Great literature is timeless and universal. Every time we read the pages of a classic we immediately realize this. The words of great writers dig deep into us or lift us up. Isabella Mastino, a true Sassarese, has long been a fervent supporter of the value of literature on a human, psychological, pedagogical and social level. She demonstrates this to us, literary texts in hand, in her latest book, Pillole di letteratura (Echos edizioni, 2024, Euro 13, 00, pp. 80) in which she has collected some of the most beautiful pages of nineteenth and twentieth century literature, divided by topics ranging from the analysis of the most hidden feelings to reflections on the difficult conditions of man, in illness, in desperation, even in death.
The main authors chosen, from whose works the pages reported are taken, are Lev Tolstoy and Grazia Deledda. In their words is condensed the deepest introspection of the torments of the characters, which are our torments, the acute analysis of society and its relationships with individuals and whose messages of hope, love for life, faith in God resonate in unison.
But there is no lack of passages from other writers, such as Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, Charles Dickens, Alejandro Jodorowsky, Miguel de Cervantes in a book that is a book to read, but also to consult in times of need, to find comfort and closeness from great writers, almost as if they were our confidants. We wanted to ask Isabella Mastino what was the genesis of such a particular book: «The idea of writing it came during my studies on Grazia Deledda and Lev Tolstoy. Some pages contained reflections so profound and incisive that they could be read even outside the story in which they were inserted. Reflections of a universal nature on particularly human and delicate themes, such as the pains of childhood, desperation, rebirth, and also themes rarely discussed, perhaps because they concern human weaknesses that are difficult to admit, such as, for example, jealousy for the past of one's beloved».
This last one is in fact an unusual and little discussed topic. For what reason, in your opinion?
"I think it's because so-called retroactive jealousy, unlike the classic one, has much more to do with the inner sphere of the person who feels it, rather than with tangible events. It is not linked - usually - to present and current events that can arouse the jealousy of a person in love, but is linked to the past - an evanescent, impalpable aspect of anyone's life - over which one can have no control or say. It is a particular jealousy that can tell us something about ourselves much more than other feelings, and Grazia Deledda in particular deals with this feeling almost psychoanalytically, showing it according to her special modality, without any judgment and in all its features, whether positive or negative."
Why are Grazia Deledda and Lev Tolstoy compared in the book?
«They are two writers who have probed the depths of the human soul, recounting with sometimes disarming sincerity every facet of man, the often tortuous paths that must be faced to reach the supreme goal of life, that is, the true knowledge of oneself».
But can great literature really give us comfort in everyday life?
"A great literary theorist, named Tzvetan Todorov, whom I love very much, claimed to love literature so much because literature 'helped him live'. I can speak in a personal capacity, certain that I reflect the feelings of those who love literature: because more than once, finding myself in the pages I love, I have felt less alone. Literature can soothe that sense of loneliness that sometimes clouds the vision of life, because life, as Grazia Deledda observed in her novel Il paese del vento, 'is always life; with its deceptive pauses, with its graces and its cruelties sometimes intertwined together'. For this reason, among other things, I decided to write the book: because the pages reported have given me much comfort in some of the most difficult moments of my life, and I wanted to share them, in the hope that they can give relief to whoever reads them."
Why doesn't Grazia Deledda enjoy the popularity she deserves?
"In reality she enjoys great popularity abroad (think for example of Norway, which dedicated an airplane to her) and among readers. She does not enjoy popularity among the so-called literary elite. There are many reasons, but I believe there is one in particular: for Deledda's ability to lay bare human nature, to describe it free from condemnation, as a loving observer and often saddened by what also belongs to herself, this controversial, contradictory, tiring human soul, yet unique in the world. Her very concept of Christian faith, so deep and intense and perceptible in every page, is not free from disapproval of many dogmas of the religion itself. She is a free writer. And true freedom, not masked nor apparently imposed, is rarely appreciated."
In what way is Deledda's literature universal?
«In her description of human nature, precisely. Her novels could be set anywhere; Sardinia represents the frame in which the canvas of her novels is grafted, and Sardinian nature itself becomes an emblem of universal nature; that Sardinian nature that she states 'shines with a miraculous light; light that sprang from the depths of the earth, and that had one day truly reflected the soul thirsting for divinity of her ancestors, shepherds and poets'».
What does writing mean to you?
"The life of each of us, however unique and solitary, is linked to that of others. For me, writing - and at the same time reading - represents the way - perhaps the only way - to try to understand myself and others. The most authentic way to communicate and, paraphrasing Walt Whitman, to 'contribute with my own verse', in this difficult and 'powerful show' that is the life of each of us".