Meet the author: Claudio Morandini
With his sixth book, Snow, Dog, Foot Claudio Morandini certainly struck gold. The novel has proved to be a literary phenomenon: besides being in the top five of the Italian bestseller list, it has won the Procida-Isola di Arturo-Elsa Morante Prize and has been translated into English, French, Spanish, Turkish and now Dutch.
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The treacherous peace of the Alps through the eyes of a hermit
The protagonist, Adelmo Farandola, doesn’t like people so much. In summer, he roams the mountain valleys in the sole company of a grumpy, talkative (yes, that’s right) old dog and a young mountain that, Adelmo Farandola suspects, is spying on him. In their hut high up in the mountains, Adelmo and the dog get snowed in during winter and while the supplies of wine and bread dwindle, they spend their time bickering over leftovers and arguing over who will eat the other first. Spring brings an if possible even more sinister discovery that threatens to completely break Adelmo Farandola’s already shaky grip on reality: the foot of a man protruding from the slowly melting snow.
Then again, this is by no means The Eight Mountains, that much is clear. However, Snow, Dog, Foot by Claudio Morandini is the best book I’ve read so far this year.’ Who are we to contradict Christophe Vekeman?
How Claudio Morandini managed to capture loneliness and dementia in a fable that is as light as it is sombre is a subject that will feed his conversation with Katrien Steyaert.
about the author
Claudio Morandini (b. 1960) lives and writes in the Italian town of Aosta, at the foot of the Alps. First published in 2015, Snow, Dog, Foot is Claudio Morandini’s sixth book.
about the moderator
Katrien Steyaert (1982) writes as an independent journalist for De Standaard and Knack Weekend, among others. She also regularly interviews live writers and readers, and publishes non-fiction books, such as 1914-1918. 100 Years On and The End and How to Survive It.
The story is at once light as a feather and ruthless, tragic and grotesque. It balances on the border between life and death, dream and reality. It is absolutely unique in the contemporary Italian literary landscape.
Snow, Dog, Foot is not only an exciting, at times disgusting and above all highly original little book, but also, despite the above, a gem of gracefulness that often makes the shuddering reader smile with emotion. Among other things, the imagined dialogues between dog and man are often heart-warmingly witty. Then again, this is by no means The Eight Mountains, that much is clear. However, Snow, Dog, Foot by Claudio Morandini is the best book I’ve read so far this year.
Org. Passa Porta, Istituto Italiano di Cultura di Bruxelles, Koppernik
Soont at Passa Porta
