The writer wins with the novel «Tasmania» (Einaudi). On the podium Michel Houellebecq with «Annientare» (La nave di Teseo) and Marco Missiroli with «Have everything» (Einaudi). Milena Zemira Ciccimarra is first for translation
Paolo Giordano won the eleventh edition of the Quality Classification: his novel Tasmania (Einaudi) is the book of the year for the jury of «la Lettura». On the second step of the podium Annihilate (The Ship of Theseus) by French author Michel Houellebecq; on the third another Italian author, Marco Missiroli, with Have it all (Einaudi). Milena Zemira Ciccimarra won the Translation Classification, sixth edition, thanks to the Italian version of Houellebecq’s novel.
On «la Lettura» #575, preview on the App on Saturday 3 and on newsstands from Sunday 4, the first eight pages are dedicated to the initiative, which open with an article by the literary critic Nicola H. Cosentino analyzing the themes of the three novels that reached the podium: they are different books, in each of which it is possible to trace the ability to tell the present time.
Also on the pages relating to the Rankings you will find the Top Ten of the most voted with also an indication of the score achieved and the preferences obtained for each title; therefore all the authors and all the titles voted in 2022; and again the jury. There were 282 voters for the edition, while the voted books reached 441, with over 120 different publishers presentfrom big brands to mini and micro editorial realities.
Among the contents of the pages also a special edition of the critic Antonio D’Orrico’s Scoreboard; the Top Ten most voted titles in the Translation Ranking; and an interview by Ida Bozzi with the translator Milena Zemira Ciccimarra.
With this victory Paul Giordano reaches a goal he had already touched on two previous occasions: the writer Strega prize in 2008 with his debut novel The solitude of prime numbers (Mondadori) had twice finished second in the Quality Classification, in the first edition of 2012 with The human body (Mondadori) and in 2018 with Devour the sky (Einaudi).
Thanks to Tasmania lo writer adds his name to those of the other champions who – in chronological order from 2012 – won: Emmanuel Carrère with Limonov (Adelphi), Joël Dicker per The truth about the Harry Quebert case (Bompiani) then Donna Tartt with The goldfinch (Rizzoli), Claudio Magris with No place to proceed (Guarantees); then Jonathan Safran Foer for Here I am (Guanda), Richard Ford with Between them (Feltrinelli); Javier Marias with bertha island (Einaudi); and again Sandro Veronesi with The hummingbird (The Ship of Theseus), Kent Haruf con The way home (NN Editore) and, finally, Jonathan Franzen with Crossroads (Einaudi). Eleven players of a dream team of literature (with three Italian champions: Giordano, Magris and Veronesi) which, to stay current, would look good in a World Championship with writers of the twentieth century.
In addition to the podium, you can take a “behind the scenes” look at the initiative to understand how the Quality Classifications are born, who are the jurors and which books voted.
The premise is that the initiative was born with the idea of sharing good qualifications and making them a starting point for a merit ranking; immediately the Ranking met the favor of the readers, its relevance has gradually increased up to establish itself for seriousness and competence in the Italian cultural panorama.
At the Quality Ranking, which exists since 2012, you participate only by invitation of the editorial staff: the jury includes journalists, writers, translators, collaborators and friends of the «Corriere della Sera». The number of jurors varies from edition to edition and is in any case several hundred. The only rule regarding eligible books is that they are titles released in the current year.
Each member of the jury proposes a maximum of three books, indicating a first, second and third place; based on the positions, ten, six and four points are awarded respectively. The sum of the preferences gives rise to the ranking. The books that can be voted range from Italian to foreign fiction, from non-fiction to miscellaneous, then from children’s books to poetry, from graphic novels to reissues, to art catalogues…
The classification relating to the best translation, born in 2017, plans to indicate a single title to which ten points are attributed. Again, books of different genres are allowed; translations from foreign languages and from extinct languages (Greek, Latin…) are valid; to make the vote for translation qualitatively more relevant and significant, professionals of the trade, translators and editors are involved in the jury.
The name of Milena Zemira Ciccimarra, born in Boston to an Italian family, raised in Naples and Romejoins those of the previous winners, balancing the balance between men and women: in 2017 Fabio Cremonesi won for Our souls at night (NN Publisher) by Kent Haruf; in 2018 Lorenzo Flabbi for A woman (L’Orma Editore) by Nobel laureate Annie Ernaux; in 2019 Silvia Pareschi for The generosity of the mermaid (Einaudi) by Denis Johnson; in 2020 Nicola Crocetti for Odyssey (Crocetti Editore) by Nikos Kazantzakis; and in 2021 Ilide Carmignani for Donkey belly (Ponte alle Grazie) by Andrea Abreu.
Two palmares those of the “La Lettura” rankings which, in terms of quality, speak for themselves. And this is just one of the virtues of the rankings, another lies in the variety and quality of the titles reported which, all together, represent, from year to year, a litmus test of the state of health of Italian publishing, as well as being at the same time a valuable tool for readers to orient themselves among the many, many, new items on the shelves. Rankings, in short, to be consulted also to get some advice on which books to give or treat yourself in view of the holidays.
December 3, 2022 (change December 3, 2022 | 09:41)
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