A key paragraph in this chapter for me is the one beginning: "His being, as I have already mentioned, the famous Ambrogio Spinola, who had been sent to set the war campaign on the proper footing, correct the mistakes of Don Gonzalo, and, incidentally, to govern." The word 'incidentally' is repeated in the next sentence, when the narrator recalls that Spinola died a few months later in a war so dear to his. It's a lovely example of Manzoni's irony and satire. It's too good not to quote the Italian:
"Era quest’uomo, come già s’è detto, il celebre Ambrogio Spinola mandato per raddirizzar quella guerra e riparare agli errori di don Gonzalo, e incidentemente, a governare; e noi pure possiamo qui incidentemente rammentar che morì dopo pochi mesi, in quella stessa guerra che gli stava tanto a cuore; e morì, non già di ferite sul campo, ma in letto, d’affanno e di struggimento, per rimproveri, torti, disgusti d’ogni specie ricevuti da quelli a cui serviva. "
The second half of the chapter is fascinating with its mysterious poisonous unguents. I was reminded of Bruno Dumont's funny film "Coincoin and the Extra-Humans", where Dumont uses the appearance everywhere of a slimey substance as a metaphor for the alien, unwanted and unknowable.
This chapter might have flagged for me if I hadn't been astonished at every turn how closely our plague echoed this one. There are too many lines to quote that could have been lifted from what has been or will be written about the pandemic.
I loved how the opening pages of this chapter become a meditation on how to write history.
And then as others note the way the political thinking seems so familiar -- the governors for whom "concerns about the war were far more urgent," the ignoring of the advice of the health officers who are themselves reluctant to advise what they know is necessary, the prevalence everywhere of denial, and then when it's too late the outbreak of conspiracy theories, aimed especially at "foreigners" starting with the French (although the anticipation of plague with the army passing through itself blames the German "other"). And then so much more!
The paragraph on the "dictatorship" of the Capuchins over the lazaretto was amazing too, too long to quote, but I'm curious about that word "dictatorship" -- can someone amplify that?
And the reflection on "entrenched convictions."
Everything in this chapter (and the chapter before), as many have commented, reflects our now ... the many responses to covid and the continuing confusions between investigating origins and pinning the blame.
Manzoni's assignment to passing German troops of responsibility for the spread of the plague reminds me of the criticism and mockery heaped on the Germans in Tolstoy’s War and Peace.
And, yes, the parallels to our own plaque in 2020 are astounding.
A key paragraph in this chapter for me is the one beginning: "His being, as I have already mentioned, the famous Ambrogio Spinola, who had been sent to set the war campaign on the proper footing, correct the mistakes of Don Gonzalo, and, incidentally, to govern." The word 'incidentally' is repeated in the next sentence, when the narrator recalls that Spinola died a few months later in a war so dear to his. It's a lovely example of Manzoni's irony and satire. It's too good not to quote the Italian:
"Era quest’uomo, come già s’è detto, il celebre Ambrogio Spinola mandato per raddirizzar quella guerra e riparare agli errori di don Gonzalo, e incidentemente, a governare; e noi pure possiamo qui incidentemente rammentar che morì dopo pochi mesi, in quella stessa guerra che gli stava tanto a cuore; e morì, non già di ferite sul campo, ma in letto, d’affanno e di struggimento, per rimproveri, torti, disgusti d’ogni specie ricevuti da quelli a cui serviva. "
The second half of the chapter is fascinating with its mysterious poisonous unguents. I was reminded of Bruno Dumont's funny film "Coincoin and the Extra-Humans", where Dumont uses the appearance everywhere of a slimey substance as a metaphor for the alien, unwanted and unknowable.
I find it impossible to read this now without wondering to what extent it tempered the Italian reaction to the Pandemic.
This chapter: WOW. So . . . contemporary.
This chapter might have flagged for me if I hadn't been astonished at every turn how closely our plague echoed this one. There are too many lines to quote that could have been lifted from what has been or will be written about the pandemic.
I loved how the opening pages of this chapter become a meditation on how to write history.
And then as others note the way the political thinking seems so familiar -- the governors for whom "concerns about the war were far more urgent," the ignoring of the advice of the health officers who are themselves reluctant to advise what they know is necessary, the prevalence everywhere of denial, and then when it's too late the outbreak of conspiracy theories, aimed especially at "foreigners" starting with the French (although the anticipation of plague with the army passing through itself blames the German "other"). And then so much more!
The paragraph on the "dictatorship" of the Capuchins over the lazaretto was amazing too, too long to quote, but I'm curious about that word "dictatorship" -- can someone amplify that?
And the reflection on "entrenched convictions."
Everything in this chapter (and the chapter before), as many have commented, reflects our now ... the many responses to covid and the continuing confusions between investigating origins and pinning the blame.
Manzoni's assignment to passing German troops of responsibility for the spread of the plague reminds me of the criticism and mockery heaped on the Germans in Tolstoy’s War and Peace.
And, yes, the parallels to our own plaque in 2020 are astounding.
A nice portrait of Giulia Beccaria, Alessandro Manzoni's mother.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/96/Maria_Cosway_Giulia_Beccaria.jpg