The Day I Met Ann Goldstein, American translator of Elena Ferrante and The Brilliant Friend

I confess it: when that afternoon, I went to Civitella Ranieri for the public meeting with Ann Goldstein I wasn't attracted by this public character because of her translations of Elena Ferrante's books, a name this one that didn't ring personally any bell in my mind and that I misspelled when I would have spoken with her later.

Let me add, vice-versa that I was surprised and happy that I would have met the translator of Primo Levi, one of the italian men I admire the most and also Italo Calvino and Pier Paolo Pasolini.

The most, that afternoon that I drove to Civitella Ranieri I was searching for the ex editor of the New Yorker.

Being a little reporter of a regional newsmagazine this time I would have met someone who worked for one of the most important American magazines, the New Yorker.

I read with pleasure their pieces. I started with John Seabrook and his long reportage about Isabella Dalla Ragione's old fruit trees, in Città di Castello  years ago. I translated at that time with the help of a swiss lady, all that piece!

I discovered Solomeo and the reality of Cucinelli thanks to a long reportage realized by the New Yorker, an issue presented me by a friend of an American friend of mine, Constance Grayson during a dinner shared at the house of an Australian lady, Cathy. No idea who that man was since I didn't read that article.

You will think: you live in Umbria but you know these news thanks to American magazines? It must be my destiny, I guess.
Jokes apart, I was absolutely thrilled.

The event was called: The art of the Possible, so what it means to translate from a language to another a book and it took place in a sunny Sept 7th 2017.

I wanted to speak with Ann before to start the meeting and it was possible.

Skinny, delicate, gracious smile, melancholic eyes, I discovered a passionate journalist, plenty of curiosity and capacity of listening.
We talked about her wonderful italian.

She said me she learnt italian in  a few months thanks to her knowledge of old and new languages like french is and her many travels in our country, the place she loves the most.
I personally discovered a sense of normality and a familiar approach that I loved.

The meeting was the most participated one.


Anna Maria Polidori

Photo credits: Civitella Ranieri Foundation

The Climate Casino Risk, Uncertainty and Economics for a Warming World by William Nordhaus

The Climate Casino Risk, Uncertainty and Economics for a Warming World is one of the book written by the 2018 Noble Prize Winner in Economics William Nordhaus on the topic.
Sterling professor at Yale University, this intriguing, captivating reading is one of the perfect gift for this Christmas, and it should be read by everyone for trying to better the situation of our Planet.

Little things can make the difference, in fact if people are united and if this problem is shared with everyone and known for finding right solutions.

But what is it happening realistically to our Planet?

Although some politicians are skeptical, followed by a lot of skeptical people, global warming is a reality and there is not too much time left to our imagination before that profound changes will effect our existences and the ones of who will live after us.

Let's remember that quakes, tornadoes, floods, abrupt and dangerous changes of weather in grade of causing a lot of problems, death, damages are the result of this climate casino, as the economist calls the problem.

Nordhaus reflects that also in a past era the Earth suffered of a profound transformation in a few decades; just, now, these changes are strongly helped by men and our massive production of CO2 and these changes are mainly caused by men.
So, what to do?

Carbon, electricity; human existences based on the use of petrol, our lives are permeated mainly by electricity, cars, travels, daily actions we think absolutely innocuous, like the use of a smart phone, a PC.
You won't never believe it but every simple action during our day means a big problem for our Earth including the innocuous use during the winter-time of heating system existing in our cars and houses.

It's the system in which we live in and the one, we thought, could give good answers to us.

With a brilliant explanation, the Earth probably will experience a radical changes in a few decades or less and it will mean a profound stress for people and animals.

People: where there is possibility of cultivating maybe climate changes will mean more warm and less productivity; there will be a consequent migration of people in other places, but at the same time maybe some places considered real Paradises at the moment will disappear.

Some species of animals will disappear or are disappearing, or disappeared recently and climate changes are affecting also Oceans with the acidification of water. What it means: the production of CO2 enters in communication  with the less profound stratification of water causing a toxic chemical mixture in grade of killing seashells and other important animals.

Climate changes will mean also water rising, considering what it is happening in the North Pole and in the Antarctica and when permafrost will be melted new illnesses and viruses completely forgotten memory of a remote past will reappear. Maybe.
For sure mr. Nordhaus focuses the attention on diarrhea and the arrival of malaria also in areas where the illness not yet experienced.

