We are pleased to announce the next meeting of our Italian Book Club We welcome the Dante Alighieri members and non members to join us in this exciting adventure in the Italian literature. We are meeting every three months to discuss a book by an Italian Author. The discussion will be in English unless all the participants speak Italian. Feel free to read the book in either language.
The Book Club is coordinated by Paola Melara De Sandre.
You can register for this free event e-mail paola@dantemichigan.org
When: Friday, March 25, 2016
Time: From 7 pm to 9 pm
Where: Dante Alighieri Society Michigan Chapter 630 Old Woodward – Suite 102 Birmingham, MI 48009 . Ph. 248.250.8928
Guido Mattioni: Ascoltando le maree
A novel that will touch your heart, Guido Mattioni’s Whispering Tides has the power within its well-crafted narrative to make the reader a protago-nist, not merely a spectator, by triggering sensations that may have seemed to be forgotten but were just like fire under the ashes, waiting for a chance to take over. The yearning for a “natural paradise governed by the breath of the tides” may at first remind us of the Yeoman’s Myth, but it really has no similarity to it. Alberto Landi, the protagonist of the story, an Italian journalist from Milan, is just trying to recreate the environment in which he lived with his wife of 23 years, recently deceased, by moving to the place that they both loved, Savannah, Georgia. He does so in the attempt to find the peace, serenity, sense of belonging that he felt there with his wife, a somewhat futile endeavor, one would think, since that se-renity came from being with a loved one in an ideal place loved by both, and now he is alone; the story develops, instead, as a fruitful search, and Alberto seems to find all the required components for that much longed peace of mind, the tranquility he needs and wants. Savannah is his new love and everything will be all right, or so it seems. Whispering Tides was originally published in Italian as “Ascoltavo le Maree” The characters are detailed, well described and gauged in their actions and motives, allowing for a pleasant reading, and the love for this Southern city is pervasive, almost obsessive. We can rightly affirm that this book is about love: love for a city, love for a partner, love for a way of life, and love for all the small things that make life worth living. The writer conveys his thoughts and feelings effectively and convinc-ingly, making this book a certain winner. Born in Udine, Italy in 1952, Guido Mattioni has lived and worked in Milan since 1978. Writing has always been his job and his life as well. During 33 years of journalism, he has worked for daily newspapers and weekly and monthly magazines while holding almost every professional title possible, from reporter to editor-in-chief and deputy editor to special correspondent. He has traveled all over the world, especially in the USA, where he has visited almost every state. When he was younger he wrote two non-fiction works. Whispering Tides is his first novel, and it is also available in its Italian version – Ascoltavo le maree. If he could be reincarnated he would like to do it as a chef because cooking is the pastime he is most fond of. He is an atypi-cal Italian because he suffers an incurable allergy to soccer.