Vincenzo Latronico on Perfection, Authenticity, and Things

“Love is a dangerous topic.”

Vincenzo Latronico is here to talk about his first novel translated into English - PERFECTION, published by Fitzcarraldo editions and translated from the Italian by Sophie Hughes.

Vincenzo is one of the most distinguished novelists writing in Italian today. He has also translated many books into Italian, by authors such as George Orwell, Oscar Wilde, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Hanif Kureishi.

In PERFECTION, there’s something missing from Anna and Tom’s life, and they can’t quite put their finger on what it is that is missing. It drives them to impatience and to the point of leaving their apartment in Berlin. But is it merely an itch they cannot scratch, or does it relate to a deeper lack of authenticity that strikes their core?

You can buy PERFECTION from the Rippling Pages bookshop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/ripplingpagespod

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Rippling Points 

2.18 - Desirability and Familiarity 

4.27 - Driving the characters to dissatisfaction 

7.05 - Does Vincenzo want us to ‘care’ about the characters?

10.20 - Any city or Berlin

12.50 - The loss of authenticity 

16.20 - Are Anna and Tom in love?

21.30 - Is there another side to Berlin?

23.45 - The migrant crisis and activism 

29.15 - On being translated into English

Reference Points

Hand Magnus Enzensberger 

Michel Houellebecq 

George Perec