New York, 1957. Vinnie il bel galeotto, Freddy l’attaccabrighe, Georgette il travestito, Alex il barman, Mary incinta e
picchiata dal marito, Tralala la prostituta adolescente, Harry violento e pedofilo. E poi
le risse, le sbornie e la droga. C’è tutta la Brooklyn misera, sciagurata e
povera degli anni Cinquanta in quest’opera di Hubert Selby Jr. Una giostra vorticosa
di personaggi indimenticabili, una
scrittura cruda, che non lascia spazi all’immaginazione e ai non detti, una narrazione
a più voci, intrecciata ai flussi di coscienza dei protagonisti, che crea
un’esperienza di lettura davvero coinvolgente, ma tuttavia impegnativa
(astenersi chi predilige strutture narrative scorrevoli e lineari).
***
New York, 1957. Vinnie the handsome convict, Freddy the troublemaker, Georgette the trans, Alex the barman, Mary pregnant and beaten up by her husband, Tralala the teenage prostitute, Harry the violent pedophile. And then the fights, the hangovers and the drugs. There is the whole wretched and impoverished Brooklyn of the fifties in this work by Hubert Selby Jr. A whirling carousel of unforgettable characters, raw writing, that leaves no room for imagination and the unsaid, a narration in many voices, intertwined with the stream-of-consciousness style of the protagonists, which creates a truly engaging, but nevertheless challenging experience of reading (those who prefer sliding and linear narrative structures should refrain).
New York, 1957. Vinnie the handsome convict, Freddy the troublemaker, Georgette the trans, Alex the barman, Mary pregnant and beaten up by her husband, Tralala the teenage prostitute, Harry the violent pedophile. And then the fights, the hangovers and the drugs. There is the whole wretched and impoverished Brooklyn of the fifties in this work by Hubert Selby Jr. A whirling carousel of unforgettable characters, raw writing, that leaves no room for imagination and the unsaid, a narration in many voices, intertwined with the stream-of-consciousness style of the protagonists, which creates a truly engaging, but nevertheless challenging experience of reading (those who prefer sliding and linear narrative structures should refrain).
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