The House on Moon Lake

Fabrizio translates German books into Italian. One day he finds an unknown book by a little known Austrian writer. This is his chance now to create something original with his translation. Like any good translator, he gets involved with the thought process of the original author. But Fabrizio also gets involved with the life of the Austrian, who died in 1913. Frustration becomes resignation as he becomes the Austrian and thus slowly destroys himself.Elegant and worthwhile reading.

Duranti is a wonderful writer. There were passages so beautifully written that I had to put the book down and go for a walk. The story itself has wonderful potential, but it never really goes anywhere. Worse, once it gets where it does go, you are forced to realize that the characters are not really very deeply drawn. They are Kafka-like in that they seem more symbolic than real. They have no internal logic which makes some behavior reasonable and other behavior odd. I really have no idea why it ended as it did.I am sure though, that people who like symbolically-driven stories will enjoy this. I will buy other books by Francesca Duranti because she is an amazing writer and because I think that maybe I just missed something crucial within the story which would have made it gel.