Lorenza Gentile she just returned to the bookstore with a new novel, All the beauty that awaits us (Feltrinelli), a reckless journey to discover the wonderful unexpected events of life.
Selene passed the thirty years yet he is still looking for his place in the world: “and yet” because in the era in which we live everything must take place within a pre-established deadline and even our existences have a Expiration datethe goals to be achieved soon transform from sparkling desires full of enthusiasm to simple lists of objectives anxieties and expectations.
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Work, family, hobbies, relationships – everything has a defined and definitive time, so if you miss a goal there is only one way to describe your existence: a failure. This is the feeling Selene feels when his latest project, opening a restaurantis slow to take off, and therefore decides to escape from his everyday life, putting it on standby for escape from Milan And return to the heart of Pugliaimmersed in a spiritual community, surrounded by the affection of friends and family.
“They tell us we are our results, so I did a calculation. I took a pen and paper and added it all up. A remarkable number came out, too bad it’s negative: the endless series of things I failed at.”
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The author is no stranger to these experiential journeys, each of his novels is a ticket that takes you to destinations of the heart and fairytale places; after the enchanting Paris and the evocative setting of the bookshop Shakespeare and Company tell about it The little ones of freedomfor example, this time Gentile accompanies us to discover Puglia and, at the same time, he gives us a little piece of himselfwith a dive into the memories of a childhood spent in an Āśrama in the countryside of Itria Valley.
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At this time of year, the best gift is being able to start dreaming of postcard landscapesplaces that are good for the soul, let yourself be lulled by the reassuring sound of the waves and imagine the relief given by the shade of the olive trees.
Together with Selene we are lucky enough to be able to discover, one page after another, the wonders of Salento, to stop and reflect on the meaning of life, of our hectic daysto hold your breath for a moment and then let everything go – worries, expectations, social pressures and family members -, and put a point, to finally ask yourself this question:
“Once outside, I found myself in the dark. I realized that yes, maybe I could be anything I wanted, but what did I want to be?”
In an age where everything is within reach, happiness seems just a selfie away and nothing appears impossible; in this continuous frenzy, in one performance culture and success, the continuous search for approval, a small smudge is enough to feel pervaded by a profound sense of failuresomething that recalls the distant civilization of Homeric shame.
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The unexpected that happen to the protagonist of the novel are an invitation to slow down, to get out of the way, to question ourselves and give meaning to our time by charging it with a profound meaning. It is not an exhortation to self-referential and selfish realization, but rather a call to give depth to what matters.
Like the memories that helped us build ours I deeper, those places that have given us an unconscious and simple happiness and ties – ancient or the result of simple coincidence – who were able to teach us the true meaning of the word “family”.
