After years of oblivion in which he hid in the darkness of a chest, “The art of joy” Of Goliard Wisdom came out thanks to the husband of the Sicilian author, who published the novel at her expense in 1998. The book, now present in the catalog of Einaudi, It has been the talk of the town in recent weeks due to the TV series produced by Sky with Valeria Golino, and is among the best-selling titles in Italy in recent days.
“The art of joy” by Goliarda Sapienza
The synopsis
“The Art of Joy” is a posthumous book: it had been lying abandoned in a trunk for twenty years and, after being rejected by many publishers, was printed in a few copies by Stampa Alternativa in 1998. But only when it came out in France did it receive the recognition it deserved.
In the novel everything revolves around the figure of Modesta: a vital and uncomfortable woman, powerfully immoral according to common morality. She is a Sicilian woman in whom carnality and intellect blend. Modesta was born in a poor house but from the beginning she was aware that she was destined for a life that went beyond the confines of her village.
While still a young girl, she was sent to a convent and later to a noble house where, thanks to her talent and intelligence, she managed to convert into an aristocrat through a marriage of convenience.
All this without ceasing to seduce men and women of all kinds. Generous friend, affectionate mother, sensual lover: Modesta is a woman capable of breaking every rule of the game in order to enjoy true pleasure, challenging the patriarchal, fascist, mafia and oppressive culture in which she lives.
“The art of joy” is the scandalous work of a writer. It is a fictional autobiography. It’s an adventure novel. It’s a bildungsroman. And it is also an erotic, political and psychological novel. In short, it is an indefinable novel, which conquers and shocks.
A multifaceted and overwhelming book
“The Art of Joy” is set in twentieth-century Sicily. The protagonist is Modesta, a little girl born on January 1, 1900 to a poor family in rural Sicily. The TV series, like the book by Goliarda Sapienza on which it is based, is a coming-of-age story in which the viewer follows Modesta’s growth path, as she searches for happiness without worrying about the prejudices and superstructures that have always reigned in the society in which she is immersed.
To understand the value and scope of “The Art of Joy” there are no more recommended ways than reading the work. In a book in which the stylistic registers alternate together with the plurality of voices – all belonging to the same protagonist – one continually finds oneself displaced by a modernity, by a search for freedom that seems to far anticipate the times in which the book is been conceived.
Goliarda Sapienza recounted, through the voice of Modesta, a normal life lived with abnormal awareness, desire and burning passion.
Imagine the reaction of readers, a few decades ago, to the image of such a conscious and free young woman. Imagine the fear that women, reading Modesta’s deeds, might begin to think of themselves like her, courageous and powerful.
“The art of joy” is necessary reading for everyone today. A personal, social, erotic and political coming-of-age novel that has no equal and still has so much to say to each of us.
Goliarda, a free woman
Writer and actress, the author of “The Art of Joy” was born in Catania in 1924, daughter of a socialist lawyer and a historic militant of the Italian left who was the first woman to direct the Chamber of Labor in Turin.
Goliarda studied at home to avoid the influences of fascist education, and attended the Academy of Dramatic Arts in Rome. Her acting career began with the assumption of Pirandello-like roles that made her reflect and shape her.
Only later did she dedicate herself to writing. Her masterpiece, “The Art of Joy”, was written between 1967 and 1976, but was only fully published after the author’s death in Gaeta in 1996.
To admire the beauty and awareness of Goliarda Sapienza you can watch her sincere expressions and listen to her live voice on Youtube, in an interview by Anna Amendola and Virginia Onorato dating back to 1994.
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