"Birth and death are the only two real moments the rest is a dream interrupted by a few insignificant glimmers of awareness." " LOST LOVE " "Teacher?" "Will this do?" "Lower your head." "Sit down." "Sewing is the art of attentiveness." "Your left forefinger is weak instead of giving the right tension." "It may not seem important to you, but that's a defect in a sleeve." "And we're here to correct defects." "For example, the shoulders of Signora Florio's dress were padded by us to correct the defect of her jutting shoulders." "Do you remember how pleased she was?" "Even if you won't follow this career you need to know the importance of concentration in sewing." "It's like a magnifying glass that will show you imperfections in your personalities, too." "You must be as calm as the surface of a lake and as quick as lightning." "Mom, can you come here a second?" "Did you follow "The Sanremo Festival"?" "No, I had a headache." "The winning song was so sad." "Of course, it was called "Hello, Sorrow"." "I like Achille Togliani." "Listen to the little girl!" "Want him as your boyfriend?" " He's too old." " He's ideal for her." "Hold your tongue!" "I've got the magazine with the songs in it." " Anyone remember it?" " No." " No." " Let's call Ettore." " Good idea." "Ettore, come here!" "Do you remember the song that won last night?" " Yes." " How does it go?" "You're too much!" "Always fighting over him!" "Your Mom's jealous." "Off you go." "Stop it, you hussy." "What's that mean?" "Can someone tell "La Polentona" what it means?" "It's like lively, free and easy." "Give it a rest!" "Can you call in on the Pasinis on your way home and say we'll be ready by Monday?" " All right." " Like that..." " All right." "It's hot." "What a to and fro this morning!" "Two new suitors?" " Are they or not?" " They're coming back now." "They're pretending to talk." "Go on, sit down." "That's good." "This needs to be half an inch lower though all right?" " Okay." "Don't forget." "That guy always passes at this time." "He's courting you." "He could be my father!" "He's okay for Nerina or Silvia!" "Thanks a lot!" "I'll get you for that." "Fight for him." "I kind of like him." "Good girl!" "Is someone eating the pins or what?" "Here's one." "They take them home." " What do you think?" " Well..." "Can you be more specific?" "I think the material's too bright and colorful." "And the cut's unflattering." "Did you hear that?" "Your lordship, instead of criticizing could you give us a definitive solution?" "Exceptionally, I will." "I'd see an overcoat in a slightly weightier fabric of a single hue." "At least one hand shorter than now just below the rear." "And with a tight waist perhaps even a belt." "A Chinese style collar with cross-buttoning, like an Uzbek jacket to highlight your femininity." "As you can see, he lives up to his reputation." " She was offended?" " No way." "Hi, Ettore." "Beautiful!" "You're the best." " Ice cream!" " Ice cream!" "Ice cream!" "Carnival!" " Open up!" "Let us in!" " Don't let them in!" " Who are you?" " Take your masks off!" "You really don't recognize me?" "I'm Nunzia, the baker's daughter." " She must think we're stupid." " Close the shutter." " Open up, idiot!" " Nerina's crazy!" "Wake up, young man!" "Come on!" " Hurry or all the palms will be gone." " I want to stay in bed!" " Praise Jesus!" " Sweetheart, wake up." "Up you get!" "We have to go to Mass." "Father, what is this music?" ""The Passion according to St. Matthew" by Johann Sebastian Bach." "You must let the boy study music." "He's already learning the piano." "Drop." "Shift the weight." "All the energy has to be in the fingertip and all the other muscles must be relaxed, like this." "Now you can play, let's try this prelude." "Not too fast." "Try to keep the tempo." "Let's go!" "Selopdat, kool!" "Gip a ekil skool hsif eht, kool!" "Gorf eht ta kool!" "Ynit s'ti!" "Ystib - ysti!" "Your husband's always been absent and fickle like this but now he wants money too, for God's sake!" "Has he got another family?" " Who knows?" " No, he gambles!" "They say he gambles." "He refuses himself nothing!" "You know what they say:" "..."Sad at home, funny outside"." "But you're fine, my dear." "You have a job people ask for you, you make good money and you have Ettore, too." " Here you go, eat up." " Ettore, come here." "Fetch two pounds of ice." "Tell them I'll call by later." "Don't stay out late." "Mary when's that lout of a husband of yours coming?" "Uncle, stop it." "All right, when's your dear spouse coming?" "On Saturday, uncle." " Enough with that Adenauer guy." " Sure!" "Here's to