Carlo Cassola
Carlo Cassola was an influential Italian writer born on March 17, 1917, in Rome. He was raised in a politically active environment, with his father being a lawyer and editor of a socialist newspaper. After completing his law studies and serving in the military, Cassola settled in southern Tuscany, where he spent the majority of his life and set many of his stories. His literary career began in the early 1940s with the publication of short story collections, but he later transitioned to longer works that drew heavily from his personal experiences.
Cassola's writing is noted for its focus on subconscious feelings, a style he referred to as "sublimare." His notable works include the novella "Il taglio del bosco," which reflects on the repetitive lives of woodcutters, and the novel "La ragazza di Bube," which explores themes of love and the struggle to adapt to peacetime after war. Throughout his life, Cassola demonstrated versatility across genres, engaging with political and existential themes while maintaining a unique narrative voice. He passed away on January 29, 1987, leaving behind a significant body of work that continues to resonate with readers.
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Subject Terms
Carlo Cassola
Novelist
- Born: March 17, 1917
- Birthplace: Rome, Italy
- Died: January 29, 1987
- Place of death: Montecarlo, Lucca, Italy
Biography
Carlo Cassola was born on March 17, 1917, in Rome. His father, Garzia, was a lawyer and editor of a socialist paper, and Carlo also grew up to be a politically active socialist. As a teenager he attended the school Liceo Tasso, then went on to law school and entered the military. After graduating inn 1939, he married and moved to southern Tuscany. He lived there the rest of his life, and most of his stories are set there. He died on January 29, 1987.
Early in his career, he began using the word “sublimare” to describe his writing, meaning that he was more concerned with subconscious feelings than day-to-day actions. His first publications (both in 1942) were two volumes of stories: Alla periferia (on the outskirts) and La visita (the visit). The second period of his career (according to some critics) spanned from 1946 to 1960. It is characterized by longer works, rather than short stories, and is based on Cassola’s own experiences. He began to depict more everyday experiences, but he still did not venture into complicated plots.
Il taglio del bosco (the cutting of the woods), written in 1949, is considered his best novella. He envisioned it as an existential story about woodcutters repeating the same task day in and day out. Before he could complete the novella, Cassola’s wife died. When he was able to write again, he finished the book, but he added the death of a character’s wife into the story, drawing on his own emotions.
Cassola remarried in 1951 and had a daughter. He wrote Fausto and Anna (1952), his first novel to be translated into English. Fausto is a man who goes to war, then returns to find his girlfriend Anna has married. Both characters also appeared in earlier stories. The novel is significant because it is Cassola’s most intricate plot to that point, and because he considered it his most autobiographical novel.
His most famous novel was La ragazza di Bube (Bebo’s girl, 1962). After the war, Bube falls in love with Mara. He can’t adjust to peacetime, however, and commits murder. The couple flees, but Bube is eventually caught and imprisoned for 14 years. Mara begins a new relationship, then later breaks it off to wait for Bube. Cassola’s career was characterized by an ability to write effectively in various genres, whether political, existential, or his unique “sublimare” style.