Meetup One Hundred and Thirty Six: Zeno's Conscience

Hey team - I can't believe we are already at the end of another year of successful reading. This year we've plumbed the mythological depths of Brazil, had our hearts broken and mended in New York, and solved (or perpetuated!) crimes across America, Europe and Japan. To end our year of reading, we will be reading a novel that is very much the epitome of a modern lit novel. Published in 1923, Zeno's Conscience by Italo Svevo, is a character study of a singular, mostly unreliable man navigating Italian society in the years leading up to WWI in Trieste. Written in the guise of a diary, we are given a psychological analysis of a man who struggles in many things, from his relationship with his wife to his attempts to quit smoking and everything in between. While the novel is very character driven and introspective, it is also a study of psychoanalysis (very in vogue at the time) and a reflection of the broader social and political milieu of fascism, industrialization, and modernity in turn-of-the-century Italy.

The main version I'm seeing available on Amazon from Vintage is 464 pages.

**Since this is our last book club of the year and the closest to the Holidays, feel free to bring any snacks or desserts for the group!! Holiday themed ones encouraged, delicious ones highly appreciated! :P**