A good read, but I wasn't quite as enthusiastic as the reviewers quoted in the blurb.
The story is told in mercilessly non-linear fashion, which is fine, but the numbers of jumps backward and forward become a little overwhelming, and it became increasingly difficult for the reader to be sure if a particular event already described was in the future or the past of the current bite-sized chunk of the narrative.
And everyone is in therapy. It's like a Woody Allen movie!
But, still a good read. ( )

The hummingbird of the title (Il Colibrì in the original Italian) is the novel’s protagonist, Marco Carrera. His nickname is given by his mother, due to a physical condition which keeps him considerably smaller and shorter than average for his age-group. After an experimental treatment during his adolescence, Marco grows quickly and settles down to a more “normal” life, albeit one marked by several challenges and tragedies. Throughout, Marco, like the bird to which he is compared, shows a marked talent for staying still while everyone and everything around him changes.

Veronesi gives us a life history of Marco and his family, against the backdrop of Italian contemporary events, from the sixties to the present, with a glimpse into an imaginary near future (the timeline of the novel ends with Marco’s death in 2029). This is an approach which, it seems to me, Italians are particularly good at, not only in the context of literature but also in movies. Despite my very amateur knowledge of Italian cinema, I can name, off the cuff, several films which also opt for this sort of narrative. Indeed, I found myself picturing The Hummingbird turned into a filmscript and started fantasizing about the actors I would choose for the cast of my imaginary film project. A quick internet search revealed that, predictably, I was hardly the first to come up with this idea. Veronesi’s book is already being turned into a movie by veteran director Francesca Archibugi, who has nicked some of the actors I had in mind...

What is original about the novel is its postmodern structure. Passages in the third person alternate with letters, emails, lecture notes – even a furniture inventory and a list of science fiction volumes – to create a colourful and engaging mosaic. Interwoven as a running thread is an account of Marco’s more-or-less platonic relationship with his first and greatest love, Luisa, recounted through a lifetime’s erratic correspondence.

I particularly liked the underlying humour – the therapist Carradori is a brilliant comedic creation, although he is also, quite surprisingly, a source of some of the wisest observations in the book. So is Carrera’s friend “L’Innominabile” (“The Omen”) Duccio. I was less convinced about the final parts of the book, for two reasons. First of all, Veronesi introduces quasi-fabulist elements which mark a rather incongruous departure from the largely realist (if not always completely realistic) approach adopted in the earlier part of the novel. I also felt the penultimate segment to be rather “manipulative”, uncomfortably hovering between sentiment and sentimentality, raising thorny ethical issues which are cursorily set aside in a wash of emotion.

Reservations aside, I believe that this is a worthy winner of the prestigious Premio Strega (Veronesi's second win, after his 2008 success with Caos Calmo). The English edition which is being issued by W&N marks an auspicious debut for Elena Pala – this is her first book-length translation, although you certainly wouldn’t realise that while reading her brilliant translation.

https://endsoftheword.blogspot.com/2021/06/the-hummingbird-il-colibri-by-sandro-... ( )

Molto bello, una storia complessa e ricca di personaggi dai caratteri multiformi.
È il racconto della vita di Marco Carrera e degli sconvolgimenti che ne hanno segnato l’esistenza.
Un viaggio attraverso gli anni e gli eventi, per lo più tragici, che lo segneranno ma che non riusciranno comunque mai a distruggerlo e saranno, invece, anche la spinta ad andare avanti fino alla fine.
Il racconto non è continuo nel tempo ma salta nei vari periodi, avanti e indietro, proprio per dare maggiore mordente alle vicende che si dipanano via via.
La prosa è scorrevole è mai scontata e a una prima parte che ho trovato strepitosa e molto realistica, fa da contraltare una parte della storia, dopo la metà e verso la fine, che ho trovato più onirica e utopistica anche se sempre molto fascinosa.
Da ascoltare anche la lettura di Gifuni che si rivela magistrale e rende, se possibile, ancora più bella la storia donandole, in certi punti, una forza e potenza forse difficilmente ritrovabile in una lettura intimistica. ( )

Regarded as one of Italy’s premier authors, Veronesi has detailed the family story of Marco Carrera. Called the Hummingbird because he can remain still and quiet while the world around him changes. He is a stoic but even so he loves life. He seems destined to lose people close to him and ends up raising his granddaughter after his daughter is unable to care for her. I found this a terribly sad book. The letters between Marco and Luisa were the one bright spot. Narration is excellent as the story is narrated by different voices and the narrators were spot on. ( )

moving, dense and wonderful ( )