my cousin recommended me olivia laing's 'the silver book' even though he didn't like it that much because he thought i might find it interesting since it is set in 70s rome and fellini and pasolini have important roles in the book, he thought it was a fictional account about this set and costume designer that worked for both of them at the same time, but they based their story in a fictionalised version of danilo donati, a real person, set and costume designer for both fellini and pasolini. they also made up a kind of pixie manic english boy that danilo falls in love with immediately and that becomes his lover, his assistant, etc. their writing is juvenile, it's mediocre fan fic, i'm hate reading it, they HATE fellini, they clearly don't understand italian culture, their danilo is a bore, always complaining (italians, specially romans complain a lot but in a charming way, not in the way they do it). their made up character has no depth, he is a pretty, tall, pale, redhead ( i just can't picture him being alluring at all in italy, but anyway). all they do is describe things, there is no soul, no meaning, i'm 100 pages in and there is absolutely nothing here, fellini is a cruel ogre in their eyes, donati is often described as a genius but his character is empty, they describe him as if he was the real genius having to endure the capricious behaviour of a lesser artist, but irl by that time this was danilo's 3rd time working for fellini, who is truly a genius and knew what he was doing, if danilo hated him so much he could very well choose not to work with him. they clearly idolise pasolini more, but still paints him in a slightly bad light. i'm just baffled, i don't know much about them, but it seems their work is celebrated? this is a terrible book, i think i will finish it out of curiosity and because it is such a light read, there is no substance there at all, it must have been talked about for my cousin who knows nothing of italian cinema to pick it up, anyone else who has read it have any thoughts to share? am i being unreasonable? so far it only made me want to read a proper biography on danilo donati who was a true artist. * disclaimer: i didn't knew olivia laing went by them/their, so apologies for misgendering them. i think i corrected all my original text pls let me know if there are any mistakes left. ** disclaimer 2: having now finished it i am even more upset about the choices made by them, an empty book about very interesting people and a horrific story treated blandly. i truly disliked this book.
