Malacqua by Nicola Pugliese
Translated by Shaun Whiteside
Last month you might have noticed a flurry of links on Twitter to ‘Books of the Year’ posts. However, as Simon at Stuck in a Book very sensibly pointed out, this was a wee bit premature, given that there was still one twelfth of the year left in which to read books – and he was right. Let’s face it, who knows what real joys and treasures might come up in December. Certainly, I’ve read one of the most extraordinary books of the year this month, and I’m still trying to get my head round it a little bit…
I should ‘fess up straight away that I’d never heard of either book or author before; but I saw an image of it, I think on Twitter?, and noticed that it was emblazoned with a quote from Italo Calvino. That’s enough to get my attention straight away – I have a reasonable number of books on my shelves because they’re lauded by him, or with forewords etc, and I trace my love of Primo Levi and his works back to the fact that I bought “The Periodic Table” when it first came out because of, indeed, a Calvino quote on the cover…
With all that water coming down and coming down, and when you were about to say: there, it’s stopping now, you didn’t have time to open your mouth before the water violently returned, a harsh and predetermined rancour, an irreversible obstinacy.
Any road up, as they say, “Malacqua” has been brought out by the independent publisher And Other Stories. Looking through their back catalogue, I do feel rather ashamed that this is the first of their publications I’ve read, and they’re obviously an imprint worth exploring. The publisher was kind enough to provide a review copy, and once picked up, this was a book I couldn’t put down.
So what exactly is the book *about*? “Malacqua” has an ostensibly simple plot: the city of Naples is afflicted with four days of unceasing, almost biblical rain. Strange occurrences follow: an eerie wailing is heard coming from empty buildings; certain coins begin to play music to the children of the city; buildings and roads collapse, killing citizens; the emergency services and those in charge are puzzled; and, mostly importantly perhaps, we see the effect the rains have on the lives and loves of the people of Naples.
“and Christ!, was this city built on a void?, …”
Weaving through the story is the melancholy journalist Carlo Andreoli, watching the rain come down and trying to fathom its meaning. He is there at the start of the story, reporting on the rain and wondering, like all Neapolitans, when it will stop and why, actually, is it falling? As the rains continue to fall, we dip in and out of the lives of the people of the city, and the constant downpour, although it has a physical effect on many (destroying their homes or indeed their person), has more effect on them mentally or psychologically. The state of suspense and the interruption to the normal daily routine brought about by the deluge allows the city dwellers to take stock, to consider their lives and dwell upon what might actually be the point of it all. In ordinary everyday existence these things never come to the surface, but the strangeness of the rain allows normal functions to be suspended and life to be pondered upon.
Those poor innocent creatures? Yes, of course, they will say that, along with other things, and other facts. But let us also say one more thing, that life is in the end reabsorbed in tranquillity, collective facts are pondered long enough to be diluted a little and confused, and in the end, off you go!, in the end why do you want us to care about this whole mess and this rain falling as if it had never fallen before, my friends, let us regather, let us regather everything.
I can’t go any further without talking about the book’s actual prose, as the writing is quite extraordinary and took my breath away. The language is a liquid, fluid construct, very stream of consciousness, that washes over you, rather like the rains and floods themselves, and the effect is hypnotic. The punctuation is eccentric, the prose lyrical and involving and this, together with the events related, produces an intense and very atmospheric read. The whole effect is to create a sense of waiting, of time in abeyance, of anticipation and when added to Andreoli’s melancholy feeling of impending doom, the strange episodes of wailing dolls and singing coins, there is a real sense that normality has been suspended and Naples has moved outside of the normal time-frame of the world.
I ended this deeply thought-provoking book pondering on its meanings and what the author was saying to me. Obviously, there’s an element of allegory in there, but Pugliese offers no easy solutions, no pat answers, and that’s very stimulating for me as a reader. Calvino comments “This is a book with a meaning and a force and a message”, and I agree that it is, though what it says is not necessarily straightforward. However, I think “Malacqua” considers the notion of what it is to be human, who we are and how we live our lives, how we react to strange and unusual happenings and the basic resilience of the human spirit – which is quite an achievement for a slim novel…
He gets up for the sake of it, but also sees that water, coming down and coming down interminably, and the daylight that hasn’t come. He wonders at that point, he really wonders: how will it end? Because to tell the truth life has fled, now, and sometimes if he and his wife are left on their own there’s always that dark presence, that sad thought of the life that was once their life and has now fled; and when this happens he gets up, always, and says I’m going to the garden because I’ve got things to do.
I need to say a word about the masterly translation by Shaun Whiteside, which deservedly received a PEN Award. Obviously, I can only judge the English rendering but it reads magnificently, lyrically, poetically and almost musically in places. If the Italian original is as complex as this, he must have done a hell of a good job to render it in another language… Apparently, the book was originally published in 1977 (damn! if only it had been issued in 6 months time….) but the author never allowed it to be reprinted; I wonder whether there is underlying comment on the state of Naples that I might not have picked up upon?
Will “Malacqua” be in my top books of the year? Most definitely! It’ll be very near the top I think, because it’s rare for me to be so blown away by a book nowadays. The combination of the beautiful and hypnotic language, the intriguing storyline and the thought-provoking concept makes this a stunning book that’s going to bother me mentally for a long time, and I really can’t recommend it highly enough.
Review copy kindly provided by And Other Stories, for which many thanks!
*any weirdness you might perceive in any of the quotations is *not* me mistyping them but is in the original text…..
