"Maria di Isili" by Cristian Mannu

This is a powerful, coherent and tightly constructed, linguistically fascinating and very Sardinian novel that the bank employee Cristian Mannu has (born in 1977 in Cagliari) written the first fruits. He was honored with the Premio Italo Calvino in 2015, a prize for unpublished literary debuts. In April 2016, the book was published in the great tradition publisher Giunti (founded in 1497).

Mannu traces the complex portrait of an extraordinary and impressive woman, Maria Piga from the town of Isili (about 70 km north of Cagliari) and the man who coined their lives, Antonio Lorrai.

The love that then pulls the two like a storm is of a primeval force beyond all reason, leaves no room for compromise, brings destructive rather than constructive forces and consumes not only the lives of the two lovers, but also affects the persons affected by another.

About the individual fates addition, Mannu his protagonists in intra-family and regional Sardinian development structures. Maria’s mother Rosalia to live out of a similar urge her true love against all conventions, still the tight pulley system of their time had to submit; But Mary chooses with Antonio confident a scandalous idiosyncratic way takes all threat of sanctions and consequences into account and is ultimately unhappy perish; only Mary’s granddaughter is permitted to find and build a self-determined existence.

With these three impressive figures Mannu has the traditional image of the Sardinian woman who could hardly develop a profile in an archaic, masculine dominated pastoral society to enrich completely new variants that also by the subtle heroines Nobel laureate About Grazia Deledda in “Sardinian literature from a hundred years” in Books Reviews/

Accordingly, keeps readers especially what haunts the characters in their hearts.

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The external action holds true startling details and tragic developments ready but is relatively straightforward and not the actual voltage support. Their core contributes to between Isili, drawn as rural and idyllic place of relative innocence, and the port of Cagliari, which also stands for economic growth and for poverty and hopelessness of the modern proletariat.

The narrative time includes approximately the last one hundred years and four or five generations. But with precise chronology Mannu does not want to fence his stories. Specific periods are the real history at best coordinate vague. Instead of sharp-year figures, the author spreads as a period atmosphere behind the scenes from atmospherically intense Szenerie- and motif rugs that seem stand out above all the tragedy of the action in mythical universality. The more precise the plot progress is situates on the island: many Sardinian villages, mountains, lakes are described as venues, local dialects are distinguished evocative natural phenomena meet leitmotif functions ( un vento possente e scheming un albero con le radici, anche se Storte l’aquila rossa con il bianco dorso papaveri viola avena selvatica).

the family chronicle begins with Michele Piga from Macomer who (in the twenties?) studied with his friend Pietro Uggias in Sicily work. The girl Rosaria Granata falls in love with Peter, but is already taken. To stay close to him, she marries Michele and returns to their home with both. With greatest effort succeeds Michele to build despite his troubled personality recognized civil existence. But when Pietro commits suicide, he can not prevent that Rosaria applies only contempt and hatred for him and sinks into deep depression.

In their place, the midwife of the village, Salvatorica Carboni pulls (called Zia BORICA ), the two daughters. While Evelina finds fulfillment in religion, the slightly younger Maria unfolds thanks to Zia BORICA s diverse suggestions all their extraordinary talents and develop into an educated, imaginative, creative and sensitive young woman. Particularly virtuosic they created on the loom of the Zia Tapestries with bold designs of wool and copper threads.

Performance Antonio Lorrai, everywhere notorious adventurer and womanizer who, disinterested in the rich land owned by his family dear Gypsy as a coppersmith and tinker around the country. He seduces and impregnates Evelina, is persuaded to marry her, but at the same time expires him Maria and he her… ” Fui io a portarlo all vigne Fu lui a insegnarmi l’amore Fummo in due a rubarci il destino “the two flee head over heels to Cagliari an outrageous scandal that mother Rosaria to suicide drives and throws father Michele from the tedious held Bahn in a few years of happiness, the daughter Rosaria and three more children born, but Antonio is too unstable, neglected business and family, neglected for gambling and alcohol, sets off. (Years later he is killed under unclear circumstances, possibly caused by her own father).

For the rest of her life Maria keeps herself and her family with simple auxiliary works sparingly water. The political activist (and enthusiastic Deledda reader) Sergio Desogus moves to the still attractive, cultured wife and marry her not only of their child Anna’s sake. But again the failure of all efforts to build a secure middle-class life, to character and social shortcomings.

The children are brought up in the Church’s collegio suore , Sergios admiration for Mary, who never gives up, turns into hatred, and finally the family is relocated to a desolate social focal area. All surviving children try their luck on the continent, Maria loses power and dies while her sister Evelina, Antonio Lorràis widow and heiress, whose fortune preserved for Mary’s children. Benefiting especially Mary’s granddaughter, who moves into Evelinas house at the end of Milan, is realized as an artist and opened with her husband and children an optimistic perspective. With this second “Maria di Isili” the author closes the circle conciliatory; his personal concern is by his own admission, to encourage his Sardinian home to a future-oriented renewal.

In order to capture the dazzling complexity of relationships and processes Mannu sets his novel in multi perspective. Ten people speak (or write) one after the other in a kind of witness, describe their experiences with the others, make clear judgments or talking, if they do not know enough or have experienced, better get back. To speak, come Maria Rosaria her mother, her father Michele, her lover Antonio, whose friend Giovannino, Maria’s husband Sergio, their cagliaresische girlfriend Teresina, her sister Evelina and her granddaughter, the other Maria di Isili.

The beginning but the comprehensive, committed partisan narrative makes (with continuous paraphrased dialectal sprinkling) of midwives Salvatorica Carboni, who was closely associated with the family and was hidden no secret in the village for decades. Did you read her story, surprised, and often shocked enough how are the characters, relationships and events from the point of view of the sometimes violently maligned and despised others involved, and even Maria’s strong self-image, as differentiated and sensitive argued falters. Was not Just too naive and ignorant?

The process reminds purely external to the novel “Il figlio di Bakunin” the Sardinians Sergio Atzeni, published in 1991, Read my review for film “Il figlio di Bakunin” in Books Reviews. Impressive and inspiring is the variety of styles that is able to draw his characters Mannu. By his own admission inspired by the authors of the successful “Über the Nuova letteratura sarda in “Sardische literature from hundreds Jahren” on books Rezensionen.

In his captivating novel interweaves Mannu a catalog exciting topics (love and hate, friendship and betrayal, unspeakable secrets, deadly tragedy, bitter struggle for survival …) Sardinian with no means new, but reinterpreted motifs literature (archaic value systems, role constraints, suppressed dissimilarities), the political, social and economic development of the so no fresh air for the Sardinian literature overloaded started his literary start with this blazing concept no – society (about speculation and corruption in Cagliari) and also based on the traditions, yet innovative style he just has a plump reading pleasure. You have to tense s As Cristian Mannu will continue his career as a writer one.