What to do? Recipes for keeping this process under control are not simple. Sometimes it would be better not to increment a new economic growth because a new economic growth would mean more problems because more richness would mean more production of CO2.

At the same time deleting from the daily life a system more than practiced, like it is the one passing through petrol and energy sounds impossible in the immediate and more expensive for governments and private citizens.

Personally I think that big companies should give quick and urgent answers for sorting out a problem that can't wait anymore I would want to see a complete green smart phone rechargeable with solar energy. Big companies should start to use this option green and healthy in every sense.

I thank Yale University Press for the physical copy of this book.

Anna Maria Polidori

The Practice of Mindful Yoga A Connected Path to Awareness by Hannah Moss

"Mindful Yoga is a primarily spiritual discipline, connecting our body, our breath and our mind so that we can turn our inwards and start getting to know ourselves a little better."
This one the description given by Hannah Moss the author of this new and fascinating book by Quarto: The Practice of Mindful Yoga A Connected Path to Awareness.
Hannah decided of writing this book because once she experienced yoga, but she added it became to her like another insignificant moment of her day. It lost all the fascination it had and most important, the purposes and reasons why she did it. Then thanks to a local teacher she discovered Mindful Yoga, a Yoga in grade to let her keep focused in the present and in her most vivid experiences and positive sensations blocking the sadness and frustrations in grade to keep her body sick.

Mindful Yoga is important because it gives you consciousness about problems. With Yoga you don't escape problems but you see them under other perspectives.
Divided in five chapters you will discover everything about this ancient way of living in grade to help you in a daily base, from breath to posture, and at the end, following the steps of ms Moss you will be regenerated and more conscious of your self.

Highly recommended.

I thank NetGalley and Quarto for this eBook.

Anna Maria Polidori

Our Little Secret Il Nostro Piccolo Segreto by Ninni Schulman translated by Stefania Forlani

"We knew all, but we haven't done anything" and "What's wrong in some men?" are two phrases that synthesize well the new and waited book by Ninni Schulman, Our Little Secret Il Nostro Piccolo Segreto translated for Marsilio by Stefania Forlani.

We speak of domestic violence; we speak of a thematic, unfortunately  common in our society and that possibility of escapism, the mirage of another life where no one harm a woman, where there is freedom, where a woman or a girl are free from everyone; where brain is washed by sadness, sickness; by an internal pain more strong than the same life. We speak of survivors, but also of broken existences under many aspects, because healing from domestic violence is a long process.

But this book is not just this: it examines the delicate, intricate relationship existing in a couple and that invisible wire that let thinks to a lot of women: "It's all my fault" analyzing courageously what happens when a woman thinks: "Wait: maybe it's not my fault. Maybe I can change my existence and my destiny."

The story is this one: Anna-Karin Ehn is a social assistant and one night she doesn't return home; disappeared in the scene of this hypothetical murder there are evident signs of blood. 

Investigations are conducted by Petra Wilander and Christer Berglund.

It's simple to understand that, after all, the life of this lady was not so simple as at first everyone would have thought that it was.

But it's Magdalena Hansson the most important key of this tale: the reporter is back to work after an absence for maternity.
The case sounds immediately complicated.
Domestic violence, horrible abuses, a suicide.
A complete mess and the devastating mental and physical hell experienced by a lady and her daughter.

It's a strong book this one that should let us reflect about the possibility of being free from a sick man and the modality of our possible escapism from the horror.

Many surprises, I can tell you that there is the happy end.

I highly suggest to everyone this book.

I thank Marsilio for the physical copy of this book.

Anna Maria Polidori

Il Libro delle Piccole Rivoluzioni Il Magico Potere dei Gesti Quotidiani El Libro de las Pequenas revoluciones by Elsa Punset translated by Laura Scolari

Il Libro delle Piccole Rivoluzioni Il Magico Potere dei Gesti Quotidiani El Libro de las Pequenas revoluciones or in english The Book of Little Revolutions The Magical Power of Daily Gestures by Elsa Punset translated by Laura Scolari is an energetic important and beauty self-help book published by DeAgostini, italian publishing house.

All dedicated to girls and women, the purpose of this book is this one: taking good care of us once and for all, cuddling soul and body at the same time.
Stress, anxious moments, disconnection from the beauty of the world creates ugly situations, depression, stress, apathy.

Don't worry: this book will be of great inspiration and will help you if you need a tool for sorting out some of your problems.

