Time and Distance as Devices of Literary Style

There is obviously a well-understood relationship between time and distance: it takes a certain amount of time to go a certain distance, and since we understand that, the notion that these two concepts go together is a comfortable one.  A character travels and time passes.

We're also familiar with the often circular nature of travel. A character sets off for a particular destination and then returns home. The end of the trip is also the end of the story. It's a satisfying relationship -- everything neatly tied up.

A Book to Read After Elena Ferrante's Neopolitan Quartet

If you have read and enjoyed one or more books of Elena Ferrante's Neopolitan Quartet -- it starts with "My Brilliant Friend" -- you might also like to read "Eva Sleeps" by Francesca Melandri.

The books of both authors were originally written in Italian, but the English translations are of high quality.

Whereas Ferrante's four novels examine slices of Italian post-World War II history and society from the point of view of blue-collar southern Italians, often looking north, Melandri's book covers much the same time period, but from a different perspective.  "Eva Sleeps" is set deep in the history of an alpine Italian province known as Alto Adige that was once part of Austria, when it was known as South Tyrol. There, except for a brief period when Hitler essentially ruled Italy, the residents -- mostly German speaking -- look south, often warily if not with outright hostility.