Alessandro Manzoni (1785–1873)

Inutile dire che non è la prima volta che leggo I promessi sposi. Tuttavia non lo facevo da qualche anno e cominciavo a sentirne l'esigenza, poi ci si è messa l'epidemia di corona virus e dalla teoria sono passata ai fatti. Quanto moderno è Manzoni, quanto sottile nel descrivere gli atteggiamenti e i pensieri dei suoi personaggi, dei quali il più importante, il meglio descritto è il popolo.
Non è Lucia, infatti (la madonnina infilzata, e a questa rilettura mi è stato chiaro che la show more ragazza dovesse stare un po' sugli attributi al suo stesso creatore), e nemmeno Renzo, il vero protagonista del romanzo, o meglio, Renzo diventa protagonista nel momento in cui si fa fagocitare dal popolo, nel momento in cui respira, cospira, si fa grande e piccolo. Verrebbe da dire che Manzoni è un precursore di Bauman, temperato da una (sottile) mano di vernice cattolica. Tutto il resto è contorno, sontuoso, ma contorno. show less

NOTE: I was given early access to this manuscript in exchange for writing an impartial review. Thank you net galley.com and Modern Library. Scheduled Publication: September 13, 2022.

THE BETROTHED by Alessandro Manzoni (originally titled "I promessi sposi"), and first published in 1827, is widely regarded as the seminal and most widely read novel in Italy. (I admit I had not heard of it.) What's new is that this edition is the first NEW translation of the book in 50 years.

According to show more translator Michael F. Moore, from the book's forward, his multi-year effort aimed at capturing the original poetry of Manzoni's prose as well as updating the language to make this classic more accessible to modern readers. And he has skillfully accomplished BOTH!

For most of the book I recognized I was reading a literary masterpiece and expected to easily award it five stars. But, by the end, I couldn't. Even though I still feel it is a remarkable book.

As the title suggests, the book begins around a scheduled wedding of two simple peasants living in Lombardy in 1628, Renzo and Lucia. What follows however is 704 pages of human errors and obstacles which postpose the event. From a self-absorbed priest determined to save his own skin to a powerful member of the local nobility intent on winning a bet, no matter what the cost for others. Manzoni shows he is as adept at creating the kind of drama out of everyday life that Jane Austen is famous for.

Circumstances force the Renzo and Lucia to separate. And as Manzoni follows their stories, he takes readers off on many, MANY tangents, which, taken together, present rich portraits of universal human nature, Italian social and class structure, the Medieval dominance of religious practice, and Italy's notoriously dysfunctional governing bodies. The prose is beautiful and seasoned with lots of humor. The novel is ambitious, nuanced, and truly brilliant. And I cannot think of another historical novel which so graphically and emotionally presents the devastation of both famine and plague.

You will love the multi-dimensional characters Manzoni creates, each so distinctive and realistic that you are likely to recognize people you know. They struggle with human foibles, self-doubts, and questions about faith and God. They survive against intense odds. And like most humans, their indefatigable resilience ultimately wills out allowing them to achieve their goals. A remarkable book, for both Manzoni's (and Moore's) language and deep understanding of what makes us human.

So, why couldn't I award it the expected five stars? First of all, it took me nearly a month to read (a VERY long time for me). And, by the end, THE BETROTHED simply felt TOO LONG. The digressions became too numerous, too long -- even tedious-- when I just wanted to return to the stories of Lucia and Renzo.

I certainly recommend the book, especially for fans of historical fiction. It's a rich picture of medieval life in Italy. But understand going in, it may be a longer haul than you expect. show less

Si tratta di una storia milanese del secolo XVII, scoperta e rifatta da Alessandro Manzoni. La domanda è semplice e provocatoria: quanto può interessare un giovane o una giovanetta del terzo millennio, la storia di una contadina e di un filatore di seta che riescono ad unirsi in nozze dopo infinite vicende e vicissitudini, guerre e pestilenze, peripezie grandi e piccole, agguati e rapine, in una scenografia pomposa e barocca di una regione italiana sì, la Lombardia, ma tutta spagnola, show more funestata da una guerra che dura da trent’anni?

La domanda mi viene spontanea quando vedo mia nipote, bolognese di nascita e di studi, ma di madre e padre campani, affrontare lo studio di un mondo che chiaramente ha difficoltà a capire, nonostante l’aiuto di due suoi nonni, uno già preside e umanista appassionato “dinosauro” di cultura classica, di origini meridionali, l’altro, chi scrive, “dinosauro” pure io, ma felicemente ed orgogliosamente diventato “digitale”.

Anche io mi ricordo di questo capolavoro della letteratura italiana, un grande romanzo storico ed umano, scritto in un tessuto narrativo costruito con una inattaccabile ma “chiusa” perfezione. I miei tempi del ginnasio sono ormai lontanissimi. Assisto compiaciuto, ed anche divertito, alle perplessità che suscita la lettura della vicenda di Renzo e Lucia in mia nipote. Figlia di questa nostra era digitale, fa fatica a seguire il Manzoni nel tentativo di rappresentare nel suo romanzo storico la realtà del vivere.

Non quella di oggi, però, ma quella di un tempo del tutto scomparso. Oggi il male e il bene, la paura e la provvidenza, la storia degli uomini e i disegni di Dio, si presentano ai nostri occhi in maniera del tutto diversa. Una realtà che scorre sulle schermate del cellulare, dell’ipad, del pc, della tv, in streaming o in podcast, nella nuvola o sul desktop, che lo studente di oggi deve leggere in maniera contemporanea, ignota a come la lessi io.