Divided in four sections, nothing is left out, from work, living, growing, personal priorities, negative and positive people, to serenity, joy, happiness, and how to reach, avoid, build a different self, remaining...yourself, but with a different strength.

Many intuitive tips, advice that I am sure  you will find stimulating; other tips inspired by words of wisdom always actual, modern. The main problems for us, women is that at a certain point, we dedicate to other people a lot of time; we are busy and soon we lose the essence of ourselves: who are we? What did we love? What did we want?
What do we desire in this life? How can we rediscover that joy of living that we once had? How can we abandon bad habits?

Posture, chats, being friendly and amicable, teas, yoga, writing down our auto-biography, the ability of saying no, keeping out from our life nasty people with negative energies, this book is a splash in the colors of life.
Sometimes we forget the beauty of life, with its essences, with its delicate touch; when the game becomes too strong, when we are too sad, when we are not in grade to see an escapism we must remember that there is always a way.

Interactive under many ways this one is a wonderful gift for a girlfriend in difficulty!

I thank DeAgostini/DeaPlaneta for the physical copy of this book.

Anna Maria Polidori

Le Caffettiere dei miei Bisnonni La fine delle Icone nel Design Italiano The Mokas of my great-grandparents The End of the Icons in the Italian Design by Chiara Alessi

I was prepared to read a book about sweet memories of a family who created an object that will continue to be used per generations although not anymore Made in Italy in the strict sense of the word.
We speak of the italian moka, the caffettiera, where you taste the best coffee that you can dream in this world.
It was the opposite: Le Caffettiere dei miei Bisnonni La fine delle Icone nel Design Italiano The Mokas of my great-grandparents The End of the Icons in the Italian Design by Chiara Alessi is a polemic, disenchanted book about our times, consumers and their relationship with objects passing trhought the history of her family and the one of  historic brands.

Published by UTET this book is wonderfully beauty.

Everything started with Alfonso Bialetti and his moka. The invention would have meant for the second generation of the family incarnated in Renato the chance of feeding wagons of people thanks to the abundant work that there was: million of people at the same time tasted in the wonderful moka the coffee: 300 million caffettiere have been sold thanks to the geniality of a visionary man sold.
At the moment the Bialetti is just the pale memory of the old good times.
Alfonso Bialetti was a relative of Alessi: both of them remembered because they marked the old Made in Italy with good products that, simply, made the history of Italy.

In this sense the author is pretty polemic regarding the new times where objects are not anymore icons; maybe because icons just don't exist anymore, replaced by objects discovered for their functionality and lived without that love, affection that in the past there was for the caffettiera, the moka, for example.
Let's say that our times have lost that preciosity for the objects that there was in the past.

Not only; the author writes of a past, present and future that are a continuous present at the moment. All the possible complexity of time is disappeared.

Icons, writes the author, became icons because they were defined in a certain time where present and time meant a lot.

Present at the moment doesn't give any stability or credibility at the future.

Bialetti with the moka became a synonymy of modernism fighting against classicism; the author remarks that there is not anymore originality and uniqueness, but just products without soul. And people? Consumers? They are confused.

Modern icons, the so-called status-symbols work for remarking that the consumer is in grade of buying it; these modern objects are not symbols as in the past, of an affectionate, indispensable tool in grade to recognize not just a family but a country. A country. It's an enormous concept but real. Why? Because an icon is not just an icon: it's the symbol of a country, of memories, it speaks of the place where it is born in; it serves for obtain the best, but at the same time it incarnates the spirit of the country: and the country whispers through that object.

Icons remains. When an object is beauty, functional, remains young also if time goes by.

An icon is ageless: it's present, past: it speaks of people, aspirations writes the author.

Not only: there is more. In the past objects where made for being part of the daily rituals of a family. They were warm, they were part of the life of people.

At the moment publicity created, writes the author the desire from masses of entering in aliens and unknown worlds; these worlds will remain aliens and an object, also the most expensive one is not chosen because good but because a "status-symbol." In this poor scenario objects don't present anymore any kind of passion and enthusiasm as it was in the past, but worries, stress.

A big role is played by technology and the modifications created in people's behavior; "all and now" are constant of this world. We experience, writes the author a desire of having something that once realized don't interest us anymore. We want something else.

This comparison is very good to me: the author thinks that the consumer is like Vladimiro and Estragone the protagonists of Waiting for Godot by Beckett.
The protagonists wait and wait: they don't know who Godot is...Their waiting is pretty dangerous for their existences.

