February 5, 2018
Starnone’s astute and emotionally precise novel (after Ties) follows famed illustrator Daniele Mallarico as he returns to his childhood home in Naples at the request of his daughter, Betta. Daniele is reluctantly tasked with watching his four-year-old grandson, Mario, while Betta and her husband, Saverio, head to Milan for an academic conference and a chance to discuss their failing marriage. Daniele’s three-day visit to the apartment where he was raised prompts him to reflect on the course of his life, and he begins to see apparitions from his past. Struggling to complete a project for a book publisher while sparring with the thoughtful and rebellious Mario, Daniele confronts his mortality and the ephemeral nature of art. Lahiri’s translation preserves the poignancy and humor of the first-person narration, which balances compassion and repressed irritation. The book is packed with endearing moments and clever observations about familial relationships (both Betta and Saverio confide in Daniele right off the bat, forcing him into the thick of their tension). This remarkably layered work encourages rereading to unearth subtle and new interpretations.
Starred review from February 1, 2018
Starnone's latest novel describes a man's visit with his grandson.A new book from Starnone (Ties, 2017, etc.) is an event to celebrate. An exquisite Italian writer believed to be Elena Ferrante's husband, he writes slim, elegant, meticulously crafted novels--and this is his best yet. An older man, an illustrator, comes from Milan, where he is currently living, to Naples, where he grew up, to look after his grandson while his daughter and son-in-law attend an academic conference. Mario, the 4-year-old, knows all kinds of things, like how to turn on the stove, how to set the table, and how to change channels on the TV. He's annoying, in the way that 4-year-old know-it-alls are annoying. Meanwhile, his grandfather, whose health is no longer great and who no longer remembers exactly where he put the phone or whether he closed the balcony door, is struggling to complete the illustrations for "The Jolly Corner," a Henry James story. In that story, a man returns to his childhood home after a long period of time away and becomes obsessed with the idea of who he might have been, what life he might have led, if he'd stayed. He's desperate to catch sight of his own ghost. Starnone's novel echoes James' story but it also works entirely independently. Mario's grandpa has ghosts of his own to confront. All the novel's action occurs over the course of a few days. During that time, our elderly illustrator comes to doubt himself, his life, his achievements. He argues with Mario, and he tries to draw. Deceptively simple, the novel is also witty to the point of hilarity (see Mario's argument with his grandpa about cartoons) and achingly moving.A gorgeous account of a man's struggle to reckon with the life he's lived and the lives he hasn't.
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February 15, 2018
Already behind schedule on his illustrations for a new edition of Henry James' short story The Jolly Corner, narrator Daniele arrives in Naples to watch his grandson while the boy's parents attend a conference. Reluctant doesn't nearly cover the aging artist's feelings about staying in the childhood home his daughter's family now occupies, being in the city he desperately shed all vestiges of as a young man, or catering to the whims of fearless and befuddling four-year-old Mario. An often-comical battle of wits and words wages as Daniele sees his own ghosts everywhere while trying to illustrate James', and Mario breaks down his grandfather's defenses with the skill of the tiny genius everyone but Daniele says he is. While Mario requires that everything be turned into a fun game, Daniele experiences revelations, most of them devastating, about his art, his success, and his entire life. (An appendix shares his notes and drawings.) Lahiri, who also translated Starnone's Ties (2016), once again treats English-language readers to the boldly entertaining work of the celebrated Italian novelist.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)
Starred review from April 1, 2018
In this follow-up to his bitingly insightful Ties, Premio Strega winner Starnone again explores complex familial relationships. A famous illustrator losing his predominance, 70-plus Daniele Mallarico winds up tending his preternaturally smart four-year-old grandson Mario when Mario's at-odds parents head to a mathematics conference. As a grandfather, Daniele is no sweetheart, often tetchy and dismissive of his young charge; Mario gives as good as he gets, and their dialog snaps, crackles, and pops deliciously. As Lahiri's introduction explains, the Italian title Scherzetto derives from the verb scherzare, to joke or play, and there's certainly playfulness here, but with an edge. The novel takes place during four cold November days at the Naples apartment Daniele inherited from his parents and where his daughter's family now lives; for Daniele, aching memories thus vie with present awareness of his waning powers and his concern for Mario--"I don't know if I'm scared for the child or scared of the child"--to create a palpable sense of urgency. VERDICT A superb, sometimes unsettling intergenerational portrait hitting on basic truths.
Copyright 2018 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.