by Ilio Masprone-Knight of the Principality of Monaco for cultural merits
MONACO. The benefits of reading are many, and they permeate our lives. The demands of modern life can sometimes leave little time for favorite pastimes such as reading. Take advantage of the Christmas Holidays, kick back, relax and be inspired by this reading list.
- THE SHELTERING SKY by Paul Bowles
- The mourned departure of the Oscar awarded Italian director Bernardo Bertolucci (March 16,1941- November 26, 2018), led me to recall one of the best movie ever made from a book,The Sheltering Sky, first novel of the American composer, author, and translator Paul Bowles. Recepted as one of the “100 Best English-language Novels of the century” by TIME and by the Modern Library, THE SHELTERING SKY is a story about three American travelers adrift in the cities and deserts of North Africa after World War II. explores the limits of humanity when it touches the unfathomable emptiness and impassive cruelty of the desert. This Paperback, Penguin Red Classics, 342 pages, published June 1st 2007 by Penguin Books (first published 1949) P.S. edition features an extra 16 pages of insights into the book, including author interviews, recommended reading, and more. As for The Sheltering Sky interpreted by John Malkovic, Debra Winger and Campbell Scott, this movie won 1 Golden Globe, another 8 wins & 8 nominations.
- A VOID TO BE FILLED by Flavia Marcella Tealdo (Vuoti da riempire)
“There are walls that are more difficult to cross and balustrades more unshakable than those of a prison, when the spirit and the will are imprisoned, but only those who have the necessary resources to fill their gaps can hope to find freedom and regain the world of light “. When I read this sentence I decided to read this book. It is a vaguely autobiographical novel in which the author Flavia Marcella Tealdo focuses over a way of life common to many women. Born in Turin, Tealdo taught literature in high school and at the University. She has been involved in teaching and training, paying particular attention to methodologies and tools for teaching Latin language and literature. After publishing literary analysis articles, textbooks and catalogs of art exhibitions, this book is his first novel, edited by Pietro Pintore. In the most unlikely and unimaginable places, truly surprising events can occur which, despite the emergence of contingent and ordinary situations, are decisive in turning the life of many individuals into a turning point. Even in a prison, you can (re) find something or someone you’ve been looking for for a long time. It may happen when existence has negated its promises, gradually losing its meaning or suddenly becoming an infinite tragedy. Alessandra C., who has resumed his role as a teacher in the school located inside the prison of his district, meets the convict Letizia S., who follows her class. The confrontation between the two women triggers a series of dynamics which, by giving body to the respective ghosts, determine at once the solution of the critical nodes which chain their lives, bound by the obsession that one would have given everything to have what the other has thrown. The intersection of the plans that punctuate external and internal realities can thus contribute to the realization of a new awareness and a lucid focus on the authentic truths of which both women are carriers, as well as to give voice to presences which, despite their material incorporation, have a substantial existence status.
- THE NEAPOLITAN QUARTET by Elena Ferrante
- The Neapolitan quartet have sold more than 10 m copies in 40 countries. The Neapolitan Novels is a 4-part series by the Italian novelist Elena Ferrante, translated by Ann Goldstein and published by Europa Editions (New York). It includes the following novels: My Brilliant Friend (2012), The Story of a New Name (2013), Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay (2014), and The Story of the Lost Child (2015). The series has been characterized as a bildungsroman, or coming-of-age story. The series follows the lives of two perceptive and intelligent girls, Elena (sometimes called “Lenù”) Greco and Raffaella (“Lila”) Cerullo, from childhood to adulthood and old age, as they try to create lives for themselves amidst the violent and stultifying culture of their home – a poor neighborhood on the outskirts of Naples, Italy.The novels are narrated by Elena Greco. Central themes in the novels include women’s friendship and the shaping of women’s lives by their social milieu, sexual and intellectual jealousy and competition within female friendships, female ambivalence about filial and maternal roles, the ascent of intelligent children out of violent domestic and social environments, class conflict, the role of literature and the social responsibility of the writer amidst social upheaval and within protest movements, the changing conditions of women in the 1970s, early computerization, and the Italian factory strikes of the 1970s. A 32-part television series The Neapolitan Novels is also in the works and will be co-produced by the Italian producer Wildside for Fandango Productions, with screenwriting led by the writer Francesco Piccolo. On March 30, 2017, it was announced that HBO and RAI would broadcast the first eight episodes which are an adaptation of My Brilliant Friend, the first of the four Neapolitan Novels, set to premiere on HBO on November 18, 2018 and on RAI November 27, 2018. The series was also adapted into a play by April De Angelis that opened at the Rose Theatre, Kingston in March 2017.
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A WHOLE NEW LIFE by Lucia Giovannini
An encouraging and transformational guide for living your best, ideal life by the Italian Louise Hay…Do you ever wish your life were different? Do you ever feel the need to have more time, to change your job, or to move to another city? What if you knew exactly what to change in your lifestyle, your behaviour, in yourself, or in your relationships, would you go ahead and do it?If you wish to follow your heart but don’t know where to start, this book will speak to both your mind and your feelings. If you’re looking for a practical solution, it will provide the tools you need to finally choose the life you’ve always wanted. If you feel the change is too hard, complicated, or altogether impossible, this book will help you through it in a step‐by step and easy‐to‐understand manner. A Whole New Life talks about dreams and how to turn them into achievable goals, how to develop flexibility without losing your sense of direction, and how to identify and eliminate mechanisms that bring us to a standstill, that evoke fear and anxiety and hinder our full self-realization. This book is first a promise, then an idea, a series of steps and, in the end, a reality.
