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grereads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This was the first book I really annotated since I had to analyse it for Italian literature class. I often don't enjoy the books I need to read as homework, but this one wasn't that bad, even though I definitely prefer Foscolo's poetry. I liked the epistolary form of the novel and the description of Jacopo's madness was quite engaging. Unfortunately the obsolete language makes it difficult to read. Even though I know it's a characteristic of romantic literature, I'm not a fan of the exaggeration of the feelings of the characters, moreover Jacopo's constant switch between self-centredness and self-hate feels borderline hypocritical a lot of the time. You definitely need to know the historical background and basic notions of Foscolo's life to read this, in fact I would've understood way less if I didn't study this in Italian lit class.
Graphic: Death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, and Grief
Moderate: Violence, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Racial slurs
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