| Title | : | Memoirs of a Gnostic Dwarf |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 1873982712 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781873982716 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 336 |
| Publication | : | First published January 1, 1995 |
Memoirs of a Gnostic Dwarf Reviews
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Church isn’t God. Church is man. Church isn’t about divinity. Church is about power.
What, you may well ask, is the precise nature of Gnosticism? What exactly is it, and what is a Gnostic? As far as my beliefs are concerned I like to think of myself as a proselytizer but not, I hope, a prolix windbag; therefore I shall state our basic Gnostic conviction concisely: we hold that there are two equally-matched powers in the universe, one good and the other evil, and these are perpetually at war with one another. The good power created spirit, while the evil power created matter. Matter, material existence, corporeal form, the body, flesh, is evil. It imprisons and holds captive the spirit. In being born into the world of matter, we have fallen from our true spiritual state; the object of our existence is to return to it. The devil created this world, and it is hell.
Memoirs of a Gnostic Dwarf is a provocative slice of postmodern history. It is a tale of treason and love. It is a story of squalor and beauty.
It is the world we live in. -
Plonytė riba tarp istorinių faktų ir autoriaus fantazijos. Čia sutinkame popiežių Leoną X ir jo pagalbininką nykštuką, gražuolį Rafaelį, genijų Mikelandželą ir apsileidėlį Leonardą. Kūrinys pasitinka stipriai – smogia sekso, purvo ir šlykštumo banga, kuri, mano manymu, buvo skirta tik šokiruoti ir todėl atrodė kiek perspausta. Ant kiekvieno kampo vis minima moters krūtinė, pasistojusi vyro varpa, dar pridėkim šūdų, bezdalų ir gausime tiesiog puikią mišrainę. Žinoma, Renesanso laikai tikrai nebuvo vien auksu spindintys ir vien nuostabius menininkus pristatantys, taigi galima sveikinti autorių už nenugludintą to laikotarpio atvaizdavimą, bet vien tai, kad to šoko kur kas daugiau pirmuose puslapiuose nei toliau knygoje, verčia galvoti, kad jis buvo pasitelktas daugiausiai skaitytojo dėmesiui prikaustyti.
Kūrinys žavi išskirtinumu ir unikalia tematika – nesu dažna istorinių romanų skaitytoja, bet drįsčiau spėti, kad pasakojimo iš popiežiaus padėjėjo nykštuko gnostiko perspektyvos dar nesam turėję. Čia, be abejo, daug kalbama apie krikščionybę, jos įtaką, galią ir (ne)naudą, apie turtus, kuriais disponavo to meto krikščioniško pasaulio lyderiai, ir apie visą purvą, korupciją ir valdžios žaidimus, kurie už to slėpėsi. Kartais romanas per daug atsiremia į istorinių faktų atpasakojimą ir verčia nuobodžiauti, bet kai grįžtama prie veikėjų, jų asmeninių išgyvenimų ir įvairiausių intrigų – dėmesys grįžta ir puslapius verti su dideliu smalsumu.
Daug filosofinių pasvarstymų, daug juodo humoro, daug istorijos (ypač gnosticizmo), kurią buvo įdomu pakartoti arba išgirsti pirmą kartą. Ir daug purvo. Jei jo nebijot, ši kelionė man pasirodė tikrai gana išskirtinė ir verta dėmesio. -
Prendete un nano deforme, un culto eretico dell'alto medioevo, un papa con tendenze omo, un Raffaello noto per le sue prestazioni sessuali, un Leonardo con tendenze macabre, una trama che bim bum e pure bam, un linguaggio boccacesco ed una prosa albertiana, uno scrittore inglese che però ha vissuto a Roma e ne è rimasto stregato, agitate, mescolate e servite.
Avrete un romanzo godibilissimo, machiavellico (aulico e volgare al tempo stesso), dettagliatamente storico e pieno di colpi di scena.
