“…I got a brother named Frankie
And Frankie ain’t no good…”„…Seen a Buick with Ohio plates, behind the wheel was Frank
Well I chased him through them county roads
Till a sign said “Canadian border five miles from here”
I pulled over the side of the highway and watched his taillights disappear
Me and Franky laughin’ and drinkin’, nothin’ feels better than blood on blood“
Bruce Springsteen – Highway Patrolman
Dolje u dolini jedan mi je od najdražih Cognettijevih romana do sada. Njegov me stil uvijek potpuno uvuče u atmosferu, toliko da mi u pravilu u sjećanju ostanu ton i ugođaj, više nego sama radnja. No ovaj put osvojila me i priča.
Braća Luigi i Alfredo dva su svijeta. Luigi je pouzdan, vezan uz svoju dolinu i posao šumara. Alfredo je nemiran duh, često na rubu nasilja, godinama u Kanadi i uvijek nekako na mjestu gdje se problemi gomilaju. Njihov susret nakon nekoliko godina razdvojenosti zanimljiv je prikaz odnosa između dva brata. Cognetti je pokazao da osim predivnih opisa planine koje ožive na njegovim stranicama, zna dočarati i kompleksne obiteljske odnose te stvoriti mračnu atmosferu planine. Voljela bih samo da i ženskim likovima podari malo više života u svojim romanima…
Dolje u dolini ispričana je iz više perspektiva što pridonosi napetosti i zbog čega sam ju i pročitala u jednom danu.
Puno hvala izdavaču!
[english]
Down in the valley – Paolo Cognetti
Down in the Valley is one of my favorite Cognetti novels so far. His style always draws me in completely, so much so that I usually remember the tone and atmosphere more than the plot itself. But this time, the story won me over as well.
The brothers Luigi and Alfredo are two worlds apart. Luigi is reliable, tied to his valley and his job as a forester. Alfredo is a restless spirit, often on the verge of violence, has been in Canada for years and is always somewhere where problems are piling up. Their meeting after several years of separation is an interesting depiction of the relationship between the two brothers. Cognetti has shown that in addition to the beautiful descriptions of the mountains that come to life on his pages, he also knows how to evoke complex family relationships and create a dark atmosphere of the mountains. I only wish he had given the female characters a little more life in his novels…
Down in the Valley is told from multiple perspectives, which makes it somewhat of a page turner and which is why I read it in one day.
