Without Blood
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Review
"Contained in theses few page is a complete portrait of what it means to be human, at our most elemental, and the effect is awesome." The Observer; "It's a brief book but beautifully told. Anne Goldstein's translation preserves the subtle clarity of the original." The Times; "This is a fable for adults with its twin themes of revenge and redemption and fierce, haunting imagery. Baricco is the new Hans Christian Andersen." Daily Mail; "This book is a revelation, tightly executed, exhilarating and beautiful." Big Issue
Product Description
After her father and brother are brutally murdered, 4 year old Nina is left for dead in the family house. Highly visual and unforgettably sad, Without Blood is a haunting book about damage, longing, memory and forgiveness. Ann Goldstein's superb translation captures Baricco's effortless prose style and gives people in Britain the opportunity to experience this gem of a novel that has already delighted hundreds of thousands of readers across Europe.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
19 of 20 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
A jewel of a story, Superbly judged prose -- superbly translated . Less than ninety pages of exquisite story-telling that you could go back to again and again and find something different to reflect on each time. A tiny masterpiece
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
A very short (87 pages) novella set in Italy just after the second world war, then many years later in a modern-day unnamed Italian city, this is a harsh, powerful story of a feud between the two opposite poles of Italian politics, I assume, between communist and fascist elements, though this is not made clear, and does not really matter.
It is highly atmospheric in its opening, in the Italian countryside, a remote farmhouse, a father, a young son and daughter and the arrival of a group of men bent on murder. Nina, the little girl aged about ten, is hidden beneath a trapdoor, the boy is sent to hide elsewhere. The man suspects that he himself will not survive and wants his son to rescue his daughter from beneath the floorboards, when the shooting stops. But the boy is courageous enough to try and save his father and is killed. The gang, including Tito, a young foot-soldier, are aware that there is a daughter and Tito is sent to search the house for her. He finds the trapdoor, but does not tell the others where she is.
When they leave, one of the gang is sent back to torch the house, and Tito is distraught - he had wanted to save the innocent little girl, lying in her hiding place.
Many years later an old woman and a lottery ticket seller meet in a city and give their different versions of this story. This second half of the story is less powerful, more muddled and indefinite. Nina survived, Tito is confronted, but their stories of what happened afterwards conflict and there is no resolution possible. The feud has ended here, and one senses the futility of lives lived in fear and endless retribution.
It is highly atmospheric in its opening, in the Italian countryside, a remote farmhouse, a father, a young son and daughter and the arrival of a group of men bent on murder. Nina, the little girl aged about ten, is hidden beneath a trapdoor, the boy is sent to hide elsewhere. The man suspects that he himself will not survive and wants his son to rescue his daughter from beneath the floorboards, when the shooting stops. But the boy is courageous enough to try and save his father and is killed. The gang, including Tito, a young foot-soldier, are aware that there is a daughter and Tito is sent to search the house for her. He finds the trapdoor, but does not tell the others where she is.
When they leave, one of the gang is sent back to torch the house, and Tito is distraught - he had wanted to save the innocent little girl, lying in her hiding place.
Many years later an old woman and a lottery ticket seller meet in a city and give their different versions of this story. This second half of the story is less powerful, more muddled and indefinite. Nina survived, Tito is confronted, but their stories of what happened afterwards conflict and there is no resolution possible. The feud has ended here, and one senses the futility of lives lived in fear and endless retribution.
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This Novel could so easily have become a tale of revenge, carrying on with the bloody path it first seems to be taking, but it becomes so much more, with it's beautiful understated prose, placing it in a no mans land, in a time and place unstated. It's myth and like myth it's relevance is timeless & like myth it mines the human psyche.This book is 87 pages of viscerally shocking, mesmerising writing. It takes no time to read and yet its stark landscape will become a backdrop to your thoughts .
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Great storytelling
Baricco has a unique gift with words and an ability to enchant the readers with his stories. Every time I read one of his books I'm met with a new surprise, and it's always a... Read more
Published 6 months ago by Lakis Fourouklas
Tense, gripping drama
The book is unbelievably short. The writing is spare, lean, almost devoid of adjectives. And yet, within a few pages, you are deep inside a world that is tense, full of fear, and... Read more
Published 20 months ago by E. S. Moorhouse
Human Nature.
Alessandro Baricco is not only an author but also a musician and an actor. He won several literary prices like the Premio Viareggio and the 'Prix Médicis... Read more
Published on 10 Mar 2010 by Jan Dierckx
"Without Blood - Without Poetry - Without Life"
After reading "Silk", followed by "Lands of Glass" and "Ocean Sea" it was with great anticipation that I awaited "Without Blood". The blurb on the cover gave great promise. Read more
Published on 9 Sep 2007 by Mayakovsky
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