P.S: un grazie a GR (ed in particolare a Giulia) che mi ha fatto conoscere il libro tramite le vostre recensioni. -
This was fantastic historical novel indeed and certainly very unique. It is a story about Vatican during pope Leo X, known as a patron of Michelangelo and Raphael (but the reason for his affection toward master Raphael wasn’t that much artistic or at least not only related with his artistic abilities. It is about political situation in Vatican and rise of Martin Luther. Story is told by Peppe a Gnostic dwarf, an incredibly eloquent, witty and likable character.
Book is very carnal, decadent and is not for religiously sensitive, homophobic readers. I like very much that history interweaves with some less known, private things about the characters; later I checked on the net and in textbooks and find out indeed that this novel has incredible level of historic accuracy (including those private little things as well).
The Inquisition, Gnostic philosophy, political intrigues, freak show, poisoned drinks, screams of horror and the ones of carnal pleasure that are coming both from the dark street alleys and the papal chambers … this grotesque image has been paint with blood and semen and in the end you really don’t know if the bad ones were really bad and good guys really that good? Of course you really must dismiss [your own:] morality otherwise you’ll be completely lost. I’ve found myself longing to understand and agree with some things but just couldn’t, some things on the other hand were so insane that I couldn’t even forced myself to comprehend. I mean their essence.
I really have no doubts that Mr. Madsen informed himself about the way the Gnostic liturgy has been performed [after all, everything else I was keen to check it turned out to be exactly as he wrote in the book:] but then, there’s no way I could understand the meaning of certain rituals. And maybe that could be the “flaw”: Peppe didn’t explain the essence of the rituals while in the same time he’s sending a message directly to the reader (he’s fully aware that you’re holding this book) of a Gnostic ideology and its goals. But he left rituals naked and as such quite repulsive and even ridiculous. Oh and utterly grotesque for sure!
Then it gives one great and quite unique view on the Lutheran schism. I believe he was closer to Lutheranism than Catholicism in spite the fact that he was one of the closest friends with Pope Leo X and lived with him in Vatican. The story of selling (pardon, “preaching”) indulgencies was hilarious and indeed he shares the same emotion as we (or should I say myself) about it. It’s so obviously corrupted and greedy and absurd (people purchased indulgencies for sins they were about to commit and Church didn’t objected whatsoever!). Then they started to sell indulgencies that can be applied to the dead! There’s even a verse about it:
“As soon as money in the coffer rings,
the soul from purgatory’s fire springs”
No wonder Martin Luther rebelled! Who wouldn’t? You know, sometimes I wonder if those high Church officials are believers at all?
And in the end I must mention the language. The novel is pure linguistic embroidery which is beautiful … if you’re native English speaker. However if you’re not [like myself:] the novel will require an additional work: browsing thru your dictionary. But this story is more than worth of all “troubles”, you’ll be richly rewarded. This is one of those novels that certainly shouldn’t be missed. Highly recommending but as I said at the beginning this is not novel for everyone. -
This is a hard novel to categorize. It's part historical fiction, part tragic-comedy, part treatise on gnostic thought, and it's part historical lecture on European renaissance-era religion and politics. But somehow it works.
In essence, "Memoirs of a Gnostic Dwarf" is a story of the mysticism of Gnostic thought, orbiting around the interesting and sometimes madcap reign of Pope Leo X, Giovanni de Medici. Peppe (the dwarf) serves as narrator by providing glimpses of his youth, his introduction to Gnosticism, love, and education, which ultimately lands him in a circus, and then the 'court' of Leo X (itself not an actual circus, though one could make that arguement based on Peppe's descriptions).
Peppe is more tragic than comic. He ruminates on his physically painful youth (did I mention he has a rather large hump on his back?) "In the beginning was the pain, and the pain was with me, and the pain was me. It constituted the entirety of my burgeoning consciousness."
