Gli indifferenti


Gli Indifferenti is a novel by Alberto Moravia, published in 1929.

Background

After a meeting with friends at which it was agreed that each should produce a novel, the young Moravia began writing the story that would become Gli Indifferenti. Moravia sent the manuscript to the editor of 900, a bilingual review with which he had previously published some short stories. It was dismissed as a "mist of words". The novel was published with a ₤5,000 contribution from Moravia's father, Carlo Pincherle, as the Milanese publisher Alpes was unwilling to take a risk on an unknown author.

Plot synopsis

Gli Indifferenti is a psychological portrayal of the life of a middle-class mother and her two children. The action of the novel takes place largely over two days. Leo, the wealthy lover of Mariagrazia, a middle-class widow, begins an affair with her daughter, Carla. Carla decides that she will sleep with Leo the following day in order "to begin a new life".

Reception

The first edition sold out within a number of weeks. An English translation of the novel was published in United States in 1935 under the title The Indifferent Ones.

Film versions