Read it in EnglishHo deciso di recuperare Michelene Wandor, che avevo posposto mentre attendevo che arrivasse il libro ordinato, False Relations. Ho preferito ordinare una raccolta di racconti anziché una di poesie perché avevo letto che in questi racconti l’autrice mescola tradizioni diverse e personaggi storici diversi, tra cui Henry VIII. Avevo così pensato di trovare spunti interessanti nella lettura. Cerco sempre di scegliere, tra i vari libri di un autore, quelli che più si avvicinano alle mie sfere di interesse in modo da annullare l’effetto di estraneità alla lettura di qualcosa di completamente nuovo, non familiare. In questo modo mi è più facile apprezzare anche le altre opere. Come dire… non “socializzo” facilmente.
Con queste premesse, ho iniziato a leggere False Relations ed il primo racconto in cui mi sono imbattuta è “The Devil in the Cupboard”, che ho trovato una sorta di ‘favoletta morale’ un po’ bizzarra.
Sono quindi andata a ricercare qualche notizia sulla Wandor… cosa che di solito faccio prima di cominciare. Il suo sito ufficiale non mi è piaciuto… troppo impersonale. E’ costruito attorno ad una serie di elenchi di premi e titoli di opere di vario genere. Leggo la microscopica presentazione personale e c’è qualcosa che non mi convince, mi sembra troppo. Di solito diffido di chi si occupa di troppe cose in settori tanto diversi. Nel caso della Wandor si parla di poesia, racconti, recensioni, teatro, musica, insegnamento, radio, giornalismo… Non so, ho come l’impressione che fare troppo equivalga a non fare bene niente… a meno che non ti chiami Stephen Fry (è l’unico esempio universalmente riconosciuto di eccellenza a 360 gradi).
Con questo pregiudizio (lo ammetto) riprendo in mano False Relations e arrivo a “Corridors of Light and Shadow”, che mi mette subito a mio agio aprendo una finestra sui luoghi che conosco bene: Verona e Mantova. Seguo gli spostamenti di un personaggio non ancora identificato tra le chiese di Mantova, il lago, le piazze (sorvolo sui brevi intermezzi poetici che, secondo me, interrompono il flusso della lettura e creano un’aspettativa che, alla fine, mi rendo conto essere stata completamente disattesa) e arrivo finalmente a scoprire l’identità dei personaggi… con grande stupore, visto che nel frattempo ho incontrato treni e scooter, che mi hanno permesso di collocare la vicenda ai giorni nostri.
Ebbene, si tratta dell’incontro di Enrico VIII con Isabella Gonzaga! Il dialogo tra i due mi sembra pretenzioso: ho come la sensazione che vorrebbe essere misterioso e poetico, ma in realtà mi suona banale ed enciclopedico… come se l’autrice infilasse qua e là dettagli che conosce sui personaggi, volendo farli entrare nel flusso naturale della conversazione. In realtà io li percepisco come forzati, ma forse è solo una mia sensazione. Il climax, immagino, dovrebbe essere lo squallido rapporto consumato tra i due nella Camera degli Sposi del Castello di San Giorgio.
Alla fine di tutto ciò trovo che l’unica frase che commenta ciò che ho pensato di questo racconto sia contenuta nel racconto stesso:
"NOTHING MATTERS … WHEN THE KING OF ENGLAND WALKS WITH THE MARCHESA IN MANTUA".
