The title of this book in Italian is Tra donne sole which transliterates as ‘Among Single Women’. I’m not sure why R.W. Flint went with Among Women Only but then there were a few translation issues in this book, at least I’m putting them down to issues of translation considering Pavese’s reputation—certainly within his home country—as being one among the major authors of the 20th century. I mean, “he touched her cheek caressingly” is just bad. In Wikipedia I see the book’s has been translated as Women on Their Own which I think is probably more what Pavese had in mind not that the book is without men—far from it—but it does focus on a group of mainly unattached women. There’s not much of a plot here. A fashion designer, Clelia Oitana, returns to Turin, her hometown in northern Italy, after making a name for herself in Rome. She’s been sent to oversee the setting up of a new shop. Somehow she finds herself hobnobbing with the women who will be her shop’s intended clientele: moneyed and bored. One in particular catches her interest, a young girl called Rosetta Mola who is rushed out a hotel room close to the one Clelia’s moved into on her first night in town after having attempted to commit suicide. Rosetta’s friends—although she actually acknowledges no friends—rally round her and over the next few weeks Clelia finds herself whisked away to parties and events and on road trips and all the time Rosetta is there at her side or in the background and what everyone is wondering is: Will she try again?Eventually the question is posed:Rosetta, surprised, said that she had no idea herself why she went to the hotel that night. In fact she had gone in happy. She was feeling relieved after the dance. For a long time, nights had made her shudder, the idea of having got through another day, of being alone with her disgusts, of waiting for morning, stretched out in bed—all became unbearable. That night, anyhow, was nearly over. But then, precisely because she hadn't slept but paced around the room thinking of night, of all the stupid things that had happened at night, and now she was alone again and couldn't do anything, little by little she became desperate, and finding the Veronal in her bag... The thing is she’s not alone with thoughts like this. Momina, an older woman with whom Rosetta had had some kind of sexual dalliance, feels much the same. Clelia reports:Momina was telling me how strongly she was overcome at times by disgust—not just a nausea from this or that person, from an evening or a season, but a disgust with living, with everything and everyone, with time itself that goes so fast and yet never seems to go. Still an outsider Clelia struggles to understand these women:Having money means you can isolate yourself. But then why do leisured people with money always look for company and noise? […] At bottom it was true she had no motive for wanting to kill herself, certainly not because of that stupid story of her first love for Momina, or some other mess. She wanted to be alone, to isolate herself from the uproar; and in her world you can't be alone or do anything alone unless you take yourself out of it completely. So this is a study not so much of women but of a lifestyle. We’ve all read in the papers what the rich and famous get up to when they’re bored and that’s what we have here, a bunch of people—granted, mainly women—with too much time on their hands and nothing to fill it with. Clelia has worked her way up. She comes from a poor neighbourhood and now she can afford furs; work has done this for her and yet she sees in these women what life might be like if she could ever afford not to work. What’s particularly interesting about this book—albeit in a morbid way—is that we know Pavese committed suicide by taking an overdose of barbiturates in 1950, a year after this novella was published. I found myself thinking of the character of Trish in Willy Russell’s Educating Rita as I read this, especially Rosetta’s explanation of what happened. Rita asks Trish why she attempted suicide and Trish replies, “Darling, why not? […] When I listen to poetry and music, then I can live. You see, darling, the rest of the time it's just me. And that's not enough.”It took me a wee while to get into this book. Pavese doesn’t explain a lot—I didn’t even realise the narrator was a woman at first—but bit by bit he fills in the background and that kept my attention. I couldn’t relate to any of the characters really apart from Clelia as my proxy, the detached observer. She’s a bit of a cold fish actually. But that doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy the book. I’m never going to get people like these but that doesn’t mean they’re not fascinating and literature is full of them, the Daisy Buchannans and Sebastian Flytes of this world, people more concerned with what they seem to be than what they actually are.
