Details

ISBN-10: 1590172892
ISBN-13: 9781590172896
Publisher: New York Review of Books
Publish Date: 11/18/2008
Dimensions: 7.97" L, 5.01" W, 0.46" H

The Adventures of Pinocchio

Introduction by: Umberto Eco
Translator: Geoffrey Brock
Afterword by: Rebecca West

Paperback

Price: $14.00

Overview

Though one of the best-known books in the world, Pinocchio at the same time remains unknown–linked in many minds to the Walt Disney movie that bears little relation to Carlo Collodi’s splendid original. That story is of course about a puppet who, after many trials, succeeds in becoming a “real boy.” Yet it is hardly a sentimental or morally improving tale. To the contrary, Pinocchio is one of the great subversives of the written page, a madcap genius hurtled along at the pleasure and mercy of his desires, a renegade who in many ways resembles his near contemporary Huck Finn.

Pinocchio the novel, no less than Pinocchio the character, is one of the great inventions of modern literature. A sublime anomaly, the book merges the traditions of the picaresque, of street theater, and of folk and fairy tales into a work that is at once adventure, satire, and a powerful enchantment that anticipates surrealism and magical realism. Thronged with memorable characters and composed with the fluid but inevitable logic of a dream, Pinocchio is an endlessly fascinating work that is essential equipment for life.

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Reviews
"Collodi's is a multilayered work of fiction that, although primarily aimed at young readers, is imbued with social criticism and pessimistic humor, and can be read, among other things, as an irreverent attack on established authority." –Anna Momigliano, The Atlantic

"Disney's sentimental depiction of Pinocchio bears little resemblance to Collodi's unscrupulous puppet. This new translation revives the sardonic wit and black humour of the original." –London Times

"Carlo Collodi's Pinocchio...is short on Disneyesque sentimentality (there is a talking cricket, but Pinocchio squashes him), long on satire and farce. Geoffrey Brock's superbly crafted translation and Umberto Eco's introduction bring to life this tale of gumption and greed." –O Magazine

"Geoffrey Brock's new English translation of the subversive parable revives Carlo Collodi's sardonic wit and pitch-black humor, while bringing to life the poverty, moral vacuity, and uncensored violence of late-19th-century Europe...Brock – known for his award-winning translations of authors such as Umberto Eco and Cesare Pavese – strips away the sentimental veneer to reveal the original haunting fairy tale. Readers will be familiar with many of the characters, as well as the story's major plot points, but this version thankfully bears little resemblance to most modern interpretations. Pinocchio may have cast off his own strings, but Brock beautifully restores the historical knot." –BoldType

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Details

ISBN-10: 1590172892
ISBN-13: 9781590172896
Publisher: New York Review of Books
Publish Date: 11/18/2008
Dimensions: 7.97" L, 5.01" W, 0.46" H
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