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The Conformist

The Conformist

Historical FictionLiterary Fiction
Pages
301
Published
1951
Language
Italian

Synopsis

Marcello Clerici is a man desperate to fit in, to be normal in a society rapidly descending into Fascism. He joins the secret police and accepts a mission to assassinate his former professor, an anti-Fascist exile living in Paris. As he navigates his double life, Marcello must confront the hollowness of his own existence and the moral compromises he makes to belong.

Prose complexity
7/10

Vibe

DarkTenseReflectiveComplex
Morally GreyAnti-HeroBetrayalVillain Protagonist

Genres

Historical Fiction Literary Fiction Political Thriller

Authors

A
Alberto Moravia

Alberto Moravia is an Italian journalist, short-story writer, and novelist known for his fictional portrayals of social alienation and loveless sexuality. He was a major figure in 20th-century Italian literature. Moravia contracted tuberculosis of the bone (a form of osteomyelitis usually caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis) at the age of 8, but, during several years in which he was confined to bed and two years in sanatoriums, he studied French, German, and English; read Giovanni Boccaccio,...