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Sagittarius

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( 1,790 ratings, 263 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Sagittarius by Natalia Ginzburg delves into the intricacies of family dynamics and personal reflection. Focusing on a family plagued by tensions and misunderstandings, it explores themes of love, resentment, and the complexities of human relationships through a tender and subtle narrative. Ginzburg's storytelling provides a vivid portrait of characters grappling with their desires and disconnects.
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Format: Paperback / softback
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

You might enjoy this compelling novel if you appreciate character-driven stories that explore complex family dynamics and delve into the subtle intricacies of everyday life. This book may appeal to you if you value insightful observations and a nuanced portrayal of personal relationships set against an engaging narrative.

Book Hero thinking about your next read

A mother decides to follow her daughter to the city, she settles in the suburbs with her older daughter and son-in-law in tow. She quickly grows restless and is eager to find new friends. What proceeds is a story of the dissolution of a family, and the role that class plays in its downfall.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description
At long last she was playing the role she had always dreamt about, that of a mother, full of anxious solicitude, preparing to confide her daughter into the hands of a young man with good intentions, good prospects and a good character.

A mother decides to follow her daughter to the city. She settles in the suburbs with her older daughter and son-in-law in tow. She quickly grows restless and is eager to find new friends. Brassy, bossy and perpetually dissatisfied, she strikes up a friendship with the mysterious Scilla, and soon the two women are planning to open an art gallery.

But there is more to Scilla than meets the eye. After a series of afternoons spent at bars having coffee granitas with cream, and at Scilla's apartment on Via Tripoli, it quickly becomes apparent that the connections and the cultured life promised by Scilla may never materialise, despite always being just within reach.

What proceeds is a story of the dissolution of a family, and the role that class plays in its downfall. Sagittarius is the story of misplaced confidence and ambition gone awry, recounted by a wary daughter.

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Sagittarius, penned by Natalia Ginzburg, has been frequently described as a poignant exploration of familial dynamics and personal entanglements. Reviews often highlight Ginzburg's deft character studies and her ability to delve into the subtle nuances of human relationships, making the novel resonate with authenticity and emotional depth. The narrative's contemplative style and compelling prose draw readers into a world where ordinary lives are rendered extraordinary through its brilliant storytelling.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781914198564

Publisher: Daunt Books

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 25 May 2023

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Daunt Books

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Width: 129.0mm

Height: 198.0mm

Weight: 250g

Pages: 128

About the Author

Natalia Ginzburg (1916-1991) was born in Sicily and is regarded as one of the most important Italian writers of the twentieth century. She wrote dozens of essays, plays, and novels, including Voices in the Evening, All Our Yesterdays, and Family Lexicon, which won the prestigious Strega Prize in 1963. She was involved in activism throughout her life, and served in the Italian parliament from 1983 to 1987.

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  • Family Lexicon
    'The places, events and people are all real. I have invented nothing.' Natalia Ginzburg wrote her masterful, Strega Prize-winning novel Family Lexicon while living in London in the 1960s. Homesick for her big, noisy Italian family, she summoned them in this novel, which is a celebration of the routines and rituals, in-jokes and insults, and above all, the repeated sayings...
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  • The Dry Heart
    The Dry Heart begins and ends with the matter-of-fact pronouncement: 'I shot him between the eyes.' As the taleβ€”a plunge into the chilly waters of loneliness, desperation, and revengeβ€”proceeds, the narrator's murder of her flighty husband takes on a certain logical inevitability. Stripped of any preciousness or sentimentality, Natalia Ginzburg's writing here is white-hot, tempered by rage. She transforms the...
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  • The Road to the City
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    'So there is no one to whom I can speak the words that most need to be spoken, about the events which most closely concern our family and what has happened to us; I have to keep them bottled up inside me and there are times when they threaten to choke me.' Valentino is the spoiled child of doting parents...
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  • The City and The House
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  • Family and Borghesia
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