Martino!" "I read in the "Corriere della Sera" what foreign visitors say about Italy:" "They call it a miraculous country that's fueled by its ordeals and doesn't waste time on regrets." "Europe's lucky to have Italy in it, they say with its love of anarchy and diversity." "Sure, but others claim Italy is a country with a deadly disease a very old one:" "People don't read books or papers." " France is bad for you!" " France..." " What does our separatist think?" " He thinks but doesn't speak." "Many locals think Sicily should separate from Italy." "Sure." "It's crazy!" "You're joking." "You should just get that bridge built." "You know, on French TV, I saw "The Sanremo Festival" live while you "saw" it on the radio." " So?" "What's wrong with the radio?" " Right, what's wrong with that?" "You know Massimo's a vegetarian now?" " You only eat vegetables?" " Pasta, rice and cheese too." " You never eat meat?" " No." " Not even when you kiss?" " No." " He's shy." "Come on, tell Dad!" " Son..." " Dad, play something." " Let's do "Malafemmina"!" "Guys, I haven't played for ten years, okay!" "Come on, play!" "We'll support you." "Like in the old days!" " What a drag, Alfredo!" " You're right." "It's beautiful!" "Your attention, please!" "Know what this is?" " No." " No." "A portable record player, the invention of the year." "A song by Dalida is all the rage on French beaches it's called "Itsy-bitsy, petit bikini"." "What does that mean, Luigi?" "Come on, dance!" " Who's the girl?" " I don't know." "Mary!" " Mary!" " Yes?" " He's asleep." " Take him inside." " Mary!" " I'm coming." "Are you tired?" "Who was the girl?" "I don't know." "No, Ettore, wait." "Like this." "I have to go now." "I want you to be good and do all the homework." "I don't want to hear a pin drop." "It won't be long." "Quick, they're killing the calf!" "What beautiful music!" "Take the purgative or you won't go bathing this year." " You understand?" " I don't want it!" "It's simple, silly." "Just do this." "You do it!" "What?" "Is that how you speak to Grandma?" "Out with you!" "Come on, out!" "You rascal!" "Okay, Ettore, no bathing for you this year." "Too bad for you." "You wretch!" "Come here!" "She almost killed him." "For his own good!" "Let's see..." "What's the first thing your eyes meet?" " That woman with the bag." " No." " The palm tree?" " Not even." " What then?" " The glass." "Coming!" "So?" "How did the lesson go?" "Signora Pasini left early and I played a piece by ear." "Really?" "How does it go?" " Good morning, signora." " Good morning." " I've come for some eggs." " I'm coming." " Where's your mother?" " She's busy." "She sent me today." "Four only." "I can't let you have more." " As long as they're fresh." " Just laid." " Thank you." " You're welcome." "Let's go, Ettore." "Look at the hens!" "Let's go." " Signora!" " Yes?" " Go that way, it's a short cut." " Thank you." " You're welcome, bye." "Come closer!" "What are you doing?" "Can't you see the difference in level?" "Call Orazio!" "Orazio!" "Come here." "Hold this." "Go over there and don't move." "Stormy weather." "I can't find the red tie you bought me." "It's here." "Shall I put it in the case?" "Yes, please." "Put yourself in it too." "Mary..." "Sit down." "I don't want to leave this time." "Not at all." "I hope it's the last time." "I know what you think." "I like femininity, as you like sewing." "Passions are fleeting, Mary." "They can't hurt a relationship as strong as ours as real." "I don't know how to put it but I've never cheated on you." "Not really." "You poor dear." "You don't realize what you're saying." "You mix everything up:" "Sewing, femininity but reality's so different." "You've never been able to stay faithful and you've put me through hell." "I wanted to tie you down but I got tied down instead." "Without realizing it you've shut me in jail and taken away the key." "You're not married to me but to your cock." "But I'm not afraid to be alone now." "I don't need you anymore." "And who knows maybe I can truly love you now." "Fetch the candles!" "Why can't I ever find them in a power cut?" "They're in the drawer." "Daylight and nightfall rain and shine you're born and you die." "Let's go, let's clean up." "Wake up, young man!" "Ettore, wake up!" "Come on!" "Praise Jesus!" "You've inflicted this Sunday punishment for 10 years!" " Bad karma!" " Him and his karma!" "And you, Nerina, cursing as you pray..." "Shame on you!" "Come on, get up!" "We have to clean." "His lordship's in a bad mood today." "It's not cleaning, it's unadulterated sadism!" "Ettore!" "Mario's waiting downstairs