The House of Scorta | 
 enlarge | Author: Laurent Gaude
Publisher: Highbridge Audio
Category: Book
List Price: $26.95
Buy New: $4.97
You Save: $21.98 (82%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  12 reviews
Sales Rank: 950737
Format: Audiobook
Media: Audio CD
Edition: Unabridged
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 360
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 4.9 x 1
ISBN: 1598870149
Dewey Decimal Number: 843.92
EAN: 9781598870145
ASIN: 1598870149
Publication Date: February 2, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Brand new Audiobook set and never opened! Ships fast.
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Product Description
Winner of Frances most prestigious literary prize, set in the unforgiving south of Italy, this is an epic tale of love, lies, and a familys disgrace. Spanning five generations, the Scorta family saga begins in 1870 with Rocco Scorta Mascalzone, the bastard product of a rape and a notorious scoundrel. Burdened by a legacy of infamous crimes and forsaken loves, its lineage doomed to struggle, the Scortas nevertheless are blessed: with pride and a relentless faith in their own power. Their wealth lies in their memories and their collective belief in the pursuit of happiness. In a narrative both lyrical and linear, Laurent Gaude interweaves a compelling story with a timeless message and the recollections of old Carmela as she delivers her final confession to the family priest, exposing the Scortas most deeply buried secret. Unabridged; 7 hours on 6 CDs
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| Customer Reviews: Read 7 more reviews...
 A Vivid Account of Southern Italian Life August 31, 2006
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
There's nothing like falling in love with a book and this summer I fell in love with "The House of Scorta." I devoured it over a long hot weekend, which seemed fitting given the novel's setting in the dry, hot region of Puglia in the southeast of Italy as described in the first paragraph of the book:
"The heat of the sun seemed to split the earth open. Not a breath of wind rustled the olive trees. Nothing moved. The scent of the hills had vanished. The rocks crackled with heat. August weighed down on the Gargano massif with the self-assurance of an overlord. It was impossible to believe that rain had ever fallen on these lands, that water had once irrigated the fields and quenched the olive groves. Impossible to believe that any animal or plant could have ever found sustenance under this arid sky. It was two o'clock in the afternoon and the earth was condemned to burn."
Opening in 1870, The House of Scorta chronicles five generations of the rough Mascalzone family, doomed to live under the weight of a scandulous reputation in the town that bred them yet struggle to accept them. Laurent Gaude, the book's French author whose wife is of Italian descent, paints an incredibly detailed picture of the complex social rules and interactions in southern Italian culture. Gaude captures the dark shadows, age-old rhythms and brutal realities of southern Italian life in a way I have rarely experienced in prose, except maybe for the classic "Christ Stopped at Eboli."
Throughout the twists and turns of the narrative, the themes of family, community, belonging, sacrifice, judgment and redemption are weaved together. Readers will gain an appreciation of the history of Italy, which was just a new country as the novel opens, and the prejudice that has long plagued the South.
Originally published in French as La Soleil des Scorta, the book has won France's highest literary prize and sold over 400,000 copies in that country. While it is a shame the novel hasn't sold better in the United States -- consider yourself in on a wonderful secret.
 good reading, but the writing is rather ordinary July 16, 2006
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
"The House of Scorta" is a multi-generational story of a Sicilian family living in a small village. While the reader observes changes in the village over time, paraticularly at the end when the village becomes a tourist destination, social history is not emphasized. Instead, there is an epic quality to the family's history. Some of this is due to the writing, but I was far less impressed by the writing than most of the other reviewers: at least in translation Gaude just does not have a great gift for the word or analogy or detail which startles and delights, it is rather ordinary stuff. The epic cast to the novel mainly arises from the loves, friendships, hatreds and determination of the family, and their penchant for the dramatic. Would I have awarded this book a prize? No. Still, it is good reading.
Reads like a dark, tragic fairy tale April 22, 2006
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
"The House of Scorta" by Laurent Gaud? feels like an old book and reads like a dark, tragic fairy tale. Some of that feeling may come from the fact that it's translated from French. The book was the winner of the 2004 Prix Goncourt, the most prestigious literary award in France, where it is still a bestseller.
The multi-generational story takes place in a small village in southern Italy between 1875 and 1980. It begins as a man returns to his town after being in prison for 15 years. His act of revenge, taken on a woman who isn't who he thinks she is, "at an hour when lizards dream they are fish, and the stones have nothing to say about it," results in a child named Rocco. Rocco grows up to be a real criminal, "a genuine brigand," who becomes rich and produces a legacy of tragedy. There are family secrets, nefarious bargains with priests, and descendants who cannot escape their heritage.
The story has elements of high drama: murder, rape, theft, arson. Even in translation, the book is filled with lovely language: "He needed the whole sky, full of wet stars, to vent his melancholy."
A poetic narrative of an Italian family struggle over the generations April 6, 2006
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
The House Of Scorta by Laurent Gaude is deftly narrated by the team of Daniel Oreskes and Barbara Caruso in this High Bridge audiobook presentation. The House Of Scorta is a poetic narrative of an Italian family struggle over the generations, and the story of their becoming, their faith, and their eternal pursuit of life. The 6 hour, 5 disc audiobook is very strongly recommended to all general fiction fans for the unique style in which it has been presented. Indeed, this complete and unabridged CD audiobook would prove a popular addition to any community library collection.
A poetic narrative of an Italian family struggle over the generations April 6, 2006
The House Of Scorta by Laurent Gaude is deftly narrated by the team of Daniel Oreskes and Barbara Caruso in this High Bridge audiobook presentation. The House Of Scorta is a poetic narrative of an Italian family struggle over the generations, and the story of their becoming, their faith, and their eternal pursuit of life. The 6 hour, 5 disc audiobook is very strongly recommended to all general fiction fans for the unique style in which it has been presented. Indeed, this complete and unabridged CD audiobook would prove a popular addition to any community library collection.
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