The Earth Is Falling
Translated from Italian by Shaun Whiteside.
- £12.00
- Available
- Paperback published on 28/03/2024
- Page count: 280 pages
- ISBN: 9781913513474
Quick take
The Earth is Falling is a haunting and magical novel based around the existence of an abandoned village outside Naples.
Synopsis
The deserted houses that still stand there are peopled with ghosts who live in a perpetual present from which time has effectively been abolished. The village appears to be semi-alive; the landslide which ominously awaits and which will eventually lead to the abandonment of the place has yet to arrive (yet its rumbles are heard).
Pellegrino peoples Alento with eccentrics, luminaries, an eternally optimistic town crier. In the closing pages, the narrator Estella summons the remaining ghosts for a final dinner. The overall effect is unsettling, haunting and uncanny, the trapped souls doomed to repeat their circumscribed daily life for ever, cut off from the world but dimly aware of its continued presence outside.
The pervading mood of nostalgia and melancholy works in stark contrast with the inevitability of the impending catastrophe of the landslide that threatens to obliterate their world forever.
About the author
Carmen Pellegrino is an Italian historian and writer. An eclectic scholar, she has focused her research on collective movements of dissidence, racism, social exclusion and the conditions of exploitation of migrants (including the essay ‘The Hours of my Day’, published in the anthology Qui and Fatigue: Stories, Tales and Reportage from the World of Work, 2010, winner of the Reportage Napoli Monitor award).
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Founded in 2019 by Jess Chandler, Prototype is a publisher of fiction, poetry, anthologies and interdisciplinary projects. With an emphasis on producing unique and beautiful books, they are committed to championing the work of new voices in...
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