Il piacere

Di Gabriele D'Annunzio

A cura di Gianni Oliva
Edizione integrale

Ritenuto da molti contemporanei il primo romanzo moderno, rivelatosi sicuramente il capolavoro di D’Annunzio, Il piacere suscitò grande scandalo all’epoca della sua pubblicazione (1889). La figura di Andrea Sperelli, incarnazione perfetta del dandy che ad ogni senso etico, ad ogni autentico valore antepone il solo gusto estetico, rappresenta l’uomo “senza centro” che ha perso la propria identità inseguendo un ideale di bellezza effimero e illusorio. Sullo sfondo della Roma umbertina, Sperelli si muove tra alcove e duelli, salotti e mondanità, diviso tra un amore sensuale e uno spirituale. Nel suo spietato spirito analitico, nella sua debolezza morale si riconosce in qualche modo l’autore che, grazie a queste pagine in cui si alternano dinamicamente presente e passato, realtà e memoria, si affianca ai grandi narratori europei del suo tempo.

«Ci sono certi sguardi di donna che l’uomo amante non scambierebbe con l’intero possesso del corpo di lei. [...] Dopo, nessun altro attimo di gioia eguaglierà quell’attimo.»


Gabriele D'Annunzio

(Pescara 1863 - Gardone Riviera 1938) esordì giovanissimo con la raccolta di versi Primo Vere. La sua vastissima produzione poetica, narrativa, drammatica, tradotta in tutte le lingue, ebbe risonanza mondiale. Dopo la composizione delle Laudi, divenne il "vate nazionale". Eroe della prima guerra mondiale e "comandante" di Fiume, fu considerato a lungo un "maestro di vita". La Newton Compton ha pubblicato Il piacere, L'innocente e La figlia di Iorio.

• Lingua: Italiano
• Editore: Newton Compton Editori
• Data di uscita: 16 dic 2013
• ISBN: 9788854128309

Gabriele D'Annunzio

Gabriele D’Annunzio (1863-1938) was an Italian poet, playwright, soldier, and political figure. Born in Pescara, Abruzzo, D’Annunzio was the son of the mayor, a wealthy landowner. He published his first book of poems at sixteen, launching his career as a leading Italian artist of his time. In 1891, he published his first novel, A Child of Pleasure, followed by Giovanni Episcopo (1891) and L’innocente (1892), which earned him a reputation among leading European critics as a member of the Italian avant-garde. By the end of the nineteenth century, he turned his efforts to writing for the stage with such tragedies as La Gioconda (1899) and Francesca da Rimini (1902). Radicalized during the First World War, D’Annunzio used his experience as a decorated fighter pilot to spread his increasingly nationalist ideology. In 1919, he spearheaded the takeover of the city of Fiume, which had been ceded at the Paris Peace Conference. As the leader of the Italian Regency of Carnaro, he sought to establish an independent authoritarian state and to support other separatist movements around the globe, but was forced to surrender to Italy in December 1920. Despite his failure, D’Annunzio inspired Mussolini’s National Fascist Party, which built on the violent tactics and corporatist system advocated by the poet and his allies. Toward the end of his life, D’Annunzio was named Prince of Montenevoso by King Victor Emmanuel III and served as the president of the Royal Academy of Italy.

Anteprima del libro

Recensioni su Il piacere

[rocketjk · Valutazione: 3 su 5 stelle]

Published in 1889, The Child of Pleasure is the first novel of Gabriele D'Annunzio, who gained fame in Italy and throughout Europe and the U.S. as a novelist, and went on to political fame (or infamy, perhaps) in post-WW I Europe as the founder of a nationalistic movement that inspired Mussolini. At any rate, in the late 19th century, D'Annunzio's topic was the power of beauty and sensuality. His protagonist here, Count Andrea Sperelli, is a young Roman nobleman who lives in and for luxury and for the seduction of beautiful women. The Child of Pleasure is the narrative of Sperelli's adventures in this arena, particularly as it pertains to two extremely beautiful and cultured women. Throughout the tale, D'Annunzio's eye lingers lovingly on the beauties of the natural countryside, Roman architecture, and the items of antiquity that Sperelli and his friends dote upon. Tellingly, these items are all at least 100 years old. There's little of contemporary (to the characters) vintage held up for admiration.These descriptions of nature and art were interesting to read, but there was little of Count Sperelli's projects or problems that held any fascination for me. This is one of those books I read more out of an intellectual curiosity about the book's place in the history of literature than from a desire to know, or expectation to enjoy, the story. D'Annunzio himself throughout the tale speaks of Sperelli's gradual and eventually complete abdication of moral purpose or conscience, so at least we're not meant to admire the character, even if we are somehow to empathize with his delight in the purely physical/sensual world. Few modern readers will do so, I think.One factor that gave me the energy to push through with this novel was the fact that I bought the book four years ago while on vacation in Turin on a glorious avenue of bookstalls and other shops called the Via Po.

[miguelnunonave · Valutazione: 3 su 5 stelle]

Decadence in fascist Italy could have been a great theme. But the message and plot don't live up to the expectations, remaining what is essentially an overly dramatic but dull story. The social analysis is irrelevant. The language is poor (I read it in Italian), considering the proposed scope.