The Worst Intentions by from Alessandro Piperno

1966 Words4 Pages

In an amusing, lively fictional memoir, "The Worst Intentions" from Alessandro Piperno, thirty-three-year-old narrator, Daniel spends just over three hundred pages describing the confused fortunes of the disturbed, odd Jewish-Italian Sonnino people specially describing father and sons relationships which lacks in communication, social pressure of remaining prestigious part of society.

The book begins with Daniel’s description of his grandfather, Bepy, the charmingly insincere head of the Sonnino. Bepy and his wife, Ada survived WWII, and they emerged "literally infected with postwar joy" replacing "the terror of Mussolini and Adolf Hitler with a mimetic veneration of Clark Gable and Elizabeth Taylor." While Bepy and Ada survived, discussion of the many relatives claimed by the Holocaust remains taboo. Bepy was a perfect dresser, and habitual womanizer, and was like all the Sonnino "allergic to inner life." Bepy was stubborn, larger-than-life character who over shadows both of his sons, the albino, Luca (Daniel's father) idolizes Nanni and revitalizes the family business and Teo.

Bepy persuades his son, Luca to consider Albinism as unique personality trial is a positive light. They molded it into his strength and accepted. He gave Luca good education and prepares him for the world and how to succeed in it. Bepy wanted to fortify his coming generation.

Luca and his father used to get along well. Luca at age of twenty-three, considers Bepy as his Hero and used admires his qualities. Until, financial catastrophe happened in the Sonnino’s family and how it ruined whole family due to his lack of consideration for others. Luca used to hate the fact about his father that why he was constantly after women, what has he done for his sons, and why he keeps on wasting money though the fact their family didn’t had any money. Bepy actually goes bankrupt when he cheats on his catholic partner of thirty-years Nanni. Luca insults his father by saying “My father shouts, taking refuge in the comforting shell of self-pity: don’t you understand, you dirty bastard, what kind of life we are living here? Every day a different creditors…….holding out colossal bills (39)”. Luca was mad on his father about the fact when Bepy knew they don’t have any money still he spends money on women and knowing the fact that everyday they are getting calls from different creditors’. All the reputation he made in past thirty-year had gone, now no one is ready to lend money to Luca because of Bepy.

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