Incredible times

If you could sum up The Pike: Gabriele d'Annunzio, Poet, Seducer and Preacher of War in three words, what would they be?

Surprising, alluring and tragic

What did you like best about this story?

It is a wonderful account of a very troubled time and a very narcissistic man.

Who might you have cast as narrator instead of Karoline Newman?

Anyone with a half decent Italian accent or understanding of Italian. Her pronunciation is awful. Her English spoken word is lovely. But she's not right for this one...

If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

A dreamscape of a man

Any additional comments?

I cannot stress enough how important it is to get someone who can pronounce the words of the language which one is narrating.

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beautifully written

I really enjoyed the peculiar flow of the book. Really a fascinating read. I just think, given the huge amount of Italian names and words, a reader with some knowledge of the language would have been a good idea.

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Comprehensive on aesthetics but poor 'history'.

History as written by the Costwold debutante set. On the one hand it rather glosses over the context and macro political consequences and also the consequences to all of those damaged by D'Annunzio on a personal level. Even the rape of young servants is dismissed with a euphemism. There is not a single voice of an 'ordinary' person in the entire book. They are silent and invisible, other than their walk-on roles in D'Annunzio's 'set-pieces'. At no point do we hear what they actually thought of him.

On the other hand, there is a wealth of information about the textiles he collected, the actors and actresses, and the obscure (to me anyway) European poets he admired, referenced . . . or more accurately, plagiarised.

It's worth a read if you already have an understanding of the career of the vile little man and the wider geo-politics. It does succeed very well in adding some personal richness and colour, and is comprehensive on his 'artistic' tastes and (arguable) talents. But, taken in abstract, it fails as a history book. This is important because, for example, the author has no understanding of the history of warfare in the air and, as a consequence, repeatedly exaggerates the feats of D'Annunzio to the degree that the casual reader might come away thinking him an Italian Red Baron equivalent, as opposed to a glory-seeking passenger.

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Saved by the audio

I purchased the book on bookseller's recommendation but found it a difficult read, probably due to its structure and the myriad of people, places and foreign names. However, when this audio book was released, decided to give it another go. It is long, very long (too long!) - a convoluted tale about an arrogant and repellent character but it is firmly placed in the historical and social context of events in Italy and surrounding countries. I found the clarity of the narrator made it far more accessible and interesting, kept my interest AND I finished it! A long and complex book but worth listening to.

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2 people found this helpful

The gargoyle that inspired fascism

Is there anything you would change about this book?

It's really two books: (1) the story of a grotesque rake who reinvented himself as a WW1 war hero, and (2) the bizarre Fiume experiment in which an Austro-Hungarian border town chose d'Annunzio as its figurehead and so became the crucible for a wild social experiment which was later plagiarised wholesale by Mussolini and his fascists. Part (2) is the one to recommend, but can only be understood in the light of (1).

What other book might you compare The Pike: Gabriele d'Annunzio, Poet, Seducer and Preacher of War to, and why?

The Great Beast, by John Symonds.
Gabriel d'Annunzio was the man Aleister Crowley would have loved to be. The former was far more talented and successful, but no less flamboyant and depraved.

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

The narrator has a beautiful voice, but voyaging the book with her is like a stroll through a badly-cleared minefield, one mispronounced word after another exploding in your face.

Did The Pike: Gabriele d'Annunzio, Poet, Seducer and Preacher of War inspire you to do anything?

Yes definitely. To explore the antecedents to Fascism (and thence Nazism), as well as the Aesthetic Movement, popularised by Oscar Wilde, not to mention Futurism. Plus Garibaldi, all of which spawned the spores which blighted the 20 century with global wars. Oh yes-- and the superstar Sarah Bernhardt, allegedly one of d'Annunzio's legion of lovers.
I still cannot understand what the Italians saw in this awful man, and that's a research project in itself.

Any additional comments?

The book is valuable not only for its detailed (and sometimes boring) account of the comings and goings of a fin-de-siecle Italian poet and playwright in the Byronic mould, but for its history of the Fiume Occupation and the subsequent rise of Mussolini and fascism. D'Annunzio was never a fascist (in spite of the party's unfailing attempts to claim him) but fascism was 100% "d'Annunzian".

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Highly informative, sometimes repellant

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I would recommend it to anyone who is interested in modern history, biography, Italy or the origins of fascism.

What did you like best about this story?

I thought it was very well written and rigorously researched. The subject, D'Annunzio, is so complex and full of contradiction that it must have been a daunting task to try and cover every aspect. He is also at times utterly repellant in his behaviour and his utterances, but Lucy Hughes-Hallett manages to maintain a completely neutral tenor and yet retain one's interest.

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

Although the first 'kaleidoscopic' section with its 'staccato' approach may have worked well in writing, it made for difficult and confusing listening. Purportedly trying to imitate the multi-faceted personality and career of the D'Annunzio, it didn't really succeeded in this any better than the remaining, chronological narrative.

Any additional comments?

The one sour note for me was in the reading performance. Overall it was very good and the Italian words were well pronounced and unobtrusive. However I was disappointed by what I see as a lack of professionalism when it came to pronouncing words in other languages, obviously less familiar to the reader, particularly French. Very well known French figures and places had their names completely mangled. If you don't know how to pronounce something, why not check beforehand? Even some of the English was poorly pronounced. I blame the producers as much as the reader and this is certainly not the first time that my pleasure in listening to a good book has been marred but this problem.

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2 people found this helpful

Troubling lack of equality and diversity awareness in the performance.

Racism is mostly reproduced via everyday acts and assumptions executed without the slightest intention to offend, but which non the less do remind the receiver of their own place, as well as reproducing an invisible hierarchy of respect and validation. Reading a book about a culture and a society without even making the effort of knowing how to pronounce words and names is an immediate marker of the condescending attitude the producers of this recording have towards the actual culture and society this book is about. More effort would have been put had the names been perhaps German; but when it is about some Mediterranean funny colourful and unreasonable people (as the White English stereotype is when it comes to Italy), then surely not even their poets are worth being mentioned correctly, just as Arab, African, Southern European names aren’t worthy on any respect. And so the listener is immediately and constantly reminded that what we are talking about, after all, is something less serious and less equal that British culture, ere caricatures unworthy of any equal treatment than, let’s say, correct pronunciation of some old and odd English word. While I have no doubt the narrator meant well, it is a sign of the producers’ attitude towards diverse cultures that they don’t even made the effort of investing 30 minutes of the narrator’s time in getting her trained to pronounce names correctly. And so the contents of the book become an abstract funny story about a land that you can’t place because toponymies are mispronounced; about people you can’t look up because their names are distorted. Again, I am sure the actual performer meant well, it’s just the production that has no sensitivity about respecting other cultures. What an island England can be! For the rest, the book is a great one. Just make sure you buy the physical book instead of this audiobook

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Excellent account of his life.

Great listen/read, very well detailed, but well written account. Interesting how the history of the period was intertwined with the biography of his life.
Highly recommended.

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