remember to book a car, Dad arrives on Sunday." "I know, I know." "I'm telling you she invited you." "Don't you feel worthy of her?" "You're right." "I could buy her Salvatore Vinciguerra's record." "Good idea." "Raffaella!" "I've found you at last." "I wanted some time alone." "You're a mysterious guy." " See you at the bookshop tomorrow?" " No, I'll pick you up." "Let's dance." "My task is to introduce tonight's exceptional author." "Martino Alliata will introduce Judith Mirabello will read extracts from his book and Oscar Pignatelli will read his essay "The Metaphysical Thriller"." "Martino Alliata." "The decline of writing has already begun." "The written word is like a cut in the bark of a tree." "With the acculturation of the masses more and more people turn from orality to the written word." "The so-called problems of communication sweep aside the adventure of the form." "Communication is for frantic beings who with a wink, belch or a raised eyebrow signify their stormy intentions." "Communication is for insects, expressing is for humans." "Communication follows the pack, the signals exchanged by wolves..." "Raffaella!" "...flies' buzzing..." " Come here a sec!" "...or the squeaking of mice." "Before we go on, if anybody has any questions please go ahead." "I'd like to ask Judith Mirabello what the title signifies." "Are we responsible for our birth?" "Tonight, at 9:00, at the Giardino arena "Lost Tracks" with Susan Green, in which her fiery femininity arouses the souls and senses of the tormented characters." "Professor, I was wondering:" "...why bother studying outdated philosophers who have nothing or little to do with our times?" "When I look at the small space that I occupy and that which I see lost in an infinity of spaces that I can never know and that will never know me I am stunned and amazed to see myself here rather than elsewhere." "That I should be here now rather than then." "But you've studied Pascal you know all that." "But remember that in philosophy, what you're saying cannot be said." "There's no progress in that damn discipline." "Progress is a deviation, like that of being, from the void." "The worker should receive the full benefit of his work." "The capitalist's profit is unpaid work." "The capitalist receives the product of ten days' work and pays the worker a sum equivalent to five days' work." " Are you listening?" " Of course!" "A pair of legs is enough to destroy capitalists and workers." "Sorry, I have to go." "Send Ferdinando in here." "Come to my study with me." "Haven't you ever considered performing Mendelssohn's beautiful lied, "Die liebende schreibt" with lyrics by Goethe?" "I imagine you know it." "No." "You sent for me?" " I want you to take this gentleman to his hotel." " All right." "I've taken the liberty of writing a note to a friend of mine, Alex Von Norman." "He's a famous agent in Milan." "This is his address." " All the best." " Thank you." "But excuse me..." " Yes?" "I still don't know what you think about my voice." " Excellent, truly excellent." " Thank you." "I'm touched." "It's very important for me." "Thank you, baron." "Let's go, babe." "Ferdinando!" "I realize that it's very hard to recognize the feminine manifestations of the Eros especially for someone like you, who thinks he's male." " I was joking." " I wasn't!" "Man in the act of love:" "A machine, a machine that sighs and drools with automatic, clumsy gestures and sudden changes in tone." "He seizes woman like a prey, bites her, groans, comes and breeds." "Such rage wasn't required to propagate the species." "Few men, very few men desire woman as a living being who still has her secrecy and boundless intimacy." "True lovers, my dear fellow, are very rare." "Very rare indeed." "Professor, doesn't Ettore seem depressed?" "Yes, his father's very sick." "Air, fire water, earth." " Professor, is that a poem?" " What poem?" "Empedocles, your fellow countryman, must have traveled this path too before that final act:" "Throwing himself into the crater." " Why did he kill himself?" " It seems that he couldn't get it up!" "There are immutable laws of the universe." "One is that a small receptacle cannot hold a larger one." "In the topography of the body and in zoological tradition reproduction and excretion are close and linked to each other." "But you're so small that head and ass are one!" " Ah, poor creatures, tormented progeny of mortals..." " ... born of such contention and such suffering." "You only talk about it, but I'm leaving for good this time." "Where to?" "Milan." "How's your father?" "Bad, really bad." "I have to