Those Cursed Tuscans
Author | Curzio Malaparte |
---|---|
Original title | Maledetti toscani |
Translator | Rex Benedict |
Language | Italian |
Subject | Tuscany |
Publisher | Vallecchi [it] |
Publication date | 1956 |
Publication place | Italy |
Published in English | 7 September 1964 |
Pages | 261 |
Those Cursed Tuscans (Italian: Maledetti toscani) is a 1956 book by the Italian writer Curzio Malaparte.
Summary
The book is a long essay on the Italian region of Tuscany, its culture and its capital Florence. Curzio Malaparte seeks to define what distinguishes the region and what, in his view, makes other Italians fear the Tuscans. Malaparte argues that Tuscans value intelligence, are direct and realistic. Unlike other Italians, they have a way of speaking and writing that is not musical and ornated with phrases. Because of these and other characteristics, he argues that Tuscans have resisted succumbing to church authorities and political oppressors.[1]
Reception
The New York Times wrote that the book "contains all the assets and defects of Malaparte's artistic gift", calling it "amusing, paradoxical and challenging", "often pretentious and bombastic", and saved by "the humor and the acute intelligence of the author".[1] Kirkus Reviews called the book a "capriciously acid portrait" and praised the translation by Rex Benedict, who rendered its "mischievous prose" into English.[2] Time described Those Cursed Tuscans as Malaparte's apologia for his own lifestyle and an exposition of his personal philosophy, which appears in strong contrast to fascist "mass hysteria".[3]
References
- ^ a b "A People Set Apart". The New York Times. 25 October 1964. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
- ^ "Those Cursed Tuscans". Kirkus Reviews. 1 September 1964. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
- ^ "Books: A Clean, Well-Lighted Soul". Time. 30 October 1964. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
- v
- t
- e
journalism
- Coup d'État: The Technique of Revolution (1931)
- The Volga Rises in Europe (1943)
- Those Cursed Tuscans (1956)
- Woman Like Me (1940)
- Kaputt (1944)
- The Skin (1949)
- The Kremlin Ball (1971)
- "900", Cahiers d'Italie et d'Europe (1926–1929 magazine)
- The Forbidden Christ (1951 film)
- Gruber's Journey (2008 drama film)
- Malaparte, vies et légendes (2011 biography)
- Casa Malaparte
- Premio Malaparte
- The Skin (1981 film)