Lost Words
2012
First Published
3.27
Average Rating
224
Number of Pages
Winner of the Viareggio Prize, a vivid portrait of Italy on the brink of social upheaval in the 1970s. Inside an apartment building on the outskirts of Milan, the working-class residents gossip, quarrel, and conspire against each other. Viewed through the eyes of Chino, an impressionable thirteen-year-old boy whose mother is the doorwoman of the building, the world contained within these walls is tiny, hypocritical, and a constant struggle. Chino finds escape in reading.One day, a new resident, Amelia Lynd, moves in and quickly becomes an unlikely companion and a formative influence on Chino. Ms. Lynd―an elderly, erudite British woman―comes to nurture his taste in literature, introduces him to the life of the mind, and offers a counterpoint to the only version of reality that he’s known. On one level, Lost Words is an engrossing coming-of-age tale set in the seventies, when Italy was going through tumultuous social changes, and on another, it is a powerful meditation on language, literature, and culture.
Avg Rating
3.27
Number of Ratings
70
5 STARS
7%
4 STARS
34%
3 STARS
43%
2 STARS
10%
1 STARS
6%
goodreads
Author
Nicola Gardini
Author · 4 books
Nicola Gardini è scrittore e pittore. Vive tra Oxford e Milano. Scrive poesie, saggi, romanzi, memoir, articoli giornalistici, e traduce poesia dal latino e da alcune lingue moderne, soprattutto l’inglese. Dipinge prevalentemente a olio, su tela e su cartone.
