Family Lexicon | 
pickA contemporary book, about a dark years of Italy... a masterpiece
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Memoir? Fiction? Auto-fiction? Not sure what to make of this but it is enjoyable. ✍🏽
pickOne of the Five star reads of the year for me. I became a fan of her writing after this
“And then, like someone who out of necessity takes a crap in a garden and realizes that in any case he was fertilizing it…”
Lol
bailedRead half and ditched it, goes on and on and isn‘t that interesting, voice is common. To begin with although the characters were at times annoying they were a little fascinating but ended up reading as being anyone‘s retelling of their family. Nothing exceptional. Feels like a bit of a waste of money.
Credit to her mother though who doesn‘t pay the father and his grumbles any attention, sings, laughs and generally enjoys herself. Fairly charmed life with husband who earns enough for 2 House helpers.
Hmmm…when in Rome do as the Romans do, this is what I thought when I went into a bookshop in Rome. Rather than buy an English book I thought I should buy a well known Italian one, in translation of course. I‘ve read a bit of Calvino so I went for something different, the blurb sounded great but oh! Not sure now! Honest yes, but the father is unbearable! Can anyone stand him? The vitriol - the amount though makes it meaningless…I think 🤔 urgh
#JulyJam Day 17: #IceCreamDay reminded me of this dessert we gorged on while in Naples: baba soaked in rum paired with delicious Italian coffee.
#BookMoods Day 16: #CurrentReadAndSelfie while in Naples. Now back in the UAE but longing for Italy‘s coastline (and cheese and pasta and pizza lols).
#BookMoods Day 10: Not sure if this book about a huge Italian family #IncludesRecipes - but I have a feeling it does. With Castel dell‘ovo in the background here in Napoli. 🌸🌸🌸
La storia della famiglia Levi inizia negli anni '30. L'autrice ne narra le vicende, con ironia e affettuosità, fino al dopo Guerra. Il lessico domina la scena e ci si innamora di certe ridondanze che immergono il lettore tra le mura domestiche di una famiglia antifascista.
Consigliato per chi vuole addentrarsi nella storia italiana incontrando personaggi importanti che, tuttavia, vengono presentati con semplicità, nella loro più reale essenza.
so-soIn the introduction Ginzburg writes that she has written about her family and friends but that we should read this as fiction and not nonfiction since these are her memories. She was born in 1916 and we find out what it was like growing up in Mussolini‘s Italy as a Jew and the war and the years after.
This is a relatively short book, but there‘s a lot of characters in here, her parents, siblings, friends and as she grows up, in-laws and
pickTechnically fiction but reads like a memoir. The author writes about growing up in mid-20th century Italy with a Jewish father and Catholic mother, her father a larger-than-life personality who passed judgment on everything and everyone. Many in her family are anti-Fascist activists. She‘ll spend pages and pages explaining a single inside joke phrase, and then gloss over all of World War II in two sentences.
Our third NYRB Classics Reading Society meeting 💕
If you are in Singapore and would like to join, check out NYRB Classics Reading Society http://meetu.ps/c/421lg/yhJ85/a
pickI love this autobiographical novel because Ginzburg‘s family reminds me of my own. I imagine a noisy house with everyone talking, in multitude of expressions 😆 It‘s messy, but is always warm with love 💕
pickWhat an interesting little book. I believe this is non-fiction, but written in an unusual style (not like most memoir I‘ve read). The writing was very poignant, but there were some side storylines that seemed to be drifting off a bit from the main storyline. My favorite part was the lines the family always used with each other and that gave all the family members so much character. Overall, I liked it!
So I NEVER buy this many books, you guys, but today is my birthday and the day got off to a dicey start. I figured I deserved a treat and I went to a big used bookstore in Chicago and got all these. They look brand-new to me, though, and they were half off the cover price. So yay!! 😀 #bookhaul
#BookMail- My parents got me a subscription to the NYRB Book Club for my birthday and my package came today! Family Lexicon is the book for April and The Unknown Masterpiece by Balzac was a bonus for signing up for 12-months.
#BookHaul #NYRB
