SHORT SENTIMENTAL JOURNEY

by Italo Svevo ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 1967

Svevo, the prominent Italian writer of the twenties who was discovered by Joyce, left only a small body of published works--notably The Confessions of Zeno--had only one central character who prefaced the anti-hero of today, the ineffectual little man. In this group of short stories he is old: ""It must have been ordained by mother Nature that old men should see better at a distance, because there is no object in their having things within reach"" since they cannot deal with things of the world. Here too they cannot cope with their adversaries, confident youths, shrewd activists. And their thoughts create a private world, one of introspection, involution, of doubt and ultimate affirmation. In the most well-known story here, The Hoax, his old man transforms himself and his friends into the sparrows of his fables to reach life's truths and thus prevail through his dreams. All of these characters, disengaged from the world, use a ""touch of the poet"" to ""beautify or blur"" things as they are.... These stories comprise Svevo's last works and, while special, do have a definite place in the paradigm of modern European literature.

Pub Date: April 1, 1967

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: University of California Press

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1967

Categories: FICTION