And one can't help but make comparisons to George R.R. Martin's own tortured dwarf, Tyrion Lannister. Peppe's mother, in a drunken fit, says, "God knows, I should have suffocated you at birth." Peppe responds in his narrative, "There was a time when I would have wholeheartedly agreed with this; now, however, I am rather glad that she did not suffocate me at birth. Strange, isn't it, how one can always learn to love oneself, however ghastly one is?"
Madsen displays a large and complex vocabulary which dually proves the literate nature of the writer as well as the value of having an e-reader with a built-in dictionary. His writing is big, bold and vividly descriptive.
In one particularly expressive scene, Peppe's only love is tortured for heresy. His description displays well Madsen's vibrant writing abilities: "...what followed fills me with anguish; the memory of it grips my heart like an icy vice. As I write, I know that tears will soon come. A huge and heavy sadness covers me like a shroud, and I cannot shake it off; indeed, I do not want to - for every act of recall, every rearoused memory of what they did to her, merits the expiation of a fresh agony of the soul. A sword pierced and entered the fabric of my psyche that day, and it is there still, for I feel its blade, as sharp and as deadly as ever, move between the infinitesimal spaces where socket meets socket and joint meets joint."
The middle third of the book, author David Madsen focuses much of his time on the political wranglings of and around the papal states. I'm always very appreciative of the historic angle of any historical fiction, however the complications surrounding the Vatican, Spain and France come at the cost of any real propullsion of Peppe's story.
The themes are rather large and heavy, and several plot lines are laced with overt sexual activities. Some may argue that it's gratuitous, but I would respond that it works effectively with the overall tone and themes of the novel.
What is Gnosticism, the reader may ask. One needn't wait long as Peppe provides his definition early in the story. "We hold that there are two equally-matched powers in the universe, one good and the other evil, and these are perpetually at war with one another. The good power created spirit, while the evil power created matter. Matter...corporeal form, the body, flesh, is evil...The devil (or at least a devil) created this world and it is hell." -
This is a fantastic read, unless you have a low tolerance for filth. The story begins with a detailed description of Pope Leo X's sore and leaking anus, and it only gets better from there. Peppe, the self-described Gnostic dwarf, is a wry and clever narrator who will take you from profundity to puerility within the same sentence. His memoirs are partially a deep contemplation of the hideousness of this world as experienced by a man trapped in a monstrous body—hideousness that leads Peppe to become a practitioner of Gnosticism and an unrepentant heretic. These ponderings are balanced by Peppe's incisive commentary on the events that take place around him, including freak shows, aberrant sex acts, and the decidedly unholy farts of the pope. The book is also packed with delicious GRE-level words such as "pasquinade," "ochlocratic," and "quiddity," which will enable you to feel intelligent while reading about all sorts of abominations.
As Peppe himself notes, "Prurience is one of life's great equalizers." -
Clementissime Domine, cuius inenarrabilis es virtus
This morning His Holiness summoned me to read to him from Saint Augustine, while the physician applied unguents and salves to his suppurating arse; one in particular, which was apparently concocted from virgin's piss (where did they find a virgin in Rome?) and a rare herb from the private hortus siccus of Bonet de Lattes, the pope's Jewish physician-in-chief, stank abominably.
(Memoirs of a Gnostic Dwarf, p. 11)
Great opening line, or greatest opening line? -
Touches on some serious moral and philosophical issues, but wallows in shock-for-shock-value's-sake. A book I found interesting, but not necessary enjoyable.
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A prose that begins its narrative journey from the suppurated posterior of a pontiff could either turn out to be a surprising tour de force or a blasphemous work of shock and disgust.
David Madsen masterfully manages to produce the former while occasionally teasing us with vignettes of the latter. This requires a strong stomach, a large heart, an open mind and a fertile imagination.
This is a work that celebrates both the profane and the profound. Peppe is the narrator, the victim, the schemer, the coward and the hero. From abject squalor, the Dwarf rises both in aspirations and in spirit and through mimicking the voices of the powerful and the known, he finds his own majestic voice.
