The Three Graces: 'The book everybody should be reading this summer' Andrew O'Hagan
Autor Amanda Craigen Limba Engleză Paperback – 2 mai 2024
La prima vedere, The Three Graces pare a fi o lectură de vacanță idilică, un omagiu adus peisajelor toscane scăldate în soare, unde viața se scurge lent între recitaluri de pian și nunți la ferme rustice. Însă, pe măsură ce pătrundem în narațiune, observăm cum Amanda Craig deconstruiește această imagine de carte poștală, dezvăluind tensiunile tăioase ale lumii contemporane. Premisa este brutală: Enzo, un vecin în vârstă, împușcă un migrant din fereastra dormitorului său, un gest care fisurează liniștea aparentă a comunității de expați și localnici din dealurile Toscanei. Ne-a atras atenția modul în care Craig echilibrează fragilitatea celor trei protagoniste — Ruth, Diana și Marta — cu realități dure precum criza migrației, influența oligarhilor și povara demenței. Stilul este unul contemplativ, dar marcat de o ironie fină, amintind de Summer in Tuscany de Elizabeth Adler prin decorul evocator, dar se diferențiază radical prin profunzimea comentariului social și refuzul de a ignora problemele politice. Dacă în The Golden Rule autoarea analiza reziliența feminină în context britanic, aici ea extinde perspectiva asupra întregii Europe. Observăm o structură narativă densă, unde ritmul este dictat de urgența alegerilor morale pe care personajele trebuie să le facă în doar două săptămâni de primăvară. Este un roman despre „inima umană de neîmblânzit”, care reușește să fie simultan amuzant și profund tulburător, punând sub semnul întrebării ceea ce ne unește într-o lume tot mai fragmentată.
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Specificații
ISBN-10: 0349144915
Pagini: 416
Dimensiuni: 130 x 200 x 42 mm
Greutate: 0.33 kg
Editura: Little Brown
Colecția Abacus
Locul publicării:London, United Kingdom
De ce să citești această carte
Recomandăm această carte celor care caută o literatură contemporană inteligentă, care nu sacrifică profunzimea pentru atmosferă. Veți câștiga o perspectivă nuanțată asupra îmbătrânirii și a responsabilității morale, totul într-un decor care vibrează de frumusețe și pericol. Este lectura ideală pentru cineva care a apreciat „The Lie of the Land” și dorește să vadă cum Amanda Craig aplică aceeași analiză socială ascuțită asupra idilei italiene.
Despre autor
Amanda Craig (născută în 1959) este o romancieră, critic literar și jurnalistă britanică de renume, laureată a premiului Catherine Pakenham. Este cunoscută pentru capacitatea sa de a „anatomiza” societatea modernă cu spirit critic și empatie, fiind adesea comparată cu marii realiști ai secolului al XIX-lea. În lucrări precum The Golden Rule sau High and Low, Craig explorează teme precum inegalitatea, moralitatea și reziliența, oferind cititorilor cronici sociale captivante și pline de înțelepciune despre viața în secolul XXI.
Descriere
'A brilliant piece of storytelling that revels in the world of expat old ladies in Tuscany, and should be the book that everybody's reading this summer' Andrew O'Hagan
'In the Tuscan hilltop village of Santorno, the setting for Amanda Craig's entertaining and bracing new novel, the Three Graces of her title are preparing for a spring wedding. Adorning this idyll Craig's Graces - Ruth, Marta and Diana - are a trio of elderly expatriates with a total of "four breasts, five eyes and three hip replacements" between them... witty, sharp-eyed and ridiculously enjoyable' Christobel Kent, Guardian
When Enzo, a local villager, shoots an illegal immigrant from his bedroom window one night it triggers a series of events that embroil old and young, rich and poor, native and foreign.
'Enjoyable and provocative... romantic and realistic' Emily Rhodes, Spectator
'I absolutely LOVED The Three Graces. It's about Tuscany and Umbria and Italy and immigration and ageing and generational divides and art and beauty and music and suffering and love and joy and life. It's bursting with compassion and wisdom' Christina Patterson
Recenzii
I revelled in The Three Graces - such an intriguing cast, so convincingly presented, and a narrative that continually surprises. The Tuscan backdrop is illuminating, the apposition between old and young so persuasively displayed. A terrific read.
