Printed with great acclaim by the Milanese-based publisher Garzanti,
Quer pasticciaccio brutto de via Merulana[
That Awful Mess of Via Merulana]
(1957) is unanimously considered Carlo Emilio Gadda’s masterpiece. The novel recounts the police investigation of two criminal cases, one trivial and the other inhuman. Both take place in the same apartment house in the center of Rome within the space of a few days: a widow, eager to be consoled, is robbed of her jewelry; a married woman, disconsolate because she cannot bear children, is stabbed to death. The robbery and murder take place in an apartment building (
palazzo)
not far from the Colosseum, known as “Palazzo degli Ori”, in Via Merulana number 219. Detective Francesco Ingravallo, an acquaintance of the latter victim, Liliana…
2535 words
Citation: Morra, Eloisa . "Quer pasticciaccio brutto de via Merulana". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 02 September 2021 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=38889, accessed 25 November 2024.]