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Esalfa and Tutto in una notte (All in One Night): two novels, a single question on human limits
A solemn historical novel and an irreverent, contemporary noir: at first glance, they seem to have nothing in common. In truth, they revolve around the very same question: what does a human being do when confronted with their own limits?
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Manhood in Crisis: Nick Ventura’s Body Between Irony and Shame
A detective who doesn't always measure up: how Tutto in una notte (All in One Night) uses irony to address a subject men rarely talk about.
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The Femme Fatale: Shadows and Seduction in Tutto in una notte (All in One Night)
From Eve to Phyllis Dietrichson, from Brigid O’Shaughnessy to Margit Lakatos: the femme fatale is the archetype that tests the detective the most. How does Nick Ventura portray her?
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Nick Ventura: anatomy of a noir antihero
Former cop, makeshift private investigator, eaten away by vice and shame: a portrait of Nick Ventura, the narrator of Tutto in una notte (All in One Night), and the reasons why he is no hero.
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A Single Night: The Noir Structure in Tutto in una notte (All in One Night)
A phone call, a perimeter wall, a villa, a blow to the head: how the architecture of Tutto in una notte (All in One Night) works, and what ties it to the great noir tradition.
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Mühlberg, Villalar, Cuenca: The History Behind the Novel
Two battles and a city perched on a cliff set the scene for Esalfa. Let us explore what belongs to historical record and what is a product of imagination in the novel.
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Pico della Mirandola and the Delusion of Omnipotence
Two epigraphs open Esalfa: Pico della Mirandola and Freud. Brought together, they speak to the two sides of human freedom: the dignity of choosing who to become, and the illusion of having no limits.
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Esalfa: The Six-Pointed Star and the Harmony of Opposites
Every title is a promise. That of Esalfa is not immediately transparent, and for that very reason, it warrants investigation. In the novel, the word designates a geometric figure—two opposing triangles—embodying the single most vital idea of the entire work: good and evil, light and shadow, are not irreconcilable enemies, but halves of a whole…
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Two novels, two distinct nights: welcome to my narrative workshop.
Over the coming days, this space will host a series of articles dedicated to two of my novels: Esalfa and Tutto in una notte (All in One Night). They are two books set worlds apart in era, tone, and language, yet born of the very same question: what does a person do when confronted with their own limits? This first article serves as a compass, outlining what...
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Esalfa: a philosophy of the limit and the desire for the infinite
Esalfa and the human limit: a philosophical reading. Esalfa presents itself as a narrative laboratory in which to closely observe a tension running through all human existence: on the one hand, the insurmountable nature of the limit, marked by the finitude and transience of life; on the other, the often stubborn desire to transcend it, bordering on the delusion of…
Rosso agrodolce
The World of Nino Branchina