Torino'da geçen bu sürükleyici öykünün baş kahramanı Clelia, dar gelirli bir ailede yetişmiş, annesi tarafından hiçbir şeye, hiç kimseye güvenmemesi tembihlenerek büyütülmüş, kimseye bağlanmak istemeyen, kendi kendine yetme arzusunda, yalnız, hırslı ve işkolik bir kadın. Kitap da Clelia'nın Torino'da edindiği sosyetik ve entelektüel çevresinden hareketle hayat, yalnızlık, mutluluk, ilişkiler, erkekler, çalışma hayatı gibi konulara değiniyor. Özellikle Rosetta karakteri üzerinden yazarın kendi buhranlarını, yaşama sevgisini ve ölmek arzusunu dinleme, öğrenme şansımız oluyor.Adından da anlaşılabileceği gibi kitabın ana karakterleri kadınlar. Bu kadınların hayatta kalmak adına erkeklere ihtiyaç duymamaları ve romanda geçen erkek figürlerin genellikle silik, kaba ya da değersiz profillere sahip olmaları bana göre kitabın dikkat çekici noktalarından biri. Kitabın bir erkek yazar tarafından kaleme alındığı düşünülse bile, kadın karakterlerin iç dünyalarına ilişkin aktarımları oldukça başarılı bulduğumu söyleyebilirim.Öykü hayli akıcı bir kurguya sahip. Bazı yerlerde geriye dönük incecik bağlantılar ve dikkatten kaçma ihtimali yüksek bazı göndermeler mevcut. Bu yüzden okurken dikkatli olmakta fayda var. Bana kalırsa kitap, ikinci bir okumayı da hakediyor.
Do You like book Among Women Only (1997)?
Una Torino tra le due guerre scarna ed essenziale come lo stile di Pavese. Ci si innamora subito della protagonista, Clelia, donna che si e' fatta da se', superintelligente e cinica osservatrice spassionata delle bizzarrie ed eccessi di una certo ceto nullafacente che ama buttare al vento le proprie giornate in festini e conversazioni superficiali, divorziato dalla realta'. Romanzo leggero anche se tratta di temi difficili quali il suicidio, il malessere esistenziale, il vuoto della ricchezza data per scontata che viene messa al confronto con la vita "guadagnata", col lavoro che gratifica ed eleva lo spirito. Un Pavese che indica nel lavoro la suprema forza umanizzante che a dirsi cosi' puzza di capitalismo storico di vecchio stampo alla Max Weber, quello appunto della gente che passa la vita lavorando risparmiando e investendo il capitale. Si profila cosi' l'immagine di una borghesia "positiva" contro quella "decadente" e "sfacciata" rappresentata dall'affascinante Momina (antieroina del romanzo). Unica perplessita': lo stile contenuto della scrittura poco si addice all'intenzione di rappresentare la decadenza morale e di valori di questa borghesia torinese cosi' portata all'eccesso e alla trasgressione. La narrazione va avanti per sottintesi, parole a mezz'aria, periodi semplici, estrema sinteticita' (fino quasi alla sterilita') del linguaggio e del sentimento che vi e' racchiuso. Uno stridere tra forma e contenuto che non e' solo difetto, ma anche fonte di curiosita' e fascino per il lettore moderno.
—Dimitar Darren
داستان مذکور، زندگی در ایتالیای پس از جنگ را به تصویر میکشد. زنی که برای راه اندازی فروشگاهی از رم به زادگاه خود بازمیگردد و طی آشنایی با افرادی از طبقه ثروتمند، وارد زندگی آنان شده و به زوایای این نوع زندگی دست می یابد.مضامینی که وی به کرات در رمانهایش دنبال کرده، معرف جستجوییست که انسان شهرنشین، انسان گرفتار در زنجیرهای از شرایط دائما متزلزل، برای رسیدن به دوام وثبات، بیوقفه با آن دست به گریبان است. قهرمان (شخصیت محوری) متداول درآثار پاوزه، فردی است تنها، که این تنهایی را یا به اختیار برگزیده یا اینکه به جبر براو تحمیل شده است. ارتباط این شخصیت با زنان ومردان، پیوندی است موقتی و سطحی. شاید این قهرمان بیعلاقه به برقراری ارتباط با دیگران نباشد اما غالبا با خیانت به آرمانها و دوستان خود، رشتههای پیوند ازهم میگسلد
—Pardis Parto
Spicuiri din recenzia finala care se gaseste pe blogul meuFemei singure este un fel de „La Grande Bellezza”, dacă scoţi umorul din film..................Părerile despre romanul lui Pavese sunt care mai de care mai complexe, ştiinţifice, cu adânci şi straşnice elaborări critice construite cu ajutorul sculelor atât de ascuţite şi strălucitoare ale doctorilor filologi, însă romanul nu m-a impresionat.Poate pentru că am alte aşteptări de la un roman. Una dintre acestea însemnând să nu citesc proza ca pe o poezie. Or, se pare că tratând Femei singure drept proză s-ar putea să-i ratezi mesajul. Sau poate că Pavese este pur şi simplu mult prea deştept pentru mine….....................
—Razvan Zamfirescu
