bad time for me to read, and was dragging with little momentum. i liked the style though, and think i will try and give it another shot soon

 This isnt much a novel as a character study on a single man, the narrators father, as he messed up the lives of everyone around him includying himself. The author writes about the abuse he and his family suffered because of his father. The consecuences it had when he was a kid and how that carried on into adulthood. And also how he treated the mother, which i think its the most compelling part of the book. But also explores the reasons why the father ended up the way he was. 

I bought this for the beautiful cover and because I love a Neapolitan tale. Little did I know how harrowing and exhausting of a read this would be. An utter deluge of cathartic confessions from the protagonist about his narcissistic father's relentlessly insufferable personality and the damage it inflicted on his entire family- set amidst the backdrop of 1940s-1950s Naples. The most poignant parts were when the speaker would briefly spares us the vivid recollections of his insane father, and choose to actually confront how this trauma directly impacted his psyche- those were the most poignant, devastating parts. They hurt because if it was painful to read, it was undoubtedly more painful for Starnone to write and come to terms with. Reading this was a process of bearing witness to someone's necessary catharsis. However, the details I was taking in felt quite pointless as I neared the end of the second section of the book. Despite the nice medley of family members and details of life in Naples, the atmosphere remained suffocating. Sheer overwhelm, and if I hadn't encountered such people in my own life I'd be quick to dismiss some of the traits and instances as farcical, overblown or downright exaggerated. But I'm not sure if the necessity of his release correlates with the necessity of me consuming the same pain. I suppose the repetitive aspects, the monotonous dull painful feeling of persevering with this book are reminiscent of how it must've felt like for Starnone himself. But I couldn't even soldier on and skipped quite a bit of the final section. 

It was just a painful read; the beauty of the painting on the cover no longer holds the same intrigue it once did. I bought it during a specific time this year from Foyles at Waterloo Station when I was looking for a release of sorts, and now Idk what to make of that choice. I feel very stressed and angry on his behalf, and I hope writing this brought him some healing. 

 The LRB review by Thomas Jones was great though!

Need to start again & concentrate