Customer Reviews

L'Innocente (the Victim) (Decadence from Dedalus)

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The plot is very simple and could be told in a few words. But the way d'Annunzio tells his story and the attention to detail is what makes this book worth reading. Tullio Hermil, a dissolute upper-class libertine victimizes his gentle wife not only with his infidelites, which include sleeping with two of her closest friends, but with humiliating openness about them. He expects his wife, beautiful and fragile lady Giuliana, to accept his behavior without rancor as if being "honest" about his actions absolves him from guilt. He is entirely blind to her suffering until she litterally gets sick. He then hands her what could be called a death blow while she is still in her sick bed, so to speak, recovering from a surgery. In short, he is a scoundrel par excellence, who considers himself to be an "intellectual" above all societal norms. But then his mistress leaves him and he returns penitent to Giuliana who is now "different" and therefore intrigues him. The reader cheers to learn that she is pregnant with a child that cannot possibly be Tullio's. He has got his comeuppance. But she loves him and feels dreadfully guilty about a "moment" of weakness, which left her pregnant. The baby is an intruder in what the two of them believe would otherwise be a blissful reunion. Meanwhile, the family is thrilled about the new baby. The selfish anti-hero cannot stand it. He is looking for a way out of the trap.

D'Annunzio describes nuances of his characters' moods and the atmosphere to perfection. The book is a pleasure to read and hard to put down. However, in the final analysis, it is not entirely satisfying. The story is told by Tullio and we never really learn what goes on in Giuliana's mind. She is listless and "dying" through most of the book. He rightfully blames himself for what happened to her, and he makes it up to her by devoting all his attention to her. But there is no sense that the experience had a profound effect on him. Ultimately he remains as self-absorbed as he was when he was mercilessly cruel to his wife. This is one of rare cases, in my opinion, where the movie ("The Innocent", directed by Luchino Visconti) is better than the book.

This listing shows an English translation of the book. But when I clicked on the Kindle version and downloaded it, I found I had the Italian version.