get back." "I'll be seeing you." "Bye, Ettore." " My condolences." " Thank you." "You know that your father was pretty fond of figs." "Figs?" " What do you mean?" " Pussy!" "That's a great metaphor!" "And?" "Nothing." "Remember to follow his example!" "I don't know why you want to go to Milan." "You don't know anyone, you have no family there." "What are you going there for?" "It's total madness." "What madness?" "I'm not entering a monastery." "They have telephones there." "And university?" "It will survive without me, don't you think?" "I approve of your going to Milan." "This book contains the essence of esoterica:" "...from the cabala to Sufism and Gurdjieff, etc." "I didn't understand a word." "You will." "Inside, you'll find a letter of introduction for Baruch Togarmi my friend and spiritual guide." "After reading the book, and only if this is your path as I think it is, contact him." "Piazza Abbiategrasso?" "You gotta switch." " Too bad bus 23 just left." " Take that bus over there get off at the last stop." " Ava Gardner's doing ads now." " That's crazy." "Excuse me, when does it leave?" " In a couple of minutes." " Thanks." "See you, bye." "You only gave me cases, I didn't see a bag." "Did you leave it on the train?" " This is the room." " Nice." "We don't allow visitors." "It's a shared kitchen and bath." "All right." " I'm caught up in what's new and in the thousand lives of this city." " I live more than one myself." " By day I work and I've recently started..." " ... meditating and writing." " The book's almost finished." " I make myself write a certain number of pages a day..." " ... and I'm already up to 150." " I'm not sure but I think I have a title for it." "Phone call, from Sicily!" " The music's fine." "I play at Cab 64, a hip club." " I accompany Herbert Pagani, the Franco-Italian singer." "Isn't it funny?" "It's killing me." " What a guy!" " Come on, move it!" "Not bad." " How are you?" " How about you?" "That new song?" "Let's go up, I'll let you hear it." "You know Margherita Schwartz, the editor with Alternative?" "She wants to get Joe Fedeli to sing my song." " The guy who sings "Sei come una lucertola"?" " Yes." " Is the room free?" " Sure." " Good morning." " Good morning." " We need the room." " Sorry." " Bye." " Bye." " Bye." " Bye." "Who are they?" "One, I don't know." "The other is one of our writers." "He wrote "I feel the snap of a spring as I dance to the surf"." "He's important, famous." " Can I introduce my artist?" " Sure." "Come in." "This is Szabo Balaban." " How do you do." " Nice to meet you." "Wait outside." " He looks oldish." " He's been around." " Let's hear this sensation." "Is this "Prisoner of the World"?" " Yes." " Turn it up good and loud." " It's loud enough." " I'd be cautious in my judgment." " It's not a matter of judgment." "The thing is, the song never takes off and doesn't touch us." "It'll be a big hit though, believe me." "Maybe." "I'm trusting you." "We'll rehearse on the bus." "Be at Piazza Beccaria at 10 tomorrow." " Remember, be on time, okay?" " Okay, I'll be there." "Instead of A minor, why don't you try a seventh D?" "That's better." "Good." "These guys are good." "Maurizio, I've always liked him." " Where's tonight's singer from?" " She's Spanish, pretty interesting." "See that girl?" "The one next to Alex Von Norman?" "That's Elisabetta Gaia, a top editor with Twins." "That must be a sign." " Go talk to her." " I just might..." " Excuse me, Signora Gaia?" " Signora?" "What is it?" "May I sit down?" "I sent you a manuscript months ago." " What's your name?" " Ettore Corvaja." " What's the book called?" " "Rhipicephalus sanguineus"." "I'll take a look at it." " Thank you." "Goodbye." " Goodbye." "Martirio sings "La noche oscura"." "I've worked on triple attention, but I couldn't divide it equally." "The part tuned to outside noise overcame the one tuned to feelings while the one tuned to thoughts distracted me from the other two." "For the observation exercise I went to the waiting room at the main station." "It was an interesting experience." "I thought I'd reached good level of concentration and I was taking pride in it." "Then, vanity of vanities I realized I was being observed in turn by someone focused on me." "I immediately recognized his higher quality." "I smiled at the lesson I was receiving." "The experience of the absence of thought can imply a lack of thought or a state in which thoughts if they arise, do not disturb us." "They remain undisturbed and distant." "Excuse me, Professor, what are they practicing?" "Cesar Franck's symphonic variations." " I feel