Review of The Late Mattia Pascal by Luigi Pirandello

*The Late Mattia Pascal* by Luigi Pirandello, translated by William Weaver (1904). Published by New York Book Review.

Lately, I’ve been on my A-game when it comes to reading books. It helps that I run this book blog, as well as reviewing dramas and movies alongside my beloved paperbacks, but I also had a lot of free time when I entered a period I dubbed funemployed. This post will be up much later, but basically I spent a lot of time (months) waiting for a student visa when I was supposed to be in the country months before.

Anyways, as I was saying, I read a lot during this time. I had no other obligations, so it was pretty much dedicated to getting on top of the endless TBR lists I’ve managed to create throughout the years. I also would take a few trips or two to Savers, a nicer thrift store chain in my area.

I find that the best books are at Savers. They cater to my niche tastes specifically, although I have been trying to branch out a bit more and see what other books I’ve been missing out on. However, during this specific visit, I found five books right up my alley, including The Late Mattia Pascal.

I have come to learn that I’ve enjoyed the books that the New York Book Review has put out. I’ve picked up some of their fiction and poetry paperbacks throughout the years, and I find their dedication to international literature interesting. So I grabbed this book as soon as I saw the spine!

Let’s get into the review before I start rambling too much.

After everyone assumes he is dead, one man sees the opportunity to start his life over.

This is a novel that I found to epitomize the phrase “the grass is greener on the other side.” Our main character is Mattia Pascal, who lives a standard life in the provinces of Italy. He has a wife, works a mundane job, wakes up every morning looking to finish the day’s work.

Once, he saw his life as much more promising than what it became. He now hates his job and his marriage, making the circumstances of his existing as just, well, existing in pain. His kids don’t help, nor does his library job.

But a golden opportunity is given to him early on: he opens the newspaper while out of town and discovers that the local newspaper has declared him dead. A dead body found in the water is assumed to be his, and his wife and mother-in-law were quick to approve that it was him.

Now considered legally dead, Mattia can go back home and prove he is alive, or he can start over a new life. He decides to start over, takes all of his money, and finds a new city to build a life within.

It’s in this new city that Mattia begins to live again. He finds a room, but then becomes tangled in the affairs of the people who live and work there. As more suspicion is cast on him, an unfortunate incident happens, and he eventually heads back home with his tail in between his legs.

But when he comes back to his hometown, it turns out everyone moved on without him. His wife has remarried and his property has been distributed to whoever wanted it or had the highest price.

One could say the novel is philosophical up until this point, but as the synopsis of the novel declares, he has become a ghost. This is where the author dives deeper into the themes he’s introduced, showing how people also are in the world of the novel. They’re quick to move on, and this one man is screwed over by his decisions—which were fueled by a desire to have a better life.

Overall Thoughts

This was a fascinating novel to read. I’ve gotten through a handful of mid-century Italian novels, which deal with the aftermath of the war on Italian women and their psyche, but I’ve never read something to come out of this period specifically.

It took me a bit to get into the writing style though. It’s pretty straightforward, but I found the beginning to be a little slow. Once you get to the section where Mattia decides it’s time to move on and create a new life the pace of the novel picks up.

I do feel like it could have been a bit longer to further flesh out the themes, but I can see why it ends where it ends. I can also definitely spot the influence of wanting to delve deeper into psychology throughout, especially as it was a new field at the time.

I’d say go pick this one up if you’re interested! I don’t think I’d return to it any time soon, but I am glad I picked this book up in the end.

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