Shoelaces
Tags
Summary
Editor's review
As one of the most closely watched literary voices in contemporary Italy, Starnone inherits Moravia's cold-eyed powers of observation. What he writes is not merely the rupture of a family but a profound questioning of the eternal tug-of-war between the institution of marriage, ethical responsibility, and individual freedom. The husband's affair in pursuit of "self-realization" and his subsequent return, the wife's long revenge waged from the stance of victim and moral judge, and the children's estrangement and cynicism formed within a distorted family ecology together constitute a precise map of emotional ruins.
The novel's power lies in its universal resonance and scalpel-like precision. It forces us to examine the "shoelaces" in our own relationships—those invisible things that bind us, sustain us, and make us feel suffocated at every moment. It offers no consolation, yet it offers rare honesty; it is a mirror that unsettles us and yet we cannot look away from.
Who it's for
A good fit for
- Readers with a calm curiosity about the nature of marriage and family who do not fear harsh truths
- Literary lovers who appreciate spare, cold-eyed narrative style and prefer psychological depth over plot twists
- Adults in a period of reflecting on intimate relationships who wish to use literature as a mirror for self-examination
- Thinkers interested in the conflict between individual freedom and ethical responsibility in modern society
Not a good fit for
- Readers seeking romantic emotional comfort or happy endings
- Readers who prefer strong plot and fast-paced narrative fiction
Reading tips
- Read during relatively quiet periods when you can focus and introspect, following the text deep into the characters' subtle psychological worlds
- Try rereading relevant chapters from the different perspectives of the three narrators (husband, wife, son) to appreciate the sophistication of the narrative strategy
- After reading, set the book aside for a few days to digest the sharp questions it raises, then reflect on them in light of your own experience
About the publisher
Shanghai Translation Publishing House is a Chinese publisher oriented mainly toward translation and publishing. Its publications cover foreign literature, world classics and classic works, as well as social culture, folk literature and classical poetry. The database contains 2,618 titles, including Never Let Me Go, Les Misérables (2 volumes), Don Quixote (illustrated collector's edition), The Complete Comedies of Molière (4 volumes), The Complete Novels of Kafka (3 volumes), The Collected Works of Dostoevsky (9-volume set), Reason and Persons, and Oedipus Rex (Translation Classics). Its author resources include foreign writers such as Kazuo Ishiguro, Victor Hugo, Cervantes and Molière, as well as translators such as Zheng Kelu, Sun Jiameng, Li Jianwu and Zhang Kun. The publisher has brands such as "Translation Classics Selections" and "Translation Documentary," and emphasizes translated works in foreign literature and the humanities and social sciences, while also publishing bilingual dictionaries and foreign-language educational books. Public information is limited; the above is based on the book information in the database.
Contents
- 版权信息
- 第一部
- 第一章
- 第二部
- 第一章
- 第二章
- 第三章
- 第三部
- 第一章
FAQ
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About the 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.
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.
