In May and September 1976, two earthquakes ripped through north-eastern Italy, causing severe damage to the landscape and its population. About a thousand people died under the rubble, tens of thousands were left without shelter, and many ended up leaving their homes in Friuli forever.
The displacement of material as a result of the earthquakes was enormous. New terrain was formed that reflects the force of the catastrophe and captures the fundamentals of natural history. But it is far more difficult to find expression for the human trauma, the experience of an abruptly shattered existence.
Those are the opening sentences on the reverse cover of “Rombo” by Esther Kinsky, translated by Caroline Schmidt, which was issued by Fitzcarraldo Editions on 5th October; and if that doesn’t hook you into wanting to read it, I don’t know what would!
Kinsky is an author who’s featured on the Ramblings before, when I reviewed her book “Grove” back in 2020; also released by Fitzcarraldo, that book was rooted in landscape and also an exploration of personal grief. “Rombo”, by contrast, examines a more general suffering, although once again landscape is to the fore. Kinsky takes seven characters who live through the earthquakes and gives them a voice, as they relate their stories, delve into their past, and contemplate the long-term effect the quakes had on them. This gives the book an almost documentary feel, and as Kinsky intersperses their narratives with observations on the mountains, nature and general landscape of the area in which they live, these add to the non-fiction feeling.
However, the book is no dry relating of facts; although Kinsky writes in some ways from a distance, her prose is beautiful and evocative. Like the subject matter of “Grove”, this is a bleak work dealing with trauma and loss; yet despite that melancholy, the book conjures vivid land and characters and ends up being quite unforgettable. The valley, full of little villages affected by the earthquakes, seems lost in the past, set in its ways with farmers and goatherds; so it’s a shock when the narrative suddely moves forward, with motorbikes, and trips to modern hotels by the seaside. The quakes are a pivotal event in the lives of both villagers and villages, and you sense that a certain way of life is driven to its natural end by the effects of the earth’s violence.
What is memory? It comes and goes as it pleases. It disappears and intrudes, and we can’t do anything about it… yes, what is memory? We ourselves are memory.
Central to the story is memory, and the part it playes in our lives; all of the characters, as they look back on their past and the dramatic occurrences through which they lived, recall things differently. They may filter out parts of their memories; time will blur certain events; although running through each individual narrative is the understanding that the earthquakes changed their lives forever. And those lives are intertwined so that we get the chance to see each character through the eyes of the others – which is often a powerful reminder about how subjective our view of ourselves is, and that we never really know who others view us!
“Rombo” is an intriguing book in that it reads like non-fiction yet it is billed as a novel; and as my ARC had a plain white cover, I approached it with an open mind and felt it could very much be taken as either form of writing. But of course I’ve often found that Fitzcarraldo books tend to blur the line between fact and fiction, and what matters is the writing and the story, both of which are singular and memorable here. As I said, it’s a work which is much about the nature and the landscape of the region as the effect of the earthquakes, and the portrait she paints of both is vivid and haunting.
This rumbling inflicted a wound on all who live through this earthquake. A scar has remained that will never go away. For some of us it is small and hidden, while for others it is out in the open, like a white raised lip from my hand slipped while hacking wood.
As for the title? Well, rombo means roar, or rumble, or thunder, and it’s here applied to the noise heard just before an earthquake. That sort of noise strikes a chill into the hearts of the villagers after the first tremor and indeed some seem to be permanently affected by it; a kind of PTSD, which is understandable.
Kinsky has written five novels including this one, three of which are published by Fitzcarraldo, and its clear that she’s a distintive and lyrical author. The narrative in “Rombo” cleverly builds up a picture of a lost world and its people, the trauma they suffered and the long term effects; and it reminds us that nature can never be tamed and we are all subject to its vagaries. A powerful and striking read, and highly recommended.
A Life in Books
Oct 06, 2022 @ 08:27:15
Definitely heading for my list. I think we forget that Italy has such terrible events. I remember being shocked by pictures of the devastation caused by the 1997 earthquake in Assisi where we’d been on holiday the year before and wondering about the people we’d met there.
kaggsysbookishramblings
Oct 06, 2022 @ 08:34:13
Very much this. Initially, the descriptions make you think of the idyllic past as the valley is so steeped in an old, traditional way of life. Then modern life seems to hit it along with the earthquakes. A very powerful book.
madamebibilophile
Oct 06, 2022 @ 09:59:02
The quotes are so powerful. I’ll definitely look out for this author.
kaggsysbookishramblings
Oct 06, 2022 @ 15:18:45
She has a very singular voice, Madame B – a fascinating author!
Margot Kinberg
Oct 06, 2022 @ 11:53:57
That is a powerful bit you shared! People read about disasters all the time, and don’t really think about how something like an earthquake changes the lives of the people who live through it. And that’s an interesting approach to take – a sort of non-fiction-but-novel approach. I’m glad you liked it so well.
kaggsysbookishramblings
Oct 06, 2022 @ 15:17:50
You’re right, Margot – the book really gets across how it feels to live through a major disaster like this, and the longer-term effects. And the way she tells the story really adds to the impact!
mallikabooks15
Oct 06, 2022 @ 12:59:36
This sounds both wonderful and scary; one has perhaps experience of minor shakes but one can only imagine the emotional and mental impact of a major one or even the feeling the physical devastation gives those that experience it even if we from a distance can ‘see’ it.
