Francesco Dimitri
Hi Diana,
it's an important question. To be honest, I am not sure I agree with your reading of the story. In a book told from the POV of three ineffectual, immature, men, some of the female characters are the people who have it together; the ones who act as grown-ups. Anna, Elena, even Concetta, are all way more mature than 'the boys'.
Only one female character is mad - but she is not mad in any nice, funny way; she is a troubled person who deserves far more respect and compassion than she receives. She is a victim, yes; but, to make one example, Fabio's father, old, lonely, and with dementia, is as much of a victim as she is, and he is male.
Besides, when you say that some characters are 'morally loose', you are defining your own moral values rather than theirs. Though I have the utmost respect for your morals, I guess we can agree that morals are rarely absolute; what looks morally loose to you might seem just about right to me (and to my wife, a firm, active feminist, who read the book carefully and helped me with it).
Then again, no story is everybody's jam; and if mine made you feel belittled, I hope what you read next, whatever that might be, will make you feel twice powerful :)
it's an important question. To be honest, I am not sure I agree with your reading of the story. In a book told from the POV of three ineffectual, immature, men, some of the female characters are the people who have it together; the ones who act as grown-ups. Anna, Elena, even Concetta, are all way more mature than 'the boys'.
Only one female character is mad - but she is not mad in any nice, funny way; she is a troubled person who deserves far more respect and compassion than she receives. She is a victim, yes; but, to make one example, Fabio's father, old, lonely, and with dementia, is as much of a victim as she is, and he is male.
Besides, when you say that some characters are 'morally loose', you are defining your own moral values rather than theirs. Though I have the utmost respect for your morals, I guess we can agree that morals are rarely absolute; what looks morally loose to you might seem just about right to me (and to my wife, a firm, active feminist, who read the book carefully and helped me with it).
Then again, no story is everybody's jam; and if mine made you feel belittled, I hope what you read next, whatever that might be, will make you feel twice powerful :)
More Answered Questions
SneakyReader
asked
Francesco Dimitri:
Thank you for writing the Hidden Things. I just adored it. Great characters, so real - and adult, for some reason the fantasy has been overrun with teens lately, and real magic - uncomfortable, weird and destructive. Also, I really liked the male friends group, for some reason a very rare thing in fiction, its always women friend groups that a novel follows. When is the next novel coming out?
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