Mateo Falcone I just finished today's lunch-break Bartleby visit. Today's morsel: Mateo Falcone.
Boy, I didn't know what I was in for.
From Bookrags:

Prosper Merimee's "Mateo Falcone" (1829), originally subtitled "Les moeurs de Corse" ("The Ways of Corsica"), chronicles the killing of a ten-year old boy by his father. ...[Walter] Pater called "Mateo Falcone" "the cruellest story in the world."

I concur. It's seriously disturbing in a way that only a casual, journalistic narrative can be. Merimee tells us every bit of the story without flinching away. The narrator never slips in the slightest bit of emotion. Everything's as bare as if you're standing out in the hot sun watching it happen.  ¶   0 comments