Rating: 
Summary: stands above all novels
Review: "history" stands high above most of the novels ever written because it glorifies the life of simple people in a very sensitive,lovingly way for the human kind,and its the most powerfull assay about anarchism ever written,talking about the basic denials to society,starting with osepe, the child,thorough bella,the dog (!!!)ida and so on...as in oppose to all those violent,aggresivlely styled and pesimistic wriiten novels about anarchism ("a journey to the end of night" by celine for example) it stands as kind of lonely island, a beatifull masterpiece, captures the mind and the thought and stays there - forever.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderfully moving book
Review: Excellent characterization. Story of a small child who loses almost everything giving security to his life: his home, his first dog, his brother, the new "family" in the homeless shelter, while coping with epilepsy. It will affect me for weeks. I think translation is a bit rough.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderfully moving book
Review: Excellent characterization. Story of a small child who loses almost everything giving security to his life: his home, his first dog, his brother, the new "family" in the homeless shelter, while coping with epilepsy. It will affect me for weeks. I think translation is a bit rough.
Rating:
Summary: Magnifico!
Review: I CONSUMED this novel over fifteen years ago and re-read it recently. I had forgotten what a wonderfully funny, scary, sensitive story it is. Elsa Morante is truly one of the best writers of the 20th Century. She is able to express the anguish and the glory of "her" little man. Indeed, regardless of what happens in our lives, the events that may seem catastrophic, happiness is still all around us, we just have to fight for it. This is the lesson that Elsa Morante wants us to take away. How do we achive this? Read "History" and discover the secret...
Rating:
Summary: Marvelous!
Review: I cried and cried... my eyes even hurt from all the crying.
A pretty long book that's totally worth your time. It follows a slightly insane woman dealing with the difficulties of war together with the problems in her own life.
The book made me learn a lot about the second world war and the holocaust (even though i've lived my whole life in Israel) but I would of also loved and recomended it if it was about fictional setting.
I loved else's fabulous descriptions. It is uniqe- not like any other ww2 book written.
It started a bit slow for my taste (me - loving the miricle life of edgar mint and books of that sort) but if you finish the first chapter it gets better and better till the climax at the end.
Rating:
Summary: Read 1st Edition
Review: I discovered this book in 1977 when I somehow found myself with a first edition. It has stayed with me all that time. I was wondering if it still was in print and looked it up here. Amazing that over all these 26 years it's still in print and getting 5 stars from everyone. Time to read it again.
Rating:
Summary: astonishing work of art
Review: i have read quite a few books in my life, and never have i come across such a wonderful funny, scary, emotional book. Morante is by far the best writer of the 20th century, expressing the anguish and the glory of the little man. as Morante sais - some people have it all, some have nothing. my conclusion from the book is that happiness is all around us, but we have to fight for it.what do we need in order to achieve it is to help others, to show a smile, to make each person count - we are all human beings, lets be kinder, more gentile, less evil.
Rating:
Summary: Words aren't enough
Review: I read this book and for the first time I cried reading. Not once, not twice, but everytime I read it. And whenever I think of the book my heart hurts. Not only because Morante overwhelmed with her style and that the story is so touching but because the pain and misery described in the book are still part of millions of women and children's reality. I recommend this book especially to youngsters and teenagers, it will teach them as much as Anne Frank's diary.
Rating:
Summary: The real thing . . .
Review: I read this book over four years ago, and I still come to this website to see if any new titles have been added to the "If you liked this book..." section. I have a B.A. and M.A. in literature, read voraciously, and this remains in my top 10 list of all novels (among others, "Gathering Evidence," by Thomas Bernhardt, "Maria Zef," by Paola Driga, "Independent People," by Halldor Laxness . . .). It is one of those books that, should you hear of it somehow and read it, you will think a long time about how lucky you are that you "met" this novel, and this author, if you've never read her before; and you will shudder to think you might have gone through your life and missed such a book, and you will begin to wonder how many other books there are out there like this, some that you know you will never find. This is a serious novel, and a deeply moving one, especially if you have a fondness for literature about children. But this is not a prerequisite. When I began the novel, I didn't believe I could come to care so deeply for a fictional character, much less a five-year-old boy who, for the majority of the novel, is too young to speak. And his dogs! This is a truly magical novel. During the last fifty pages, I could not possibly put this book down, and my whole being was affected for days after reading the book, and I can never really forget it. If you don't like to feel, don't read this book. But if you do, you will rarely, if ever, be so richly rewarded.
Rating:
Summary: The real thing . . .
Review: I read this book over four years ago, and I still come to this website to see if any new titles have been added to the "If you liked this book..." section. I have a B.A. and M.A. in literature, read voraciously, and this remains in my top 10 list of all novels (among others, "Gathering Evidence," by Thomas Bernhardt, "Maria Zef," by Paola Driga, "Independent People," by Halldor Laxness . . .). It is one of those books that, should you hear of it somehow and read it, you will think a long time about how lucky you are that you "met" this novel, and this author, if you've never read her before; and you will shudder to think you might have gone through your life and missed such a book, and you will begin to wonder how many other books there are out there like this, some that you know you will never find. This is a serious novel, and a deeply moving one, especially if you have a fondness for literature about children. But this is not a prerequisite. When I began the novel, I didn't believe I could come to care so deeply for a fictional character, much less a five-year-old boy who, for the majority of the novel, is too young to speak. And his dogs! This is a truly magical novel. During the last fifty pages, I could not possibly put this book down, and my whole being was affected for days after reading the book, and I can never really forget it. If you don't like to feel, don't read this book. But if you do, you will rarely, if ever, be so richly rewarded.
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