Gomorrah (book)
Gomorrah (alternative title Gomorrah. Journey into the realm of the Camorra ) is a book by the Italian author Roberto Saviano , which was published in 2006. The author and journalist Roberto Saviano himself comes from Naples and describes the mafia-like entanglements in his hometown. The term Gomorrah comes from the Bible , from the history of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah , which were destroyed by the biblical God because of their sinfulness.
content
The book describes the machinations of the southern Italian criminal organization Camorra . This organization has its field of activity around Naples . Saviano describes the organization's business in a documentary way. It describes how the Camorra earns money in the drug trade, the illegal movement of toxic waste and the illegal production of textiles. Saviano describes how the Camorra controls the cement trade almost completely and how the business relationships extend to Germany , Great Britain or the People's Republic of China . Many people, competitors or unwelcome witnesses are murdered while carrying out illegal business. The number of those murdered runs into the hundreds every year. In addition to corruption and naked physical violence, the omnipresent silence ( omertà ) is the pillar of the Camorra's success and a social problem.
Background and reception
Gomorrah won numerous literary prizes. By January 2009, 2 million copies had been sold in Italy. By 2008 the book had sold 4 million copies worldwide.
The title of the book comes from Giuseppe Diana , a priest from Casal di Principe , who was murdered by the Camorra in March 1994: "It is time for us to stop being a Gomorrah."
Gomorrah has been translated into 51 languages. It was on the bestseller lists in Germany , the Netherlands , Spain , France , Sweden and Finland . The New York Times named the book one of the most important of 2007. The Economist named it one of the 100 books of the year.
Critics and authors such as Carlo Lucarelli and Valerio Evangelisti praised the work as a style. It is part or pioneer of a new style, the "new Italian epic". Saviano has been threatened with death several times because of this book. The Berlusconi government attacked him several times for his authorship.
Film adaptations
Gomorrah was filmed in 2008 by the director Matteo Garrone and received several awards. In Germany the title is Gomorrah - Journey into the Empire of the Camorra . Among other things, the film was nominated for an Oscar for best foreign film .
A second film adaptation of the book was made as the television series Gomorrah (television series) by producer Matteo De Laurentiis . The first season aired in 2014. One of the directors was Francesca Comencini .
expenditure
- Gomorrha. Journey to the realm of the Camorra / Roberto Saviano (author), Friederike Hausmann (translator), Rita Seuss (translator). ISBN 978-0-374-16527-7
Individual evidence
- ↑ Viareggio-Repaci prize for the best first film, Premio Giancarlo Siani, Premio Dedalus, Premio "Lo Straniero" Premio Letterario Edoardo Kihlgren for the best first film, Premio Tropea, the Vittorini Prize for civil courage and Guido Dorso Literature Prize
- ↑ Inside Europe's Heroin Capital , Newsweek, December 22, 2008
- ↑ The Camorra closely observed , by Federico Varese, Global Crime, Edition 10, Issue 3, August 2009, pages 262-266.
- ^ A Reflection on Gomorrah in the context of the New Italian Epic , opening discussion on "The Italian Perspective on metahistorical fiction: The New Italian Epic", IGRS, University of London, October 2, 2008
- ↑ Eric J. Lyman, " Gomorrah in Oscar's foreign-language gang: Italian organized crime drama joins list of contenders," Hollywood Reporter, September 24, 2008.