Il nuovo Barnum / The new Barnum
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Autor:
Alessandro Baricco
Country:
Italy (IT)
Book Theme:
Contemporary writers of your country
Publisher:
Feltrinelli
Publishing Year:
2016
He is a popular Italian writer, director and performer. His novels have been translated into a wide number of languages.After receiving degrees in philosophy (under Gianni Vattimo) and piano, he published essays on music criticism: Il genio in fuga (1988) on Gioachino Rossini, and L’anima di Hegel e le mucche del Wisconsin (“Hegel’s Soul and the Cows of Wisconsin”, 1992) on the relation between music and modernity.Baricco debuted as a novelist with Castelli di rabbia (translated as Lands of Glass) in 1991. In 1993 he co-founded a creative writing school in Turin, naming it Scuola Holden after J. D. Salinger’s Holden Caulfield. The Scuola Holden hosts a variety of courses on narrative techniques including screenwriting, journalism, videogames, novels and short stories.
National Award for Children’s and Young People’s
Abstract
Baricco’s The New Barnum is a masterpiece that represents what the world is in a few pages. Described by the author’s own eyes, the details are so meticulous that the reader has the feeling of entering the pages. This is not just a desk novel, but a collection of articles Baricco wrote for various newspapers and magazines. The title is in reference to the circus performer Phyleas Taylor Barnum, who is one of the greatest circus performers.The author’s idea seems clear from the outset: symbolically describe the world as a circus, a incredibly show full of twists and turns, as well as life. The pen’s skill in capturing all the nuances of reality through this collection of articles is remarkable. A journey into stories, feelings, people and landscapes, and contradictions as he writes: “we travel fast and stop little, we listen to fragments and never the whole, we write on our phones, we don’t get married forever, we watch cinema without going into cinemas anymore. We queue slowly to eat fast food” The first title is already emblematic: ‘FREAKS PISTOLISTS AND ILLUSIONISTS’. Reading the first lines, we have the feeling of starting a new adventure with the writer who guides you through the words to make you understand, also through his eyes, how the world is “ wonderfully horrible”, he clarifies: “I am interested in those pieces of the world where horror and the marvellous intertwine in a inextricable way I am fascinated to reflect on all that is horrific that can arise on ground we believe to be positive and just”. An extremely complex subject explained to an eight-year-old child. The words flow simply and easily. The reader almost empathises with the child who listens attentively and asks with curiosity. The book then describes the contrasts that exist between humans, their imagination and their perception of reality. The aim of the work is to open the reader’s eyes, to observe things with new eyes, and to accept the good and bad things as part of the theatre of life.
