the text:
The translation in my (lovely old paperback) copy, by Lydia Holland, seems reasonable except for lapses in tense, which frequently attribute habitual behaviour to characters Adriana has just met, as in 鈥渉e used to...鈥�, or 鈥渉e would...鈥�. There is also an inconsistency in the plot, when Adriana invites Astarita to visit her the night after Mino reappears, which is a tantamount promise to sleep with him; then six weeks pass before their next meeting. Given Astarita is madly in love with her, it seems rather far-fetched. Perhaps this is also down to a fault in translation - a missed nuance, perhaps - as the action is otherwise delicately plotted?
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