con alette, 200 pages
italiano language
Published Sept. 26, 2023 by Einaudi.
Ottobre 1972, struttura psichiatrica Stella Maris. Tra le mura di una stanza un uomo e una donna si scambiano parole di matematica e desiderio, di musica e visioni. Lei si chiama Alicia Western ed è lí per cercare di sfuggire ai suoi demoni. Lui è lo psichiatra che l'ha in cura ed è lí per tentare di salvarle la vita. Falliranno entrambi, ma le parole che si scambiano tra quelle mura resteranno dopo di loro. Nella seconda metà della dilogia cominciata con Il passeggero, Cormac McCarthy chiude il cerchio delle vicende dei fratelli Western - e della sua intera opera - con un romanzo di diamantina intelligenza e strabiliante vis drammatica: l'ultima degna parola di un autore di genio.
I superlativi per questo libro si sprecherebbero. Allora diciamo che nella classifica dei migliori libri di narrativa che abbia letto pubblicati in questo millennio, Stella Maris finirebbe senza dubbio tra i primi tre e che al momento non mi vengono in mente gli altri due. E che la parola di Cormac McCarthy, non c'è spazio per nessun dubbio, è la parola di un genio.
Cormac McCarthy concluded his life with two books about two siblings, brother Bobby (the protagonist of the excellent The Passenger) and sister Alicia of Stella Maris. The former is a physics whiz, the latter a maths genius. The trouble (or karma) of their family, including their father's involvement with the Manhattan Project, haunt them.
Both books are philosophical musings on meaning and structure in a strange life. This one is a real gift. The entire story is a dialogue between Alicia and a counsellor in the Stella Maris institute. Alicia muses on life and maths. The dialogues are like Plato's, with different big ideas being drawn out and then punctuated with a touching story of family, hallucinatory friendship, longing and heartache. The dialogue evolves over the 'sessions' so seamlessly that it is impossible not to get lost on the journey with the duo. The questioner often pulls back …
Cormac McCarthy concluded his life with two books about two siblings, brother Bobby (the protagonist of the excellent The Passenger) and sister Alicia of Stella Maris. The former is a physics whiz, the latter a maths genius. The trouble (or karma) of their family, including their father's involvement with the Manhattan Project, haunt them.
Both books are philosophical musings on meaning and structure in a strange life. This one is a real gift. The entire story is a dialogue between Alicia and a counsellor in the Stella Maris institute. Alicia muses on life and maths. The dialogues are like Plato's, with different big ideas being drawn out and then punctuated with a touching story of family, hallucinatory friendship, longing and heartache. The dialogue evolves over the 'sessions' so seamlessly that it is impossible not to get lost on the journey with the duo. The questioner often pulls back just when we (the reader) want to know more, and later as familiarity grows the relationship changes between them, and between reader and characters. The achievement that this book is is hard to describe, but it is a worthy parting gift from a master craftsperson of the written word.
