Blue Library
9826 Parodia
Ruggero Guarini. Introduction by J. Rodolfo Wilcock
1973 / 226 PAGES.
Language: Italian
A great Italian erotic novel, an attempt to break the sound barrier of Obscenity to see what lies behind. Its almost offensively skilful style and the ironic spark of a rare culture have made Parodia an insolent literary affaire.
The author of Parodia attempted a range of paths, from irony to mysticism, with the most abnormal – if not all – of them leading to the Church. Apostolic nuncios, Dutch theologians and bureaucratic generals from the East are involved in a whirlwind journey across Europe, beyond the permutations of sex and even cannibalism. Though Ruggiero Guarini (a Vatican correspondent and editor of the culture section for a Roman newspaper) describes bleak acts and thoughts in Parodia, several pages bathe these abominable characters in a poetic light that reflects on the author himself – the prismatic and only partially visible Guarini.