Memoirs of a Gnostic Dwarf is a historical romp through Renaissance Italy replete with the horrors of Inquisition, political machinations, bacchanalian orgies and sadistic violence. The 'memoirs' propelled by the life and the destiny of the protagonist, Giuseppe (“Peppe”) Amadonelli, is often a brutal testament of the times and the scatological anecdotes that frequently crop in the narrative is perhaps emblematic of the decadence and debauchery that lies in the underbelly of the history of renaissance. -
Recensione intitolabile: Di come la media tra tre, tre e tre fa un numero tendente al quattro.
Eh sì, perché questo libro mi sconvolge le basilari leggi matematiche.
Potremmo definirlo un intreccio tra tre filoni, quello storico, quello finto-biografico, e quello umoristico, quindi vado con ordine.
Le memorie (voto 3)
Peppe, lo storpio proveniente dai bassifondi di Trastevere, racconta la sua vita, una storia forte e vividamente sentita quando parla delle sue origini, misere e spietate. Senza tanti fronzoli, senza tanti imbellettamenti, ci racconta della sua vita, saltellando tra passato e presente, tra la Roma popolare e la Roma vaticana, passando attraverso tutte le complicazioni che uno come lui deve affrontare per vivere. Ci racconta di sé, della sua ri-nascita all'interno del movimento gnostico, e appone il suo punto di vista disincantato sull'esistenza sua e di chi gli sta intorno.
Non so se sia voluto o meno dall'autore, ma da un certo punto in poi l'intensità della sua storia narrata e la profondità della caratterizzazione sembrano annacquarsi, con un Peppe quasi relegato a osservatore e non ad attore.
L'aspetto storico (voto 3)
Alla vita di Peppe si intreccia quella del XVI secolo, fatto di Inquisizioni, di una Chiesa padrona che si litiga i territori e i poteri con gli altri Imperi, e che cerca di contrastare quelli che diventeranno gli scismi religiosi. Sulla scena intanto di alternano varie figure storiche, dall'ovvio papa Leone X, di cui Peppe è consigliere e amico-buffone, a Leonardo da Vinci, Raffaello, Martin Lutero. Eccetera? Eccetera.
Se da un lato è molto godibile l'aspetto di rivisitazione degli eventi e dei personaggi, demistificati e umanizzati, dall'altro il raccontare nel dettaglio certi episodi storici per pagine, come potrebbe fare un qualsiasi bignami, lascia un po' il tempo che trova, e dà una sensazione di "tappare i buchi" quando non c'era altro da dire, quando si voleva allungare il brodo, o quando non si era riusciti a pensare ad altri escamotage per interrompere la narrazione.
E qua non si percepisce nemmeno la voce di Peppe, né come attore né come osservatore, ma piuttosto si sente palpabilmente l'intervento esterno di un autore.
L'umorismo (?) (voto 3)
Questa mattina Sua Santità mi ha chiamato a leggergli sant'Agostino, mentre il medico applicava unguenti e balsami al suo culo purulento; uno in particolare, a quanto pare preparato con piscio di vergine (dove avranno scovato una vergine a Roma?) e con un'era rara proveniente dall'hortus siccus privato di Bonet de Lattes, il protomedico ebreo del Papa, puzzava in modo abominevole. Tuttavia, non era peggiore del fetore nauseabondo delle pustole suppuranti e delle piaghe stillanti che adornavano il martoriato deretano di Sua Santità. [...] Con l'alba sollevata sopra i propri fianchi, e le mutande calate attorno alle caviglie, l'uomo più potente del mondo giaceva stravaccato sul letto come un efebo in attesa di essere debitamente sodomizzato.
Sodomizzato lo è stato, più e più volte; donde le condizioni del suo culo. Sua Santità preferisce assumere il ruolo femminile, contorcendosi e strillando sotto qualche nerboruto giovanotto, come una sposa penetrata per la prima volta.
(pag. 11)
(che poi sarebbe la prima del romanzo)
Ed ecco a voi l'incipit. Siamo nel 1518 e 'sto nano gnostico ci dà dentro subito.
