Literary Birthday – 18 August – Elsa Morante
Elsa Morante was born on 18 August 1912 and died on 25 November 1985.
Elsa Morante Quotes
- It does not matter how the facts occur in life. It matters how they are told.
- With the first sharp prick of love I felt for someone I knew, an endless landscape of lovesickness would open up before me and extend all the way to the abyss of death.
- So much of the news was invented for propaganda.
- Man, by his very nature, tends to give himself an explanation of the world into which he is born. And this is what distinguishes him from the other species. Every individual, even the least intelligent, the lowest of outcasts, from childhood on gives himself some explanation of the world. And with it he manages to live. And without it, he would sink into madness.
- How strange and unnatural destiny is. I married a man eight years younger than myself, and according to the law of nature I should have been the first to die, with Him at my side. Instead, it was my destiny to witness His death.
Elsa Morante was an Italian novelist, poet, translator, and author of children’s books. She developed a love of music, books, and cats from an early age, interests that remained important throughout her life. Morante began writing stories and poetry before turning to novels. During the Second World War, she wrote her first novel, Lies and Sorcery, while living in hiding in the Italian countryside during the German occupation. The novel was published in 1948 and established her as an important new voice in Italian literature. Morante’s writing often explores love, childhood, and motherhood. Her characters frequently seek love as a way to escape feelings of emptiness rooted in difficult childhood experiences. Her later novel History: A Novel, published in 1974, is considered one of her major works. It was included in the Bokklubben World Library list of the 100 best books of all time.
Source for Image: Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Elsa_morante_gatti.jpg
by Amanda Patterson
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