I d this pair of novellas - I really Ginzburg - but they share a frustration, which is that the twist in each is quite telegraphed, and then there are no turns afterward. Valentino is much stronger than Sagittarius.54 s Tony955 1,676

In each of these two novellas there is a female narrator, indifferent of appearance, a student or teacher of literature. We would not be wrong to recognize the author in the role, a voyeuristic role mainly. Meaning she's there, but not particularly involved in the moving plot; there just so the other characters can play off her. Had she (they) been more involved maybe the stories would have had more immediacy for me. Oh, the stories were well-told, even if the denouements were not particularly well-hidden. There was character-development, but again predictable and something observed.

If there was ever a 3-star read (I d it; no more, no less) then this was it. italian nyrb-classics18 s Adam McPhee1,309 236

So is Natalia Ginzburg the Anti-Ferrante, the AnteFerrante, the Auntie Ferrante, or all three?

Valentino was okay, Sagittarius went on a bit too long.

I d the writing style. a friend relating their own family drama, with something a little more lyrical popping through from time to time.2023 italy17 s Baz261 350

Two excellent pieces of fiction, Valentino the long short story, and Sagittarius the novella. And I expected nothing less from this exquisite Italian queen. Her stuff is always emotionally potent. The sentences as the stories got closer to their conclusions felt increasingly the blows of a hammer. I loved both these works. Dark and disturbing and so compelling – her writing has a rare magnetic pull on me.

Misplaced confidence: these two words sum up the through-line between the two stories. In Valentino, a woman is worn down by a family she marries into, and in Sagittarius a woman is duped by someone with whom she forms an unly friendship. Both are narrated by young women who are clearly invested in all the shit, the sister or daughter of those at the center of the story, and they relate the events with detached voices, a detachment borne of grief, exhaustion, helplessness and surrender.

The concision and deceptive simplicity of GinzburgÂ’s style, the world of complexity, the sharp clarity, all make her intensely gripping. SheÂ’s brilliant and IÂ’m so grateful to have discovered her.13 s Samuel Gordon69 1 follower

Natalia Ginzburg never disappoints. Two more memorable novellas with characters so sharply observed they leap out of the page. Great novelists can do more with less. nyrbs11 s2 comments D526 74

Two beautiful and moving novellas, both illustrating how human naivety and stupidity may lead to disastrous consequences, for both the protagonist and her/his loved ones. Sagittarius is probably the better story but the shorter Valentino is less unforgiving.11 s Ellie1,518 397

Both these stories are vivid depictions of working class people, each with a female narrator. The women have strong voices and are merciless in their descriptions and analyses of the lives around them, primarily their mothers. They take place in post-World War II Italy and the characters are struggling with poverty, often of spirit as well as of money.

I found both stories to be painful and bleak., although I also found at times a bitter humor (particularly the difficult, complaining and overbearing mother in Sagittarius). There is in the end a hopelessness about life that I often find in Ginzburg which makes her--brilliant as she is--difficult for me to read.2023-ind-chal european fiction ...more7 s James Murphy982 3

Natalia Ginzburg wrote of families and the intricate webs of emotional alliances and fractures within them. Valentino and Sagittarius are 2 novellas set in postwar Italy about love and obsessions which lead to unhappiness. I think they're terrific.

Valentino tells the story of a young man given all the financial and educational resources his working class family could provide. His 2 sisters were denied any advantages so that Valentino could fulfill the family's expectation that he become "a man of consequence." While completing his medical studies he marries a woman of means who can easily support his entire family. The story Caterina tells of a brother who doesn't have to earn his way displays her generosity in the face of the bitterness and disappointment she and her sister Clara have had to accept. Sagittarius in the 2d story is the name of an art gallery the novella's dreamy, dilettantish mother plans to open with her new friend Scilla. Another story of uneven love, the mother navigates her precarious course toward an entry into the town's artistic life while neglecting and devaluing her own family.

A lot of the success of these stories lies in the voice and points of view in which they're written. Both are told by youngest daughters in neutral tones helping to keep them some distance from the discord and disputes arising from the entanglements of plot. Also, Ginzburg uses the tension between rural or village origins and cities with great success to motivate her characters. The families are originally from smaller localities where their innocence fit easily into quieter lives. Their troubles begin with their moves into bigger towns where they encounter deceit and decay. There's not only the atmosphere of the homes with new activities outside them, coffee bars or riding stables. Both stories balance the family home with that of the home that fascinates them. It's the 2 ends of a dumbbell where emotion and energy flow along the bar. 6 s Mari Janssen90 4

alsof Natalia mij ooit teleur zou stellen
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