Fosca by Igino Ugo Tarchetti

Translated by Lawrence Venuti

Classic Books, 154 Pages

As a fan of the Sondheim musical Passion, it has long been a desire to read the book that inspired the show. A classic of Italian literature, Tarchetti's Fosca was originally a satirical novel written as a form of scapigliatura, a19th century Italian artistic movement which rebelled against convention. In chronicling the amorous affairs between the soldier Giorgio, the married Clara and the ugly Fosca, Tarchetti presented several passions which would have been considered gravely immoral at the time of writing. 

These days, adultery is a common staple of our entertainment, and not every literary character who engages in it comes to an unfortunate end. As for engaging in an affair with your commanding officer's ailing cousin - as Giorgio does with Fosca - well, it's probably in bad taste, but no one is going challenge you to a duel. How, then, does one read Fosca today? Can a satire appeal to a modern audience long after the thing its satirizing (in this case, 19th century Italian morals) no longer exists? 

Yes and no. Fosca is still an engaging book, but I suspect the novel's appeal now is vastly different then it once was. No longer as satirical as it once was, Fosca now emerges as a scathing critique on a culture's obsession with youth and beauty.The beautiful people in this novel are all fairly unhappy characters - gossipy, selfish, adulterous. Fosca is seduced and betrayed by a handsome con man and even the beautiful Giorgio is not entirely without sin. As for Fosca, she may be prone to an almost psychotic obsession, but Tarchetti goes out of his way to paint her with sympathy. This is probably due to the autobiographical nature of the book - apparently Tarchetti was in love with an epileptic, whose seizures made her a social misfit.

 Lawrence Venuti gives a fine translation that invokes both an archaic tone without alienating the audience. This is a quick read, more novella then novel, and well worth a look, especially for anyone interested in non-Western literature. For fans of the musical, there is the added bonus of picking out the ways Sondheim and author James Lapine mined the text for lyrics and dialogue. Much of the song I Read, for instance, is lifted almost directly from dialogue between Fosca and Giorgio near the beginning of the book.