like listening." " Good, go on." " Hi." " Hi." "How did it go?" "It's a great orchestra and the pianist's very good too." "It looks like rain." " Are you ready this week?" " I think so." "Be aware of our condition, observe, discover who we are." "Where we're from, where we're going." "What'll it be?" " Two teas, please." " Milk or lemon?" " Lemon for me." " Black, please." "Do you remember what Togarmi said about the exercise on breathing?" " If I remember rightly, he said..." " Just a second." "Simone!" " Hi, Ettore." " Hi, Simone." "Ashamed to see me?" "No, I was just surprised to see you in Milan." "That's all." "This isn't the right place for you." " It is." " No, fate should be ashamed." "Great!" "My hands are shaking." "Maybe it's because I'm tense." "I feel the same, probably because Togarmi won't let us see the film." "He doesn't think we're ready." "The tantra is a liturgy that turns the profane into sacred." "It is a pathway that, through sexual initiation attains illumination." "At first, the member is erect." "The seed slowly descends and draws closer to the point." "But instead of being emitted, through a non-movement the flow is stopped and reversed." "The supreme pleasure." "There's no hurry." "There's no need for it." "The tantra refuses nothing, not even homosexual options as the sacred thing is the unity of two beings." "For some, the retention of the seed is the fulfillment of chastity the non-perpetuation of transmigration." "After penetration, if a man wishes to prolong the sexual act he must not adopt a to-and-fro motion but a circular one or else, immobility." "Isn't that tune by that German band?" "No, it's Blue Cheer, an Anglo-American group." "It's called "Parchment Farm" and it's well-known." "Well-known?" "It's just a mass of noise!" "That's anti-progressive." "Here's the defender of progress." "Maybe you don't know it, but noise is part of contemporary music." "Heard ofJohn Cage?" "He bores me shitless." "Excuse me, but I'm writing on that right now." "I'll read it." "This music is nothing but a contemporary version of the shamanic rite." "It's collective shock therapy to help us free ourselves of the toxins of our well-being." "It's pure catharsis." "What do you think?" "Do you agree?" "She's in a bad mood today." "She's lost the Steinbeck contract." "Who's the lucky guy now?" "The writer's called Ettore Corvaja." "He's Sicilian." "It's the diary of an insect." ""Rhipicephalus sanguineus"." "What is it, a novel?" "No, neither a novel, nor an essay." "Read the beginning." "I suddenly realize the sad significance of a diary." "I thought my life's events would need to go down in eternity." "In other words, that the passing days couldn't touch me." "Now I discover that I shall live one day like others." "It's pretty good." "Let's sign him for a book." " With an option for a second." " Don't spend too much!" "Place me like a seal on your heart because we have come a long way and there have been many births that we have known together." "Dear sir and master in a few days, I shall return to the insular element." "You have entered my life like the Angels of the Torah, with a faint voice." "I'll be forever grateful." "Carry on." "I have to admire certain Sicilian women who have managed to dominate and overcome their sexuality as if it were an enemy." "I'd like to be able to do that with some of my habits." "I've finished with light music I don't have the vanity required for it." "I've discovered how writing can highlight the soul's beauty like the blushing of a shy face or the trembling of a terrified body." "New and ancient impatient hopes await me." " So you're a writer now?" " Apparently." "What kind of writer are you?" "Mann, Joyce, Tommaso Landolfi..." "Nothing like them." "I feel closer to the 63 group without any consequentiality, logic or syntax." "It's a game, then." "A game that's earned me an advance of 1.5 million lira." "What times!" " Congratulations anyhow." " Thank you." "How are things with Togarmi?" "Are you happy in his group?" "A fundamental experience." "It's changed my life." "I've learned that the coach's driver isn't the horse but the coachman." "So now he's a writer." "Good job!" "He'll come back on vacation, or to see his family." "He'll criticize us because he lives a "civil" life." "But he doesn't know that this land, like Heraclitus and Anaxagora's Ionia, is magical and always recalls those who belong to it as if exercising a right." "That's the law of belonging." "And he too will have to return here one day." "He'll miss the climate, the light or the air." "Anyway, an almond granita!"