The Bird that Swallowed Its Cage: The Selected Writings of Curzio Malaparte

Well, although I love Malaparte's writings, this was a massive disappointment.Quite frankly, the translator has taken one hell of a liberty with his work on the texts; instead of rendering them as prose, he has rendered many of them as blank verse, laid out as poetry Even though Malaparte's finest work could be described as prose poetry (such as the amazing stories in "Woman Like Me"), they weren't written as blank verse and were not meant to be read that way.For the finest example of Malaparte's work in translation, I'd suggest the short story collection mentioned above, where the translator didn't feel the need to present the work in a form unlike its origin.Avoid this pretentious, overly-free approach and wait until a more authentic translation appears.

Brilliant

Walter Murch has taken liberties with Malaparte's text. But what emerges is a luminous set of stories/prose poems, with blinding imagery and wonderful rhythm. Murch's eminence as a film editor and sound designer certainly is in evidence here; the rhythm of the text helps illuminate further Malaparte's wonderful similes. A joy to read