Ginzburg's The Dry Heart details a woman in a lonely, loveless marriage. Opening with the blunt proclamation that the unname[3.5, 4? Haven't decided.]
Ginzburg's The Dry Heart details a woman in a lonely, loveless marriage. Opening with the blunt proclamation that the unnamed narrator shot her husband of four years between the years, the novella documents the couple's lackluster beginnings and monotonous marriage. The narrator is unsure whether or not she even loves her husband, but felt marriage was the only option to get out of her living situation (and it's 'just what people did.')
I found this story most compelling when thinking about how it was written in the late 1940s. Nowadays, we have many narratives that discuss marriages between people who probably shouldn't be married, and the accompanying loneliness of said relationship. But to have such a methodically written narrative in the 40s puts Ginzburg, to me, way ahead of her time.
Obviously, because it's such a short text, some of the characters aren't as fully realized as I may have liked––particularly Francesca, the narrator's friend (though I use that term loosely) who is more sexually liberated and independent than our protagonist.
The husband is also a surface level bore, but I think that's more on purpose. By the end of the novella, I'm not necessarily rooting for the narrator's actions, but I definitely understand them.
This is my first Ginzburg, and I will definitely be reading more! ...more
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