The diver

A book that's somewhere between novel, biography, essay, epic tale, diary, founding myth of the Second Italian Republic. The short chapters in which the book is subdivided follow one another shifting from philosophical considerations to digressions on customs and society, from periods in the life of Gardini to Elena Stancanelli's personal stories, weaving biography and autobiography, positioning itself as a first-person narrative. A dense writing style, with accurate descriptions, accounts of events or anecdotes, constant high-brow quotes and references to poetry and literature. The introduction on ethical relativism and how values change, on what's considered virtuous or nefarious, provides a key to interpret this work that the author doesn't only apply to Gardini's life, but to the whole political and entrepreneurial class, regardless of how we might ethically judge them nowadays. Gardini is described as a patriarchal male stereotype, almost an archetype of the man in power in Italy between the 1960s and 1980s, which has moulded contemporary Italy. The books presents facts, mysteries, theories and ways to understand many political and industrial events of the First Republic of Italy – it's up to the reader to interpret and join them together.  

Il tuffatore (The diver)
Elena Stancanelli,
La Nave di Teseo, 2022