The House on Via Gemito

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By Domenico Starnone

Publisher Description

LONGLISTED FOR THE 2024 INTERNATIONAL BOOKER PRIZE A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR The Washington Post·Kirkus Reviews A NEW YORK TIMES EDITORS’ CHOICE This extraordinary Strega Prize-winning novel confirms Domenico Starnone’s reputation as one of Italy’s greatest living writers. Told against the backdrop of Naples in the 1960s, a city that itself becomes a vivid character in this lush, atmospheric novel, The House on Via Gemito is a masterpiece of Italian fiction, one that is steeped in Neapolitan lore. A modest apartment in Via Gemito smelling of paint and turpentine. Its furniture pushed up against the wall to create a make-shift studio. Drying canvases moved from bed to floor each night. Federí, the father, a railway clerk, is convinced that he possesses great artistic promise. If it weren’t for the family he must feed and the jealousy of his fellow Neapolitan artists, nothing would stop him from becoming a world-famous painter. Ambitious and frustrated, genuinely talented but also arrogant and resentful, Federí is scarred by constant disappointment. He is a larger-than-life character, a liar, a fabulist, and his fantasies shape the lives of those around him, especially his young son, Mimi, short for Domenico, who will spend a lifetime trying to get out from under his father’s shadow. Starnone, a finalist for the National Book Award with Trick, author of New York Times notable book of the year, Ties, and the critically acclaimed Trust, takes readers beyond the slim, novella-length works for which he is known by American readers to create a vast fresco of family, fatherhood, and modern Naples.

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9 Reviews

4.0

giusy 🏹

Created about 1 month ago

Arianna🌸🌸

Created about 1 month ago

Max

Created about 2 months ago

“A portrait of the artist as an egomaniac. Starnone examines his relationship to his father, a devoted artist and self-centered, toxic abuser. Nevertheless, while the author doesn't hold back on depicting the explicitly horrible nature of his father, he also depicts the complicated reality of growing up under the oppressive and inevitably influential gaze of someone so strong-willed. Admiration and accusation, two sides of the same coin. In the early phases of the novel, Starnone expertly exhibits how fragile the peace in a household can be when run by a lothario such as his father. The hypocritical tyrannism of Federi, Starnone's father, creates an environment where every move can be either lauded or ridiculed; living in a constant state of fear, needing to appease his father, renders Starnone almost stagnant in his own development. How can we become who we are in the vacuum of another, especially such a prominent figure of one's father? I struggled a bit to get into this book. It's dense, heady and very repetitive. Perhaps much like living out these experiences would feel. By no means is it enjoyable or pleasant. However, the power of the narrative builds as you go on. And the end of each section—there are three in total, without chapter breaks—hit hard. Starnone really earns the emotional turns each part takes and by the finale I was surprisingly moved. This might not be for everyone, but those who like the gritty Neapolitan depictions in Ferrante's work and the examination of parent/child relationships found in a vulnerable memoir will find something to appreciate, if not always enjoy, in Starnone's modern epic. Merged review: A portrait of the artist as an egomaniac. Starnone examines his relationship to his father, a devoted artist and self-centered, toxic abuser. Nevertheless, while the author doesn't hold back on depicting the explicitly horrible nature of his father, he also depicts the complicated reality of growing up under the oppressive and inevitably influential gaze of someone so strong-willed. Admiration and accusation, two sides of the same coin. In the early phases of the novel, Starnone expertly exhibits how fragile the peace in a household can be when run by a lothario such as his father. The hypocritical tyrannism of Federi, Starnone's father, creates an environment where every move can be either lauded or ridiculed; living in a constant state of fear, needing to appease his father, renders Starnone almost stagnant in his own development. How can we become who we are in the vacuum of another, especially such a prominent figure of one's father? I struggled a bit to get into this book. It's dense, heady and very repetitive. Perhaps much like living out these experiences would feel. By no means is it enjoyable or pleasant. However, the power of the narrative builds as you go on. And the end of each section—there are three in total, without chapter breaks—hit hard. Starnone really earns the emotional turns each part takes and by the finale I was surprisingly moved. This might not be for everyone, but those who like the gritty Neapolitan depictions in Ferrante's work and the examination of parent/child relationships found in a vulnerable memoir will find something to appreciate, if not always enjoy, in Starnone's modern epic.”

clmckinney

Created about 2 months ago

“This is the story Mimi and his family that centres around his painter father. We see their family struggle through hard times and live as the patriarch works as railway worker and paints in his spare time. We are given a portrait of a self involved belligerent artist. Most of his relationships are adversarial. From what I read this tale is autobiographical. There seems to be a feeling that the main character is trying to distance himself from his father, but also make sense of him too. I really liked the sentimental lining that runs throughout the story. I also adored the writing. The father was easily unlikeable but the prose was so immersive. It was a bit like Fernanda Melchor, but more personable. This story reminded me a bit of the movies, The Hand Of God and C.R.A.Z.Y. I will definitely be reading the Ferrante books and more of the books under his name too. This gets a 5/5. Merged review: This is the story Mimi and his family that centres around his painter father. We see their family struggle through hard times and live as the patriarch works as railway worker and paints in his spare time. We are given a portrait of a self involved belligerent artist. Most of his relationships are adversarial. From what I read this tale is autobiographical. There seems to be a feeling that the main character is trying to distance himself from his father, but also make sense of him too. I really liked the sentimental lining that runs throughout the story. I also adored the writing. The father was easily unlikeable but the prose was so immersive. It was a bit like Fernanda Melchor, but more personable. This story reminded me a bit of the movies, The Hand Of God and C.R.A.Z.Y. I will definitely be reading the Ferrante books and more of the books under his name too. This gets a 5/5.”

Jennifer Addesso

Created 7 months ago