494. A Ghost At Noon/Contempt

A Ghost at Noon/Contempt
Alberto Moravia
1954
Around 250 pages

When I find myself growing grim about the mouth in regards to this List, I always like to remind myself of all the hidden gems that I would have never discovered on my own. This novel is one of those gems, and is certainly the best of the Moravia novels on this List. 

I think everybody lives in some fear, by different degrees, that one day, they are going to wake up and their partner doesn't love them anymore. Or, in an equally tragic scenario, you wake up and you discover you've fallen out of love. Unfortunately, for our protagonist, Riccardo Molteni, this happens with his wife Emilia, who grows colder and colder as the novel progresses. 

Contempt is Disgust's bitchier older sister, and I think it is the perfect name for this novel. Riccardo is desperate to make Emilia admit she no longer loves him and why, so he can fix it. And I think we all do that with relationships to an extent. If somebody dumps us, we want to know their exact reasoning, as though that information will help us. As the story is told from Riccardo's perspective, we mostly feel sympathetic for him, but my heart ached for Emilia as well. Once that switch turns off, the other person's love really does feel like an invasion. 

Riccardo's character is a screenwriter who naturally feels he is above his trade. He is working on a production of The Odyssey, and I thoroughly enjoyed the discussions on the text. Was Odysseus a hero, or was he just coming up with excuses not to go home to his wife? I love it when characters interpret art, it's an ingenious way to show their souls. 

An excellent read, and I'll have to remember this example next time the List puts me through the ringer.

RATING: *****

Interesting Facts:

In Le Monde's 100 Books of the Century, published in 1999, French readers voted the book the 48th most memorable.

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