Novel
Il giuoco dell'oca
Not translated into English
Edoardo Sanguineti · 1967
Synopsis
One hundred and eleven short texts, arranged like the squares of a game of the goose. A wandering “I” passes through scenes in which objects, characters and situations recur, constantly transforming into one another. Almost everything in it is a description of images, photographs, comic strips, works of art, none of which is reproduced, and nothing serves as a plot: the reader may follow the order of the squares or establish their own.
Context
The book appeared with Feltrinelli in 1967; it was its author's second novel, after a first published in 1963. The reading rules, modelled on those of the game, appeared on the back of the volume, and one could let oneself be guided by the dice. The text engages in dialogue with the French avant-garde, notably with Alain Robbe-Grillet and Philippe Sollers. Jean Thibaudeau translated it into French at Le Seuil in 1969, in the Tel Quel series, under the title “Le Noble Jeu de l'oye”.
Who it is for
A book made of texts of about a page each, which can be read from the first square to the last or at random.
Prizes and reception
According to a study published by Fabula, the French translation presented it as a linear narrative, without the rules of the game.
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The pages consulted to check this page.