People talk about the infirmities of old age, but what about the firmities? What about the beliefs, the events, the politics, the odd secret? The Three Graces is a brilliant piece of storytelling that revels in the world of expat old ladies in Tuscany, and it should be the book everybody's reading this summer. The setting's idyllic, the air is mild in May, but there's a threat of England and family histories just beyond the horizon. It's a novel E.M. Foster would've loved.
Gorgeous and generous... rich with characters and suffused with sunlight. It has so much to say on age - the three graces of the title are all over eighty; wonderful to have elderly characters, so usually marginal, right at the centre of the plot
I love Amanda Craig's work, always supercharged with bright colouration and passionate feeling. And her imagination seems boundless: a defiant, bubbling wellspring of free-wheeling enquiry in a literary landscape made more and more arid and monotonous
Thoroughly enjoyable... Craig's continuing interest in exposing the fault lines of class, wealth and the inequality of opportunity is striking
A witty and perceptive writer with a line line in figuration... Craig is loyal to her creations... and to her topics, which are given a fresh perspective by the Italian setting : intergenerational differences, the death of local communities and global migration. They elevate her from a state-of-the-nation to a state-of-Europe novelist
Witty and timely... Alongside the fantastic cast and characters, Craig has lots to say about issues of the day
Clever plotting, memorable characters and a completely satisfying ending
I loved The Three Graces... the combination of three "mature" central characters, the extended families spread over several generations and the way so many modern issues were reflected against a classical, Mediterranean backdrop make it Amanda Craig's most resonant book yet, a brilliant examination of modern life set against the sunshine of ancient Tuscany
Craig's ambitious, masterly novel reveals the darkness that lies behind the E.M. Forster-esque vistas without ever losing control of the fast-paced story at hand
As ever, the binary oppositions of modern Britain are compassionately dissected through the various tangled relationships of her sprawling cast... Craig wears her satire lightly, even delightfully at times
Enjoyable and provocative... The novel is both easy and challenging, romantic and realistic. Its success lies in the ever-present tension between light and dark. These three graces turn out to be more Caravaggio than Botticelli
Craig's warmth and attention to detail means the characters are fully formed and compelling
Witty, sharp-eyed, ridiculously enjoyable... Craig is too clever a storyteller to allow herself to be skewered as neatly as her characters are
[A] rambunctious state-of-the-nation caper from Craig... The impending nuptials for the clearly disastrously ill-matched hedge-funder and his influencer girlfriend spark all manner of highly-enjoyable chaos and conflict among the sprawling guestlist. Great spiky fun.
Multilayered, full of discreet wisdom and wit... [a] most ingeniously plotted and ultimately satisfying novel. There's much more to it than just readability
A thought-provoking, five-star ride with plenty to appeal to all generations
While The Three Graces doesn't shy away from the grim social and economic realities facing 21st-century Europe, it's still great, fizzy fun and a perfect holiday read
We're back in the dreamy Tuscan hills... the story gets into its stride, satisfyingly tying up loose ends and building to a spectacular wedding scene
The plotting is intricate and the themes are big, yet the book's special quality comes from something else: a friendship between three octogenarian women whose thoughtful preoccupations with the past, the present and each other form the novel's charming centre
I absolutely LOVED The Three Graces. It's about Tuscany and Umbria and Italy and immigration and ageing and generational divides and art and beauty and music and suffering and love and joy and life. It's bursting with compassion and wisdom. Do treat yourself. We could all do with more beauty, compassion and joy
This is such an enjoyable book. If you have ever wondered what it would be like to live in Tuscany instead of passing through in a drunken haze - read this pronto
In the Tuscan hilltop village of Santorno, the setting for Amanda Craig's entertaining and surprisingly bracing new novel, the Three Graces of her title are preparing for a spring wedding. Adorning this idyll (or 'Hampstead-by-Tuscany', as it is christened by a disgruntled member of the younger generation) Craig's Graces - Ruth, Marta and Diana - are a trio of elderly expatriates with a total of 'four breasts, five eyes and three hip replacements' between them.
When Enzo, a local villager, shoots an illegal immigrant from his bedroom window one night it triggers a series of events that embroil old and young, rich and poor, native and foreign.
'Gorgeous and generous... rich with characters and suffused with sunlight' Lissa Evans, author of Old Baggage
'I absolutely LOVED The Three Graces. It's about Tuscany and Umbria and Italy and immigration and ageing and generational divides and art and beauty and music and suffering and love and joy and life. It's bursting with compassion and wisdom. Do treat yourself. We could all do with more beauty, compassion and joy' Christina Patterson