A differenza del mio santissimo e venerabilissimo (amatissimo, meravigliosissimo, divertentissimo)
Il vangelo secondo Biff, che ti conquista pian piano, che si fa prima apprezzare come un simpatico amico con cui parlare di tanto in tanto per poi entrare ossessivamente nella tua mente ormai completamente innamorata, Memorie di un nano gnostico è l'amicone di tutti fin da subito, quello un po' sbruffone e dalla battuta facile e molto diretta. Quello che insomma è una compagnia piacevole e divertente ma che non colpisce al cuore. E questo ti preclude ulteriori stelline, I'm sorry nano.
Oppure sono io che leggo con gli occhi di un altro innamoramento recente? I'm sorry, nano, ma il mio cuore, al momento (sì, è un cuore volubile) è di Biff, e questo ti preclude ulteriori stelline. (ho una netta sensazione di déjà-écrit, ma non capisco proprio il perché... Chissà!)
Insomma, il lato umoristico io non l'ho colto più di tanto. Punta decisamente sulla cruda brutalità e volgarità, la qual cosa non mi scolvolge né mi fa scandalizzare. Il risultato, molto più semplicemente, non mi convince del tutto, in quanto mi sembra di leggere non attraverso gli occhi smaliziati, arguti e taglienti di un intelligente narratore, ma più attraverso lo sguardo di una servetta qualunque, votata ai pettegolezzi e alla visione morbosa di ciò che le sta intorno. Sono talmente smaliziata io, forse, che il sentirmi di stare sbirciando da sotto un tavolo le perversioni altrui non mi sembra umoristico, è semplicemente quello che è. Grottesco, più probabilmente; colpisce in modo facile la sensibilità, sicuro. Sì, ci sono delle parti, delle battute che fanno sogghignare, ma lo humour, 'ndo sta?
E allora perché un giudizio complessivo tendente al quattro? Ma che ne so io! Sicuramente una valutazione gestaltica e un intreccio sufficientemente buono delle varie parti del romanzo gli donano qualcosa in più rispetto ad un'analisi formale.
Ma a me piace di più metterla così, molto semplice: se un giudizio a parole cerca di essere logico e razionale, un giudizio a stelline è puramente istintivo. E, a quanto pare, il mio istinto durante le lezioni di algebra dormiva. -
Gosh, I don't know what to say about this one. On the one hand, it's just as rapey - no, more so - as Outlander, which I just panned. And you can throw in a lot more sadistic violence, gore, graphic suffering, really disturbing sex, and nasty STDs. But it's so much better than Outlander. Worlds apart. All the nasty, horrifying parts are fully in service to the message of the book, not thrown in to be titillating sexy-rape.
Peppe is a dwarf who is also painfully deformed; he lives in pain and squalor and despair until he is introduced to the heretical teachings of Gnosticism - the idea that the material world is inherently evil and was not created by the good and spiritual God, but by Satan. Because why would a good and loving God create such suffering and nastiness? The horrifying events Peppe witnesses/experiences are pretty convincing - I'm half a Gnostic myself now. For all the despair, there's still a message about spreading light and love, and the author makes your head spin by making you feel compassion for the most dreadful characters.
The story is told on the backdrop of the corrupt, obscenely lascivious and opulent Roman Catholic church (and its cruel, sadistic Inquisition) of the early 1500's, with a troublesome monk named Luther stirring up trouble in Germany. I'll admit I got a little lost in some of the political intrigue.
This was an impulsive read inspired by a Kindle daily deal, but I'm so glad I read it. But seriously, if graphic violence and torture are going to cause you a problem, you should steer clear. -
This is a book for people who are not easily offended since it has quite a bit of shock value, though I found it funny more than anything else since it has an ironic rather than a pure decadent tone a la Sade and similar authors.
I've read several books narrated by dwarfs and taking place in Europe of the 1400-1600's and this one is the weakest of all as storytelling and narrative pull go, with Arts and Wonders by G. Norminton the strongest in my opinion at least.
