Se questo è un uomo

Abstract

Rome in the summer of 1945.As the separation becomes permanent, the lack of contact heightens their differences.Pavese is often harsh in his criticism of her and her inability to become a writer, and she begins to talk about his "solita lettera cinica arcigna desesperada e angolosa" (101).He repeatedly reproaches her for her rolling stone attitude toward life, and she attempts to keep the communication open in generic requests regarding his work, especially texts which involve her as muse (poems or the Dialoghi con Leucò); she often offers excuses about translations that she has contracted with Einaudi but can never finish.He alternates between anger when she treats his writing superficially (113) and affectionate address ("Carina Bianca") when he pens a letter that begins with quotes from poems dedicated to her (108).She has repeated illnesses and crises, and does in fact continuously change goals and direction.In January 1949 she enrolls in medical school but only takes three exams (118-120).The previous year she was writing poems, studying German, and doing psychoanalysis with Ernst Bernhard.In 1951 she will get her degree in philosophy with a thesis on Jung.Psychoanalysis continues to interest her.Parallel to the engaging story woven by the correspondence are the meticulously researched notes.Detail and precision confirm the editor's training and her continued scholarly experience as professor of Italian at the University of Turin.Masoero's careful assembly of letters (Pavese's were chosen among mostly published ones with additional text where the comparison of first draft and final one differ), her extensive notes, as well as supplementary texts and images in the Appendix, anticipate the reader's every possible query.It is the work of a masterful philologist, the craft that originally spawned the underlying web concept of hypertext.When Pavese reviles Fernanda Pivano for accusing him of blacklisting her (32) or less vehemently but still critically categorizes Natalia Ginzburg's writing style as boring (69), the notes make connections with unembellished objectivity.The editor gives all relevant data but lets the texts speak for themselves.Although Bianca's own words illustrate to what degree her love story with Pavese and his mentorship did or did not make her a writer, the reader is allowed to draw independent conclusions.The learned style and rigor are perfectly enfolded in the academic gravitas of a Leo S. Olschki edition.

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