MICHELENE WANDOR: FALSE RELATIONS
I decided to take up Michelene Wandor’s, which I had previously postponed while waiting for False Relations to arrive. I preferred a collection of short stories instead of her poems because I had read that in these stories she mixed different traditions as well as historical characters, such as Henry VIII. I thought I could find interesting cues. I always try to choose among an author’s books the ones that better reflect my sphere of interest. By doing so I usually avoid the estrangement effect in reading something completely new, unfamiliar. This way I can really appreciate his/her other works, too. I must admit… I’m not “an easy socializer”. With such premises I started False Relations and the first story I read was “The Devil in the Cupboard”, which is some sort of bizarre “moral fable”. So I surfed the net looking for news about Wandor… that’s what I usually do BEFORE reading. I didn’t like her official site… I found it too impersonal. It’s built around a series of lists of prizes and titles of various works. I read a (too short) personal introduction and I was not convinced, I thought it’s too much for a person. I usually distrust people who simultaneously handle different things in such different fields. In Wandor’s case we are talking of poetry, short stories, reviews, theatre, music, teaching, radio, journalism… I don’t know. Maybe I’m wrong, but I’ve got the impression that when one handles too many things, one can’t do anything well… unless you’re Stephen Fry (I think he’s the only living example of 360-degree excellence)! With such a prejudice (I admit) I’m taking up False Relations again and reading “Corridors of Light and Shadow”, which makes me feel immediately at ease with places I know well: Verona and Mantua. I’m following a not-yet-identified character among the churches of Mantua, its lake and squares (I skip over short poetic interludes interrupting the flow of reading because I think they create an expectation which, in the end, I realize is completely disregarded) and at last I discover the identity of the mysterious characters… much to my surprise the story is about the encounter between Henry VIII and Isabella Gonzaga! The dialogue between the two sounds quite pretentious to me: I feel the assumption of being mysterious and poetic, but actually sounds rather ordinary or encyclopedic to me... as if the authoress forcedly inserted details about the characters in the natural flow of the conversation. I really perceive them as forced, but I may be wrong of course. I suppose the climax of the story should be the sordid sexual intercourse between them, which is consumed in the beautiful Bridal Chamber in San Giorgio Castle. In the end I found a sentence in the text that best comments what I thought of the story: “NOTHING MATTERS… WHEN THE KING OF ENGLAND WALKS WITH THE MARCHES IN MANTUA”. At this point, I must confess, there has been a shipwreck: the ship has sunk, bringin down with it the rest of the stories and I rescued myself… waiting for the next book passing.
I decided to take up Michelene Wandor’s, which I had previously postponed while waiting for False Relations to arrive. I preferred a collection of short stories instead of her poems because I had read that in these stories she mixed different traditions as well as historical characters, such as Henry VIII. I thought I could find interesting cues. I always try to choose among an author’s books the ones that better reflect my sphere of interest. By doing so I usually avoid the estrangement effect in reading something completely new, unfamiliar. This way I can really appreciate his/her other works, too. I must admit… I’m not “an easy socializer”. With such premises I started False Relations and the first story I read was “The Devil in the Cupboard”, which is some sort of bizarre “moral fable”. So I surfed the net looking for news about Wandor… that’s what I usually do BEFORE reading. I didn’t like her official site… I found it too impersonal. It’s built around a series of lists of prizes and titles of various works. I read a (too short) personal introduction and I was not convinced, I thought it’s too much for a person. I usually distrust people who simultaneously handle different things in such different fields. In Wandor’s case we are talking of poetry, short stories, reviews, theatre, music, teaching, radio, journalism… I don’t know. Maybe I’m wrong, but I’ve got the impression that when one handles too many things, one can’t do anything well… unless you’re Stephen Fry (I think he’s the only living example of 360-degree excellence)! With such a prejudice (I admit) I’m taking up False Relations again and reading “Corridors of Light and Shadow”, which makes me feel immediately at ease with places I know well: Verona and Mantua. I’m following a not-yet-identified character among the churches of Mantua, its lake and squares (I skip over short poetic interludes interrupting the flow of reading because I think they create an expectation which, in the end, I realize is completely disregarded) and at last I discover the identity of the mysterious characters… much to my surprise the story is about the encounter between Henry VIII and Isabella Gonzaga! The dialogue between the two sounds quite pretentious to me: I feel the assumption of being mysterious and poetic, but actually sounds rather ordinary or encyclopedic to me... as if the authoress forcedly inserted details about the characters in the natural flow of the conversation. I really perceive them as forced, but I may be wrong of course. I suppose the climax of the story should be the sordid sexual intercourse between them, which is consumed in the beautiful Bridal Chamber in San Giorgio Castle. In the end I found a sentence in the text that best comments what I thought of the story: “NOTHING MATTERS… WHEN THE KING OF ENGLAND WALKS WITH THE MARCHES IN MANTUA”. At this point, I must confess, there has been a shipwreck: the ship has sunk, bringin down with it the rest of the stories and I rescued myself… waiting for the next book passing.
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