Very funny in a darkly ironic way but with a by the numbers plot and characters, The Memoirs of a Gnostic Dwarf is an ok read but it does not live up to the expectations of its superb opening. I've laughed out loud at many passages in the book and the satire works very well, but the plot, motivations of characters and the "dark" parts seem contrived and are quite unengaging. Brilliant in parts, "fake" in parts, it lacks the magic ingredient that makes a great novel.
Still worthwhile with the caveat above - do not read it if easily offended. Very, very explicit. -
3 and 1/2 stars
Gnosticism and a dwarf - do you really need more? If so, there is, literally, a whole freak show. And frequent references to Pope Leo's suppurating arse. And the always unexpected Inquisition. p.s. if reading this on Kindle, you will appreciate the easy accessibility of the dictionary feature.
Will read more by this author -
Šią apžvalgą būtų neprošal pradėti nuo sąvokos gnostikas paaiškinimo. Visuotinė lietuvių enciklopedija teigia, jog tai religinė filosofinė mokykla, dar kitaip sekta, kurios nariai tiki, kad kosmosas buvo sukurtas nepataisomo blogio. Kadangi kosmosui priklauso ir pats žmogus, tad kūnas ir jo geiduliai taip pat yra blogis, tik vienintelė dvasia laikoma dieviškąja kibirkštimi. Būtent į tokią draugiją ir patenka pagrindinis knygos personažas Pepė. Šiame romane labai sudėtinga suvokti, kas yra tikri istoriniai faktai, o kas tik rašytojo pramanas. Pastarasis taip pat itin paslaptingas, nes niekas iš tiesų taip ir nežino, kas yra tas David Madsen. Ši knyga itin tamsi ir purvina lygiai taip pat, kaip ir to meto Italija, kurioje ir vyksta visas veiksmas. Čia faktai nevyniojami į vatą, pateikiami ��iurkščiai ir visiškai tiesiai, nesinaudojant jokiomis užuolankomis. Būtent tai ir labiausiai šokiravo.
Jau nuo pat pirmųjų puslapių skaitytojas yra įmetamas į situaciją, kuomet yra aprašomi popiežiaus Leono X užpakalio skausmai ir problemos, mat šis per daug mėgo leisti naktis su vaikinais. O ir gydymas labai netradicinis, prireikia net skaisčios mergelės šlapimo! Tikriausiai pats ryškiausias šios knygos motyvas yra gėrio ir blogio priešprieša, kuomet teoriškai gerieji, net šventieji personažai parodomi su savomis ydomis, geiduliais. Leonardas da Vinčis demonstruojamas kaip smirdantis senis, pjaustantis numirėlius, todėl nuolat dvokiantis pūvančia mėsa, net pasiryžęs sumokėti gyvam žmogui, jog po jo mirties galėtų panaudoti kūną tyrimams. Dailininkas Rafaelis parodomas kaip kitų geidulių objektas, iš išorės labai nuolankus, bet vos pakrypus viskam link sekso, sužvėrėjantis. Tas pats Leonas X - garbėtroška, išrinktas į popiežius vien todėl, jog buvo tikėtasi, kad jis greitai mirs. Ir tarsi priešprieša visam tam gašlumui, purvui bei nesibaigiančioms problemoms, iškeliami gnostikai, kurie tiki Dievu, tačiau visai kitaip nei krikščionys bei garbina savišvietą bei kalbėjimo meną. Vis dėlto, gnostikai yra persekiojami ir deginami kaip eretikai, o krikščionys išaukštinami.
