Why this book: Selected by my literature reading group. Two of us were about to go on an expeidition-hike in the Dolomites with NOLS, and this book was on the recommended reading list for this hike. 

Summary in 3 Sentences: AThis is a novel written in the first person by a Jewish boy of a middle class family growing up and into young adulthood in pre-WW2 northern Italy town of Ferrara.  Through tennis, and the synogogue, he develops a relationship with a very well-to-do Jewish family, the Finzi-Continis, that has been influential for generations in that part of Italy.  As he matures into his teenage years and into adulthood, he develops a crush on the daughter of this family, as he and she eventually matriculate from the gymnasium (high school) and go to different universities to pursue their doctoral degrees. This all takes place against the backdrop of increasing Fascism and racial laws imposed on the Jewish community by Mussolini as Italy and Europe lurch toward World War Two. 

My Impressions: Interesting book and a bit of a change of pace for me. It is a translation from the original Italian, written by a well-educated literary author, published in the early 60s.  The style did not flow easily for me, and was a bit awkward.  That said, the book took me into a world with which I was unfamiliar – the world of middle class and well-to-do Jewish families living in Northern Italy during the Fascist regime of Mussolini just prior to WW2.   

I did eventually watch the movie which apparently earned an Oscar as best foreign film in 1970.  It is a reasonable adaptation of the book, though the screenplay takes some artistic license with the ending, being a bit more explicit about events that the book only hints at, and there is a lot less in the movie about the heritage of the Finzi-Continis family. 

It is a coming of age novel for the protagonist –  whose name we never learn in the book. It begins with him describing the family cemetery of the Finzi-Continis family which had been influential for several centuries in that part of Italy – that cemetery was the “garden” on the grounds of the Finzi-Continis estate.  The protagonist is a middle class Jewish boy who sits in synogugue with other middle class Jews in a separate section from those with the wealth and resources to sit upstairs and apart from the rabble -and that upper class group includes the FInzi-Continis fmaily.

As our protagonist (our “P”) grows up, he has intermittent contact with the Finzi-Continis family since they attend some of the same schools, though the wealthy have their own tutors. From early on P observes from a distance and slowly builds a crush on the young girl Micol of the Fnzi Continis family,  but as a young girl, she seems aloof and indifferent to him.  They occasionally have chanes to interact and slowly develop a friendship.  As they move into their teenage years, even though he is not of her class or social standing, she invites him to join her and her brother and some of their friends playing tennis on their family courts inside their walled in estate. And over the years, he continues to be part of this tennis group, and his attraction to and friendship with Micol grows and blossoms, but is never expressed as more than good friends and pals. 

Meanwhile high school turns to university – and in Italy – that requires passing exams to get out of 1930s Italy’s university preparatory program. P is a humanities student, uncomfortable with engineering and math, and goes to University in Bologna, specializing in literature and languages, with a focus on Italian literature.  Micol also studies literature, but does so in Venice. They see little of each other but correspond by mail – still “just good friends.”  

P is intensely interested in literature – studies the styles and messages of various authors and he shares this interest with Micol.  P and Micol have studied hard to successfully enter graduate programs in their specific fields of the humanities, and we the readers are treated to references to what for me are obscure and unknown authors in the canon of European literature.  P also engages in political debates with a close friend who is an ardent socialist and anti-fascist. All the Jews are anti-fascist, since the Fascists under Mussolini are increasing restrictions and discrimination against Jews.   

This book was interesting to me for three reasons; 

1.  The author describes the culture of the affluent Jewish community in Northern Italy- very similar to that of affluent gentiles, but the Cathedral and the Priests and Catholicism are replaced by the synogogue, the rabbis and Jewish tradition.  The Jews were very well integrated into the society and had been for centuries.  As we get to know these characters, we experience their effort to remain low profile in a world led by Fascists and Catholics, and how they dealt with incresing restrictions imposed by Mussolini’s “racial laws” in pre-WW2 northern Italy. 
2. The coming of age story of a young Jewish boy and young adult in a period of great transition in Europe and Italy.  He is trying to live as he did before while Fascism is blossoming and affecting everything in Italy in particular, and of course throughout Europe
3. The unrequited love romance between P and Micole – how he deals with it, how she responds.  

