Ocean Sea

Some never see it. The sea in their heart. But never mind, those who see it still have books. But they also have troubles sometimes. And as I, you have never seen Ocean Sea of this fabulous Italian author of whom you've never heard, until a handsome woman, your teacher Drama at the local Academy, tells you they are going to bring on stage some novel called Ocean Sea, written by a certain Baricco (who ? never heard of ? very difficult, shakespeare-like I presume, everyone yells). And then you read it, and you really see the sea. Experiencing it on scene makes it even worse : escaping this yearning feeling to tell everyone you meet they absolutely must read this book becomes impossible. And in every letter you write to your many pals, you can't stop mentioning Plasson, the painter who wants to leave his canvas white but not blanco, or others. This story is all about puzzles : pieces coming together and breaking up. It's about leaving things undefined. It's about the sea : you can dive in it, you get a little bit wet, but you can't breath under the sea, unless you wear an O2-mask, and even then. Some books take you up in the air and leave you there. Some put you down to the ground and under it. This one makes you feel alive and you keep reading it. This one you want to share with your best friends. And you would even want to e-mail on it. But you will never give it away. I promise !

Baricco has written a tremendous story of the truth of our human condition - individuals with a variety of obsessions - revenge, art, science, sensual experience - who are seemingly unrelated come together for the healing of the sea. They come together in a small ocean inn run by fay children. At the center of the book stands a horrofic story of humanity at its worst. . . .The structure of the book is a difficult one but one Baricco has fashioned into the absolutely correct form for his story. The prose ranges from very lush, descriptive prose to very taciturn conversation, from art catalogue entries to poetic prayers. Occasionally a sentence or two will misfire, but Baricco has exquisite control over his medium.This book belongs on any must read list.

Alessandro Baricco's Ocean Sea is a lyrically beautiful, but cruel, allegory of the secret hopes, dreams, fears, quests and horrors that drive us all and often, against our wishes, consume our lives. And, no matter how hard we deny it, there comes a time in every person's life when he or she must confront his deepest, darkest secrets, a time when they can no longer be suppressed. For it is only when we confront our fears and our obsessions, our hopes and our dreams, and yes, even our horrors, that they lose their power over us and we are finally restored to wholeness. Alessandro Baricco has assembled a cast of broken, disparate characters, each seeking the restorative powers of the ocean sea, that elusive place where fantasy meets reality, where love and horror become inexorably woven into the fabric of life. Baricco's prose is certainly not the flowery, overwrought "purple prose" of Anne Rice or Michael Ondaatje. Instead, it evokes the lyrical skeletalness of Debussy--beautiful and difficult, yet barely there, like the edge of the sea, itself. Savigny's narrative, in Book II, is one of the finest examples of the power and beauty of language I have ever encountered. If I have any criticism of Ocean Sea, it is the fact that the ultimate fate of Professor Bartleboom did not seem in character with the savage beauty evoked in the rest of the book. I almost felt as though I had been dropped inside another story altogether. But allegory is difficult to write and even more difficult to read, and Ocean Sea is no exception. I doubt that anyone alive can absorb this exquisite book's impact in only one reading. Like Silk, another of Baricco's works, Ocean Sea is a masterpiece. A small, but flawless, gem that will astound you and haunt you, but will never, ever let you alone.

-Sometimes I wonder what are we waiting for. -For it to be too late, madame.I have read OCEANO MARE in its original language, but the grammatic is so clear that the translation can easily keep the beauty of Baricco's writing. It recalls the style fo the naturalists fo the XIX century. It is an original story. There are differents settings that runs parallel and then blend together. Several characters with different stories find a personal meaning in the ocean that can be either terrible or beautiful, gentle of furios, can carry joy oy death. A group of men abandoned on a boat; two men that look for the end or the beginning of the sea; storytellers that comes from the waves; lovers walking on the beach; children that know more than adults about everything; they are all connected to the ocean sea somehow. The book is strong and delicate. It goes beyond the love and hate human feel for the sea, it is a story that goes deep in the human soul, it is a rappresentation of the most secret desires, that goes beyond rational thinking. Enigmatic and pure. OCean blue. I loved it.