Figurazioni simboliche molto diverse, di difficile lettura. Lucia e don Rodrigo, Gertrude e l’Innominato, don Abbondio e fra Cristoforo diventano agli occhi di chi legge oggi figure artistiche, difficilmente riportabili a persone in carne e ossa contemporanee. Bisogna saperle “vedere” in altri panni e situazioni. Manzoni volle con il suo libro rappresentare la realtà del “suo” tempo nel “suo” romanzo, cercando di fissare in una struttura unitaria ed infinita, quella strana interezza del cuore umano.

Come per tutti i romantici, anche per lui la realtà non aveva senso se non era assolutamente interiorizzata nella coscienza. “I Promessi Sposi” sono un libro perfetto, ma a mio modesto parere, “chiuso” al mondo moderno, di difficile comprensione in una realtà, quale quella di oggi, completamente “aperta” ed esplorabile.

Non a caso ci sono stati vari tentativi di attualizzare la vicenda dei due giovani promessi sposi, facendoli diventare digitali. E così, la prosa di “don Lisander” Manzoni viene spezzettata, twittata, wathsappata, social networkata, in “streaming”, seguendo in full HD, sulle lavagne elettroniche Lim, computer, tablet e smartphone le peripezie dei ben noti Mondella e Tramaglino. E’ pur vero che tutto fa spettacolo, è sempre stato così sul palcoscenico della vita.

Ma al mio collega Pasquale, nonno umanista “dinosauro”, con-suocero ed anche ex compagno di banco degli anni della scuola media, nel secolo e nel millennio trascorsi, la cosa non sembra piacere molto. Io cerco di consolarlo dicendogli che oggi, i due giovani avrebbero la soluzione a portata di mano. Saprebbero facilmente superare tutti gli ostacoli sul loro cammino. Basta guardarsi intorno, facilmente troverebbero la soluzione. E il romanzo di Alessandro Manzoni rimane un “capolavoro solitario” … show less

The Betrothed – the great 19th c. Italian historical novel – is a thoroughly entertaining and wonderfully detailed story. The main plot follows two young lovers, Lucia and Renzo, who are prevented from marrying by the despotic local nobleman, Don Rodrigo. However, the genius of the piece is in Manzoni’s lovingly described and lengthy portraits of the side characters, his epic depictions of historical events in the 1620’s and the nicely done background setting of an unjust society. show more The omniscient narrator presents the story as his modernization of a true tale and this gives rise to some comic bits – like the opening forward, which starts out old-fashioned, pompous and flowery before the narrator cuts it off and says he’ll tell the story in straightforward language. Sometimes the descriptions of political wrangling gets a little dense (and I wished my copy, by Penguin, had more notes) but overall this is a fantastic read.

Lucia and Renzo are simple peasants, happily engaged and living in a small village near the town of Lecco. Renzo has a promising job, Lucia’s mother likes him – everything seems fine until the parish priest, Don Abbondio, is threatened to prevent him from marrying them. Renzo and Lucia stay pretty much the same throughout the book and are simple characters – Lucia is often found crying, fainting and praying and Renzo is frequently hot-headed and naïve. The other characters are more interesting however – one being Don Abbondio. He’s a coward who is mostly concerned with his own self-preservation. In a book full of conversions, with many portraits of benevolent religious figures, he remains a rather unsympathetic one. However, Manzoni spends many pages describing his inner conflicts and fears, with some occasional guilt and shame. He also sets Don Abbondio’s self-interest against the customs of the day, where the rich and powerful could get their way and could punish those who opposed them with impunity. Others counsel death before a failure of duty or courage but Don Abbondio is all-too-human in his fear. I enjoyed reading about him, despite his extreme cowardice and his being a major impediment to the couple’s happiness.

Don Rodrigo seems like he would be a stock evil aristocrat but Manzoni uses his character to explore the oppressive laws and customs of the time. Near the beginning of the book, he notes that the edicts, which were meant to curb extrajudicial violence, only ended up oppressing the poor. The laws never applied to powerful noblemen or the violent bravoes that they would hire to get their way. An example of this occurs when Renzo goes to a lawyer with his complaint that Don Rodrigo blocked his marriage to Lucia. The lawyer, thinking Renzo was the one who broke the law, is sympathetic at first but when he learns that Renzo is speaking of Don Rodrigo, the lawyer kicks him out and refuses to listen to him. Don Rodrigo avidly pursues Lucia but not out of love or lust – he barely even thinks of her as an object. Instead, he’s afraid to lose face in front of his peers by not getting what he wants (he has a bet with his cousin over Lucia) and also has an “eh, why not?” attitude when sending his posse out to harass her. His somewhat uninvolved attitude and the ease with which he ruins Lucia and Renzo’s lives illustrate the plight of the poor. Even when powerful but good people help them, it is still an example of the dependence of the lower classes.

The other characters who Renzo and Lucia meet are interesting as well – the formerly fiery, now repentant Father Cristoforo; the bitter and ambivalent nun Gertrude; the aristocratic criminal who is so powerful and feared that he’s called the Unnamed in the book; the saintly archbishop Federigo Borromeo. The last three are based on actual historical characters and their backstories are involving. They all play a role in Renzo and Lucia’s case but also are actors in the historical events that intrude. Renzo gets involved in the bread riots in Milan and Manzoni has descriptions of the famine that hit the city soon after. Their village also suffers from the passing German army and finally, the plague that decimated Milan and the surrounding countryside affects many of the characters and the outcome of the book. Highly recommended. show less