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Adele Annesi: Posted on Thursday, July 12, 2012 4:42 PM
Timing and placement are everything in the use of longer narrative in the epic World War II era novel The Conformist, by Italian writer Alberto Moravia. An author and a journalist, Moravia details the life of Marcello Clerici — a man who seems to have it all. With deliberation and patience, the author draws out key scenes to allow readers to acclimate to plot shifts, and to be drawn in to the world he creates, regardless of how uninviting. By placing longer stretches of prose between Clerici's life as a boy and a young man, the author varies the pacing and progression of the work. Longer narrative also can add layers, especially when one or two main characters are featured. The technique provides a literary feel, but to enrich the story and not bog it down, longer sections must be appropriately placed. Moravia uses longer stretches of prose especially to unfold the main character of Marcello Clerici so that the end of the story is satisfying, and in this case, a relief.
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