At the same time the consumer doesn't know what he will buy but he stays in line per hours for buying a product because trendy and because everyone want it.
We desire to desiring. We desire to be like all the rest of people.
Beautiful book this one, written with heart and written with that melancholic touch presented by our modern age.

A society this one, unable to speak to the heart of people (if looked in the surface) and unable to  remain; the only consolation? Our past, made with heart, with friendship, love, work, and real values.
Since we won't return at that point, humanity will be a desolated land with less heart and less humanity.

Many example will involve also other objects of designs.


I thank DeaPlaneta for this eBook.

Anna Maria Polidori

L.M.Montgomery A Name for Herself Selected Writings, 1891-1917 Edited by Benjamin Lefebvre

L.M.Montgomery A Name for Herself Selected Writings, 1891-1917 Edited by Benjamin Lefebvre the editor of  the L.M.Montgomery Library was published recently by University of Toronto Press.
This one is the first of three books entirely dedicated to the beloved author of Anne of Green Gables; the project was born for let us discover the rest of her writings.

Mr. Lefebvre is also the the director of the L.M.Montgomery Online and his life has been mostly dedicated, like also his publications, to the beloved author of Anne of Green Gables.

Mrs Montgomery transmit all the best: real values, but also sacrifice, fight, dedication, and she is in grade of enchanting all of us with her wonderful, tender delicate touch while she describes a stunning nature, situations, or like when she donates us in one of her writings the recipe of a Scripture Cake suggesting in another one that there is not any other more precious gift than books for Christmas.

Montgomery is a lady in grade to bring to our soul calm, good feelings, that precious gift that is attention to life, to reality to what it is seriously important in life.
Her eyes were enchanted eyes in this world in grade to capture the best, leaving the rest alone.

In a society like this one, pretty confused and scared, this author is more than indispensable because she is in grade to re-put reality in  focus; I said it previously and I will continue to say this, because it is important.

Anne Shirley: her character is a tenacious and strong kid and teen-ager, plenty of optimism and with that touch of desperation and research of mental escapism from the hard reality she lived in, in grade to let her goes on in an hostile world since she doesn't find happiness.

Anne Shirley is without doubt not just a fictional character but the alter-ego of the same Montgomery; grown up close to Cavendish by her maternal grandparents she missed a lot her dad, with which she remained affectionate all her life, although Montgomery didn't never find a good connection with the second wife of her dad, suffering a lot also for this reason.
Her grandparents didn't love to read books, a passion that young and talented Montgomery cultivated a lot, although in that family there was a lot of oral storytelling as it happened once and it helped the author as well.
Thanks to these influences and her readings, very young, when she was taking an undergraduate course at Halifax, Montgomery started to being published. Teacher, once returned to Cavendish because her grand-mother lost the husband, she started to write full time, earning a lot of money in comparison with the one of her teaching job.

The writing activity of Montgomery can't be just defined by Anne of Green Gables adds the author, because Mrs Montgomery wrote voraciously and there are something like five hundreds short stories, five hundreds poems and more material available although til now unknown to the most.

For this reasons these three books as said before are born: for let show to everyone the versatile character of Montgomery and her ability of writing of different topics; it could be an essay, it could be a short story, nothing was impossible to her.
That's why her enormous success as a writer. Let's remember she lived with her writings.
In the first part of the book Early and Student Publications the first works appeared between 1891 and 1899; the second part will treat "Maud as a Newspaper Woman" where we find all the collection of her columns "Around the Table" really beauty, published in the Halifax Daily Echo with the nickname Cynthia.
The third part is about "The Upward to Heights Sublime;" we will see in this final part Montgomery as an established, famous author.

You will fall in love for all these tales, trust me.

If you love L.M.Montgomery, if you appreciated her in Anne of Green Gables, you can't miss to buy this book and to read these tales, because they're absolutely stunning; the best of the best and during this period of the year, it is simply fascinating ending the day with a warm blanket, a good cup of tea, and some tales of Montgomery, that you can read to your daughter as well! They're amazing.

You will meet the same intensity experienced by the author in her beloved classics books and her attention, devotion, love, passion, cure, for nature, animals, human nature that we all know very well. Positive spirit for sure, she will be in grade to add sun to you or your dear ones also during a cloudy day.

Highly recommended: the perfect gift for all your family!

I thank University of Toronto Press for the physical copy of this book.

Anna Maria Polidori