Man pačiai didžiausi šios knygos trūkumai buvo dažnai pasitaikantys pafilosofavimai, užsitęsiantys ir kelis puslapius, bet realios naudos taip ir neduodantys. Kartais apimdavo noras tiesiog tas vietas praleisti, nes dažniausiai tai tiesiog tos pačios mintys, perteiktos kitais žodžiais. Taip pat trikdė ir stiliaus nuoseklumo trūkumas. Viename skyriuje aprašymai pateikiami labai gašliai ir atvirai, o kitame jau tarsi vengiant kalbėti tiesiai ir bandant kažkaip atsikratyti anksčiau naudoto stiliaus. Iš tiesų sunku pasakyti ar tai buvo vertėjo sprendimas ar lygiai tas pats buvo ir originale. O ir pabaiga kažkaip ne iki galo patikėjau, net pasirodė, kad tai bene buvo primesta Pepei, nors jo asmenybei tai visiškai netiko.
Šis romanas mano rankose atsidūrė visai netikėtai ir tikrai negaliu pasakyti, kad gailiuosi, jog jį skaičiau. Dabar vis pagalvoju ar istorijos vadovėliuose aprašomos asmenybės iš tiesų galėjo būti tokie, kaip juos pateikia autorius. Tad, jeigu jums patinka istoriniai romanai, o ir nesate per daug jautrus ar religingas, nes kitu atveju tikrai liksite pasipiktinęs, tuomet kviečiu perskaityti šią knygą. -
"...opens with a stomach-turning description of Pope Leo's backside. The narrator is a hunchbacked dwarf and it is his job to read aloud from St Augustine while salves and unguents are applied to the Papal posterior..."
Well, this book is certainly original - I've never read anything like it before!
Very enjoyable and amusing in parts, but I found myself bogged down in others. Definitely worth a read though. -
So astonishingly funny and gruesome simultaneously. An eloquent period piece that does not spread the gore of simpler times thinly. The narrator is surprisingly reliable and you want a happy ending, due to the way he is a mouthpiece for stunning, lyrical observations. An excellent plot too
I wonder how many people converted to Gnosticism thanks to this book. -
Gnosticism is something that has always fascinated me, and so this book was right up my alley. It does get bogged down around the middle with lots of things that don't necessarily move the plot along (history, parties, etc.) but, overall, I really enjoyed this novel.
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Es un libro con una idea bastante original e interesante pero que no acaba de ser llevado de manera brillante a lo que podía ser una buena satírica. Tiene buenos momentos pero es muy irregular y no acaba de enganchar
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This book is absoluletly wonder ful.
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Found this in the used section of Gay's the Word. The store owner told me that when it came out, it was so popular. I am glad I bought it.
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labai autorius seksu susirūpinęs
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Secondo le note della quarta di copertina, "David Madsen" è lo pseudonimo di un rispettabile professore universitario inglese. Sapevatelo. In questo libro direi che i temi sullo sfondo del libro, che definirei quasi un romanzo storico-filosofico, sono quelli dei suoi studi: in effetti il libro è a mio parere riuscito molto meglio di Amnesie di un viaggiatore involontario.
Il libro afferma di essere un'autobiografia di Giuseppe Amadonelli, un nano che dopo una serie di vicissitudini entra nelle grazie di Giovanni de' Medici, cardinale prima e papa poi col nome di Leone X. Ma prima di allora era stato tratto dai bassifondi trasteverini dove sopravviveva e iniziato ai misteri dello gnosticismo, di cui per un breve periodo divenne anche Maestro: il tutto nella Roma dell'inizio del XVI secolo, con le beghe interne, le varie guerre condotte già dal predecessore Giulio II, e il montare dello scisma protestante. Curioso che questo sia il secondo libro che io abbia letto dove si parli di gnosticismo nella Roma rinascimentale, dopo La cupola del mondo: ci dev'essere qualcosa che piace molto agli autori stranieri in questa commistione.