The Garden of Finzi Continis is short at only about 200 pages,  It started slow, and I struggled with it at first, feeling like I was swimming against the current. But at about page 20, the pace picked up and after a while i

Summary in 3 Sentences: AThis is a novel written in the first person by a Jewish boy of a middle class family growing up and into young adulthood in pre-WW2 northern Italy town of Ferrara.  Through tennis, and the synogogue, he develops a relationship with a very well-to-do Jewish family, the Finzi-Continis, that has been influential for generations in that part of Italy.  As he matures into his teenage years and into adulthood, he develops a crush on the daughter of this family, as he and she eventually matriculate from the gymnasium (high school) and go to different universities to pursue their doctoral degrees. This all takes place against the backdrop of increasing Fascism and racial laws imposed on the Jewish community by Mussolini as Italy and Europe lurch toward World War Two. 

My Impressions: Interesting book and a bit of a change of pace for me. It is a translation from the original Italian, written by a well-educated literary author, published in the early 60s.  The style did not flow easily for me, and was a bit awkward.  That said, the book took me into a world with which I was unfamiliar – the world of middle class and well-to-do Jewish families living in Northern Italy during the Fascist regime of Mussolini just prior to WW2.   

It is a coming of age novel for the protagonist –  whose name we never learn in the book. It begins with him describing the family cemetery of the Finzi-Continis family which had been influential for several centuries in that part of Italy – that cemetery was the “garden” on the grounds of the Finzi-Continis estate.  The protagonist is a middle class Jewish boy who sits in synogugue with other middle class Jews in a separate section from those with the wealth and resources to sit upstairs and apart from the rabble -and that upper class group includes the FInzi-Continis fmaily.

As our protagonist (our “P”) grows up, he has intermittent contact with the Finzi-Continis family since they attend some of the same schools, though the wealthy have their own tutors. From early on P observes from a distance and slowly builds a crush on the young girl Micol of the Fnzi Continis family,  but as a young girl, she seems aloof and indifferent to him.  They occasionally have chanes to interact and slowly develop a friendship.  As they move into their teenage years, even though he is not of her class or social standing, she invites him to join her and her brother and some of their friends playing tennis on their family courts inside their walled in estate. And over the years, he continues to be part of this tennis group, and his attraction to and friendship with Micol grows and blossoms, but is never expressed as more than good friends and pals. 

Meanwhile high school turns to university – and in Italy – that requires passing exams to get out of 1930s Italy’s university preparatory program. P is a humanities student, uncomfortable with engineering and math, and goes to University in Bologna, specializing in literature and languages, with a focus on Italian literature.  Micol also studies literature, but does so in Venice. They see little of each other but correspond by mail – still “just good friends.”  

P is intensely interested in literature – studies the styles and messages of various authors and he shares this interest with Micol.  P and Micol have studied hard to successfully enter graduate programs in their specific fields of the humanities, and we the readers are treated to references to what for me are obscure and unknown authors in the canon of European literature.  P also engages in political debates with a close friend who is an ardent socialist and anti-fascist. All the Jews are anti-fascist, since the Fascists under Mussolini are increasing restrictions and discrimination against Jews.   

This book was interesting to me for three reasons; 

1.  The author describes the culture of the affluent Jewish community in Northern Italy- very similar to that of affluent gentiles, but the Cathedral and the Priests and Catholicism are replaced by the synogogue, the rabbis and Jewish tradition.  The Jews were very well integrated into the society and had been for centuries.  As we get to know these characters, we experience their effort to remain low profile in a world led by Fascists and Catholics, and how they dealt with incresing restrictions imposed by Mussolini’s “racial laws” in pre-WW2 northern Italy. 
2. The wealthy Jewish community were overly complacent as the fascism of the Mussolini government gradually, but continually constrained and discriminated against them.  They couldn’t beleive that it would go as far as it did. Similar to well-to-do Germans and Jews.  
3. The coming of age story of a young Jewish boy and young adult in a period of great transition in Europe and Italy.  He is trying to live as he did before while Fascism is blossoming and affecting everything in Italy in particular, and of course throughout Europe.
4. The unrequited love romance between P and Micole – how he deals with it, how she responds.  

The Garden of Finzi Continis is not a long  book, only about 200 pages,  It started slow with background and scene setting that I found a bit tedious,  and I struggled with it at first. But at about page 20, the pace picked up and after a while I was enjoying swimming with the current and enjoyed the book. The ending left a lot of strings hanging though…

I did find this book interesting and compelling and enjoyed reading it. The ending however,  left a lot of strings hanging……

Books that I”d previously read that had some similar themes:  Love in the Time of Cholera, Remains of the Day, Rules of Civility.