Dec 14, 2017 @ 07:16:35
Definitely looking forward to this, but don’t know if I’ll squeeze it in before year end. I’ve heard so many good things about it.
Dec 14, 2017 @ 09:32:49
It’s a remarkable book, Joe – I hope you enjoy it!
Dec 14, 2017 @ 07:37:32
Lovely review. Yours is the second gushing (ha!) review I’ve read of this book, and your enthusiasm for it comes across so strongly. And Other Stories have produced some quite exciting books, but this sounds like the best yet.
Dec 14, 2017 @ 09:32:34
LOL! Yes, it really *is* going to be one of my reads of the year – I’ve been very lucky during December!
Dec 14, 2017 @ 08:06:24
Great review – sounds amazing!
Dec 14, 2017 @ 09:31:11
Thanks Harriet – it really is!
Dec 14, 2017 @ 08:06:55
This sounds like a book in which the style and the subject matter are working together in perfect harmony, possibly creating a synergistic effect? And Other Stories are definitely worth a closer look, they’ve published some interesting books.
Dec 14, 2017 @ 09:31:01
That’s it exactly – a really wonderful combination of style and content, and such a powerful and memorable read. I’ll definitely be checking out more from And Other Stories, too.
Dec 14, 2017 @ 09:43:14
You make this sound wonderful, and if it tops all of the other interesting books that I remember you reading this year I don’t doubt that it is extraordinary.
Dec 15, 2017 @ 18:36:10
Well , I have read some really fantastic books this year – but this one is something special!
Dec 14, 2017 @ 11:59:49
This sounds wonderful. The constant rain reminded me of Marquez 100 years of solitude. It rains for a year, much longer, but it’s also filled with so much meaning. It is a wonderful publisher.
Dec 14, 2017 @ 13:55:45
It is a really remarkable book. I haven’t read the Marquez but I obviously should!
Dec 14, 2017 @ 14:08:36
Yes, yes you should. One of the best books ever.
Dec 14, 2017 @ 14:09:41
High praise indeed!
Dec 14, 2017 @ 17:04:15
It certainly sounds like a beautifully written book. I never finalise my end of year list until – the end of the year – although I have an idea what will be on it, anything could happen in the next two weeks.
Dec 15, 2017 @ 09:23:18
The writing is amazing – very unique. And I’m much the same too – I’ve read some of my books of the year this month so an earlier list would be very premature!!
Dec 14, 2017 @ 20:10:56
I almost bought this recently (as in, had it in my hand!) – will definitely now. (I can’t believe this is your first And Other Stories though – you’ve been missing out!)
Dec 15, 2017 @ 09:22:45
Oooh, yes – *definitely* one to buy! And no, I really don’t know why this is my first And Other Stories book – not the last, that’s for sure!
Dec 14, 2017 @ 21:36:32
This sounds stunning. The quotes you pulled are mesmeric. I’ll definitely bear it in mind for the 1977 Club 🙂
Dec 15, 2017 @ 09:21:52
It would be ideal for the Club, certainly! In some ways I would have liked to leave it till then but I *had* to read it now! :))
Dec 15, 2017 @ 04:02:15
Thought-provoking and with hypnotic prose – sounds too good to miss. Once I return from my reverie of trying to solve murders while playing in the literary snow, I shall have to get my mitts on a copy!
Dec 15, 2017 @ 09:18:35
I think it’s outstanding! And I’m still thinking about it, and will be for some time I suspect…
Dec 15, 2017 @ 11:58:26
This sounds amazing and I will look out for the publishers. And you and Simon are correct – I never do my best of until 1 January of the next year, and often – so often – books read right at the end of the year make it onto the list!
Dec 15, 2017 @ 13:35:07
It really is fab – and the catalogue the publishers sent was very tempting… Yes, definitely best of the year lists after the year has ended! :)))
Dec 15, 2017 @ 20:45:09
Hah. I love that you have inserted a favourite after so many people in the marketing corner of the bookworld have insisted it is not possible. And not only has this one made the cut, but it’s making the case for returning the cut-line to December 31, where it properly belongs. Also love that you are collecting the blurbs/rec’s of Italo Calvino: it does seem a trustworthy marker.
Dec 15, 2017 @ 21:42:31
Absolutely – this and another book I’ve just finished are definitely going to be on the reads of the year list – the end of the month has to be the cut-off. And I’ve never been disappointed by anything by or recommended by Calvino!
Dec 18, 2017 @ 15:06:57
I have an Andotherstories subscription and received this recently via that. I just finished it a couple of weeks back, though I probably won’t get to write it up now until the New Year.
The prose is like the rain isn’t it? It loops, yes, it loops and each loop soaks deeper into the reader.
I thought the prologue dreadful though. Full of pointless rhetorical questions and sentences that sounded portentous but said nothing. It gets much better later on mercifully.
Incidentally, I hope this year to get my end of year list up before Christmas but your opening remarks are precisely why I’ve tended to post it in January in the past.
Dec 18, 2017 @ 15:21:41
I think I know what you mean about the prologue – it doesn’t grab you in the way the rest of the book does, but fortunately the main narrative is wonderful. I do love the fluid prose – wonderful stuff! And yes – end of year round ups are ridiculously early if they’re done at the start of December – January for me too! 🙂
Dec 25, 2017 @ 03:58:15
This sounds fascinating. The Calvino quote would have convinced me, too.
Dec 27, 2017 @ 13:02:27
I can’t resist *anything* that has anything to do with Calvino!
Jan 01, 2018 @ 06:57:26
Mar 19, 2018 @ 06:43:42