Quello che non mi è chiaro è perché Madsen abbia deciso di inserire tutta quella roba splatter all'interno del testo, che personalmente mi ha dato un po' fastidio (magari a voi piacerà proprio per questo, intendiamoci): pensate che ha persino pubblicamente ringraziato "Herr Heinrich Arvé" per avergli fornito "preziosi ragguagli sull'incidenza delle perversioni sessuali nell'Italia del Rinascimento". Misteri. Per quanto riguarda la traduzione di Lorenzo Borgotallo e Filippo Patarino, è indubbiamente scorrevole pur mantenendo da un lato il livello "basso" della narrazione e dall'altro la correttezza delle parti storiche e (presumo) filosofiche, che almeno per me sono risultate chiare. Mi chiedo solo con qualche reminescenza manzoniana se i cardinali fossero già chiamati eminenze... -
This was an excellent book. Part history, part comedy, part tragedy, part Rabelaisian Romp, part religious treatise.
It's the story of a dwarf born to a slatternly fish-monger. He's saved, psychologically, by a pretty but deformed (beneath her clothing) gnostic (christian gnostic) woman ~ OMG so many parentheses!! He is trained by her in culture and gnosticism. Eventually they are raided by the inquisition and he is sold to a freak show (yes, he becomes a slave...can it get any better!) :-) where his adventures descend into the mystique del la merde...really a lot of disturbing fun here.
He eventually ends up in the service of the Medici Pope and that's where things come to a head (so to speak). I won't tell you what happens here because I don't want to spoil the book.
This is 'literature' and not fiction and not simple genre. It's all about characters and ideas and not so much about action. If you like books that make you think, but not too hard (this is a romp after all), then this is the book for you.
Not a hard read but a very interesting one.
Well, well worth your time. -
WARNING
So this is on the Guardian's 1000 comedy book list and must admit I am finding it hard to locate even a chuckle under so many scatological heaps. Although the grossness continues throughout the book, the worst is front loaded.
See that statement I just made 'the worst is front loaded'? - that is the style of comment that David Marsden would expect to bring a reader to his/her knees in rampant guffaws. PAH!
Yet there is a 'but' moment, so here it is:
But the underlying story about just what it is to be a Gnostic along with the historic spin on those times is intriguing enough to keep me reading. There are some nuggets of wisdom in all that there shite.
-1518-
Clementisse Domine, cuius inenarrabilis est virtus
This morning His Holiness summoned me to read to him from St Augustine, while the physician applied unguents and salves to his suppurating arse; one in particular, which was apparently concocted from virgin's piss (where did they find a virgin in Rome?) and a rare herb from the private hortus siccus of Bonet de Lates, the Pope's Jewish physician-in-chief, stank abominably. -
One thing I'll advise - keep Google open, as even for an inveterate word-nerd like me the vocabulary here is occasionally recondite and opaque. Still, that's called learning and there are other historical and political themes that prove quite educational. The book is also shamelessly scatalogical in word and deed, but it's told con brio and with a twinkle in its eye, despite some occasional highly literate filth. Ultimately, it's even a little moving too.
I have few comparisons to tell you the truth - bit of a specialist area, after all, dwarves in the sixteenth century Vatican - apart from Madsen's other fabulous novel Confessions of a Flesh-Eater, which I lapped up like... well, a hungry cannibal. This didn't quite match up to that one, but it is pretty damned good. And if you're going to risk being outraged, you might as well learn something while you're at it. -
« Léon est un homme de grande taille, au teint bistré, un peu gras (bouffi, disent les mauvaises langues). Il marche en se dandinant et monte à cheval en amazone à cause des ulcères de son cul ».
C’est ainsi que dans ses mémoires, Peppe, le nain bossu, chambellan de Sa Majesté, présente son maître bien aimé, le pape Léon X. Le portrait qu’il fait de ce prince, qui protégea Raphaël et Michel-Ange (mais condamna Luther), est assez loin d’obéir aux conventions retenues par l’histoire.
Léon est certes un ami des arts et de la culture, mais surtout des jeunes gens bien montés. C’est avant tout un homme dont le désir de jouissance rêve de s’élever jusqu’au ciel.
Impertinence, férocité jubilatoire et truculence de la langue sont les maîtres mots de ce roman riche aussi de sentiments humains, de savoir et de sagesse.
