ann's annotations

    This book was a lovely present by the EuropaEditionsUK!     It felt almost like a match-made in heaven, to be honest. I had just switched my degree from French to Italian (since I wanted to do something new), and was looking to discover more of Italian literature. So, when I was singing up for EuropaEditionsUK newsletter and received this as a gift, I was ecstatic. Not only did it match my interest (and was free, which my student’s wallet is forever grateful for) but they gave one that certainly draws me more towards Italian literature, along with Italo Calvino’s The Castle of Crossed Destinies that I read earlier on. And of course, this is all thanks to the translator Ann Goldstein, who gave this story another captivating voice that allows the story to be accessible to the Anglophone readers.  “From the moment I was given back to her, the word “mama” had stuck in my throat like a frog that wouldn’t jump out”    This novel, which sets in late 20th century Italy, follows the

    'Nature writing': a writing that concerns the natural environment. This is pretty straight forward right? But let's dive in a little deeper into this genre, and I think you'll began that it is not as clean-cut as it might appear at first glance. Well in the UK, at least     When I asked my friends what does 'nature writing' mean for them, the majority of who answered put it simply: "it is an observation [or description] of the natural world"; of faunas and floras and some did also mention bodies of water like the river. What this suggests for me a kind of distance between the writer, and even the reader, and the space of the 'natural world'.  Why does this matter?  you may wonder. Well, I think this reveals a way of viewing and experiencing that either be seen as an obstacle to the environmental question. ‘We’ve had the outdoors ripped from us’: What the growing trend of nature memoirs tells us about the state of the world'  Independent