Review: Pier Vittorio Tondelli — Camere Separate
Did it ever happen to you that the book was waiting for you to read it? Well, it happened to me.
We had a seminar at the faculty last semester about present Slovenian novel and two colleges compared one Slovenian novel Ime mi je Damjan (Eng. My Name is Damjan) written by Suzana Tratnik to an Italian novel Camere Separate written by Pier Vittorio Tondelli (1955–1991). They compared the main character, how he thinks about himself and the world around him etc. The facts about that Italian book that I heard that day left a positive impression on me, but I didn’t really have time to read books of my own choice at that time, so I forgot about that novel. Two months later I went to the Town library in the centre of Ljubljana to borrow some books to read during the summer holiday. There is a special book shelve, where the librarians present interesting books to read and yes, it was there. The Italian novel (translated into Slovenian) was waiting for me, to be touched by my hand and of course to be consumed.
Today I finished it. I was reading it for like a month, but not because the novel would be boring of difficult to read — no. I just wasn’t prepared to say “goodbye” to this amazing piece of art yet, so I was reading it slowly, a few pages per day (or better said, per night). Here I won’t tell you the story, I will try not to spoil its charm.
We meet the main character Leo, an Italian writer, who is in his 30s, on a plane from Paris to Munich, where he will visit his dying partner and lover Thomas. So we know right from its beginning, what happened. But do we understand their complicated relationship full of passion and love, but distant on the other hand. Well, there is a story, a story which needs to be read slowly to be understood. We get a glance into Leos past, childhood and early adult life. We are introduced to his friends, but only briefly. Leo had a relationship with someone else before, but Leo left him because he saw that this relationship will destruct both of them. With Thomas, whom he met in Paris (where else!), it was different, very different — I won’t tell you how. The story is a mosaic of their past life as a couple and the present story of Leo, who is trying to survive alone. Will he be successful? You can find out yourselves.
Although I read the translation of the novel the language was rich and colourful, mimetic and on many places even lyrical. If you are looking for a book that will touch your soul and take you on a journey, then this one is perfect for you.
