Customer Reviews

The Child of Pleasure

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

It is irresponsible of a publisher to reprint, as a genuine text of D'Annunzio, a notoriously unfaithful translation of D'Annunzio's first novel. Harding cut out most of the sex and all the philosophy in order to make the novel suit middlebrow late Victorian taste. The result is a travesty. Such reprints are worse than useless: by getting in first, they may discourage the publication of what we need -- a new and reliable translation.

I'm struggling with Il piacere in Italian and the struggle is proving to be more than worth it. Huge vocabulary, rich descriptions and, wow, the action!!!!! In the process, I've found the Harding translation to English in various places on the web. The Harding translation is NOT D'Annunzio's book. Don't even waste money buying it. Like Karl P and Dr. Price, I wish this book were available in an accurate translation.

D'Annuzio gives us the intimate details of the decadent lifestyle of a ne'er-do-well Roman count and his social class. The facts of the story could be told in a few sentences, but (like his contemporary Henry James) its the way he tells the story not the story itself that is the most appealing. His descriptions of Rome and the country villas of the rich make it a great book to take on a trip to Italy.