Confession

Name: Confession
ISBN: 9787532793334

多梅尼科·斯塔尔诺内 / 陈英 / 邓阳Mar 2024

4.3

Word count: 79K words
Chapters: 41
ISBN: 9787532793334

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Summary

Pietro and Teresa's love life is a battlefield. After yet another quarrel, she has an idea: tell me your darkest secret, and I'll do the same. Then we'll be together forever. Naturally, they break up soon after. But an ended relationship is often the beginning of the next, and when Pietro meets Nadia, he falls at once for her passivity and softness. Yet just days before the wedding, Teresa reappears as if by magic. With her come the shadows of their mutual confessions, almost a warning. From then on, the "confessions" they exchange will always be a threat: every good thing in Pietro's life will rest on this dark secret. What's more, Teresa always turns up on time at every crossroads of his life. Or has he been looking for her all along?

With a gaze both complicit and detached, and the agonizing lightness that only great narrative possesses, Confessions portrays a man entangled with himself and his own ambitions. But it is really about all of us: how precarious are the foundations on which we build our identities.

Editor's review

Starnone continues his unflinching dissection of intimacy and the disguises of identity. Confessions opens with what looks like a game—an agreement to exchange their darkest secrets—but it drags the two into a long psychological tug-of-war. The novel's real tension lies not in the secrets themselves but in the reversal of power that follows confession: Pietro's fascination with Nadia's "softness," Teresa's repeated appearances at the crucial junctures of his life, keep the reader asking whether fate is toying with him or whether the protagonist himself is secretly seeking out the one person who can hold him in check. Chen Ying and Deng Yang's translation preserves the crisp, faintly stinging feel of contemporary Italian fiction, with taut dialogue and restrained psychological description. It will appeal to readers interested in the ethics of marriage and love, and to those who like narrative driven by psychology rather than strong plot. As you read, watch how "confession" turns from a ritual of intimacy into an instrument of control—perhaps the most rewarding part of the book.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who enjoy contemporary Italian literature and psychological realism
Those interested in secrecy, control, and power in intimate relationships
Literary readers who savor close attention to psychology over strong plot
Readers who have read other works by Starnone and want to follow his thematic threads

Not a good fit for

Readers who prefer light, sweet, or warmly uplifting love stories
Those looking for clear moral judgment and a positive ending
Readers with little patience for repeated emotional push-and-pull

Reading tips

Don't rush to judge whether Pietro or Teresa is right; watch how their positions shift after each "confession."
When Teresa keeps reappearing, note the time and occasion in the margin—looking back, you'll see the clues the narrative has planted.
After finishing, read an interview with Starnone or a review alongside it to better understand his narrative strategy.

版权信息
第一章
一
二
三
四
五
六
七
八
九
十
十一
十二
十三
十四
十五
十六
十七
十八
十九
二十
二十一
二十二
二十三
二十四
二十五
二十六
第二章
一
二
三
四
五
六
第三章
一
二
三
四
五

FAQ

Do I need to read other works by Starnone first?

No. Confessions is a standalone novel; its characters and plot do not depend on earlier books. If you have read Ties and other works, however, you will more easily notice the echoes of the family and marriage themes he returns to.

What exactly does "confession" mean in the book?

On the surface it refers to Pietro and Teresa's pact to exchange their darkest secrets; more deeply, it points to how the characters use secrets to construct each other's identities and to hold each other in check. Confession is both proof of intimacy and a bargaining chip and threat within the relationship.

Is it suitable for a book club?

Fairly suitable. The novel is moderate in length and centers on secrets, trust, and self-deception, which readily spark disagreement. A book club might focus its discussion on the core question of whether confession really brings intimacy.

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About the author

多梅尼科·斯塔尔诺内 Author

Domenico Starnone is a contemporary Italian writer whose works have reached Chinese readers as foreign literature. Five of his books have so far been translated and published in Chinese, including Confidenza (Trust), Lacci (Ties), Scherzetto (A Joke), La ragazza di Milano (The Milan Girl), and a title included in the Shanghai Translation Publishing House 2020 Selected Collection. Because public information is limited, his full biography, educational background, and honors are not yet widely known to Chinese readers; yet the translated works alone reveal a consistent literary orientation. He tends to approach from within family and intimate relationships, taking cracks, concealments, and emotional imbalances in everyday life as the core of his narratives, and depicting his characters' psychology with restrained and precise prose. This sustained examination of marriage, kinship, and self-deception gives his fiction a strong sense of realism and psychological tension, earning him attention in the Chinese-speaking world and making him a noteworthy author in recent translations of contemporary Italian fiction.

陈英 Author · Chinese · 1977

Chen Ying was born in Shaanxi in 1977. She is a professor of Italian, doctoral supervisor, and head of the Department of Italian at Sichuan International Studies University, and holds a doctorate in linguistics from the University of Macerata in Italy. Centering on the translation and teaching of Italian literature, she is the Chinese translator of the "Neapolitan Novels" and has translated more than 40 Italian works, ranging from novels and essays to classics. The library holds 36 of her works, including Chinese translations of Fragments, The Story of a New Name, The Long Life of Marianna, The Legend of 1900, and representative works by writers such as Primo Levi and Umberto Eco. She has received the National First Prize for Translation of Less Commonly Taught Languages, the 2020 One-Way Street Translator of the Year award, the 2021 Knight of the Order of the Star of Italy, and the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Translation Award. Her translations and editorial choices have had a notable influence in the field of foreign literary translation.

邓阳 Author

Deng Yang is an author about whom relatively limited public information is currently available, with one work to their name, Confession. According to the existing information, Deng Yang's nationality, dates of birth and death, educational background, and writing career are not clearly documented, and the English name is unknown, making a more detailed account of their life difficult. Judging from its categorization, Confession is placed under foreign literature, suggesting that the writing is aimed at general literary readers rather than a specialized field. As for subject matter and style, a single work is not enough to sum up Deng Yang's overall creative profile, yet the title hints at an interest in themes such as confession, self-revelation, or the disclosure of truth, possibly involving the portrayal of characters' inner lives and moral dilemmas. Readers wishing to learn more about Deng Yang will need further published information and critical commentary.