kaggsysbookishramblings
Oct 06, 2022 @ 15:17:01
It is – I’ve luckily never had any involvement in earthquakes but can’t imagine they would be something to get over easily. We do sometimes take the stability of the ground under our feet for granted.
mallikabooks15
Oct 07, 2022 @ 14:10:51
I’ve been in minor ones which didn’t even have us needing to go outside the house, but I can imagine what that might feel like multiplied ?times
kaggsysbookishramblings
Oct 07, 2022 @ 14:32:15
Yikes! A small advantage in living in the UK, I guess – we don’t usually have them…
Janakay | YouMightAsWellRead
Oct 06, 2022 @ 13:41:08
I’m always drawn to works that explore the role of memory and the issues that it raises: how the memory of the same event can be quite different depending on whose memories are being explored (this is one reason I like novels told from differing points of view); how reliable/unreliable memory can be and what gets remembered and what doesn’t. It sounds like this aspect of the book is quite remarkable. Lovely quotes BTW.
kaggsysbookishramblings
Oct 06, 2022 @ 15:16:06
Thanks! It’s certainly a nuanced and fascinating look at how memories can differ, and the shifts of perspective make it especially interesting. A really memorable read!
heavenali
Oct 06, 2022 @ 15:38:44
Interesting that loss and landscape play important roles in both this and that other book. This one must have made a sort of interesting companion to Grove. I really like the sound of Kinsky’s writing. The story of the earthquake and the effects on different people sounds really powerful.
kaggsysbookishramblings
Oct 06, 2022 @ 15:46:26
Yes, there are perhaps unexpected similarities between the two books, besides her writing style. She’s a very distinctive author, and a powerful one too.
JacquiWine
Oct 06, 2022 @ 18:57:21
An author I really want to try as her themes (and your comments about her prose style) really appeal to me. Like Janakay, I’m often drawn to books that explore the slippery of memory (and how our impressions of certain events can change over time).
The mental and physical impact of these earthquakes must have been so traumatic for those involved. I’m sure this would be a very affecting read…
kaggsysbookishramblings
Oct 06, 2022 @ 20:54:14
Her choice of themes is certainly interesting, whether exploring how to deal with personal grief, or a more widespread grief as in the effect of the earthquakes on the characters. Looking back it does seem to me that memory is central to both books, and how we process the past after some kind of trauma. She’s a most interesting author.
1streading
Oct 06, 2022 @ 20:46:35
I’ve read Grove but didn’t find the link between the landscape and the narrator’s grief convincing (i.e. I didn’t feel the emotion in it). This does sound more straightforward though, but also doesn’t sound much like a novel!
kaggsysbookishramblings
Oct 06, 2022 @ 20:52:34
To be honest, I think she has a very detached style and so although her prose can be very evocative, it’s like the emotion is a bit submerged, and I assume that’s intentional. Like Grove, it is a bit of a hybrid – even more so, perhaps, as she almost splits her narrative into either a piece about landscape, or a piece about history of the area, or a section voiced by one of the characters. It’s certainly a distinctive way to tell a story!
Julé Cunningham
Oct 07, 2022 @ 01:36:02
Oh lord, I know that rumble. And the ongoing queasiness caused by the unstable ground underneath your feet. Fortunately I haven’t (yet) been in an earthquake that has caused such devastation.
A wonderful review of a brilliant-sounding book. Especially intriguing is the description of how the changes to the landscape and the lives of the villagers are connected, and the way memory is used to tell the story.
kaggsysbookishramblings
Oct 07, 2022 @ 09:18:53
Thank you Jule. I’m lucky enough not to have experienced a rombo, but this book certainly conveys what it must feel like. And it captures wonderfully how interconnect we all are, people and wildlife and landscape alike. A very thoughtfull exploration of memory.
Liz Dexter
Oct 15, 2022 @ 18:18:38
Fitzcarraldo do seem to blur fiction and nonfiction, don’t they? I have been in an earthquake, in Birmingham in 1991 or so – I felt it because I was in an office block on an office chair on wheels and we were told to assemble under a concrete and metal car park – er, no, we joined the rest of the population in the open space around the cathedral then I walked home!
kaggsysbookishramblings
Oct 15, 2022 @ 19:41:21
They do – it’s been a thing with a good number of their titles which I’ve read! And eek – going underground in an earthquak is Not The Thing!!!!
Max Cairnduff
Oct 25, 2022 @ 09:53:26
It sounds excellent. I’ve unread Kindky though so this one will have to wait. I’ve experienced two earthquakes in my life, but neither remotely on this scale (though one was in Athens a week after a major quake and the Athenians were genuinely scared – you could see the emotional impact the larger quake had had).
kaggsysbookishramblings
Oct 25, 2022 @ 15:19:17
Kinsky’s a very interesting writer, from the two I read – a very individual voice. I hope I never have to experience an earthquake – we take the ground beneath our feet for granted, really.
Marcie McCauley
Nov 05, 2022 @ 00:18:22
I would have had to read on from that opening as well! This reminds me of Dany Laferriere’s memoir about being in Haiti (he lives in Montreal, exiled from Haiti) during the earthquake in 2010, The World Is Moving around Me. A very slim and powerful tale which feels like a fable and an intimate memoir too.
kaggsysbookishramblings
Nov 05, 2022 @ 16:04:53
It’s a very powerful book, yes, and yet as well as a memorial for what the characters went through, it also manages to look at the landscape and planet too. Very interesting.