| Alberto Moravia by David Levine |
The complete review's Review
Time of Desecration by Alberto Moravia
M.A.Orthofer
25 December 2017
Time of Desecration is, as a prefatory note explains, a novel presented entirely in dialogue:
This novel consists of an interview given by the character indicated by the name Desideria to the author, indicated by the pronoun "I", during the seven years of the drafting of the book.
It is Desideria who initiates the dialogue -- "My name is Desideria. And I have experienced a Voice", she begins -- yet the 'I' is not so much conversation-partner -- Desideria has little interest in anything about him -- but rather functions as probing (or nudging) interlocutor, and little more; occasionally he will comment on her observations, but almost all his (brief) contributions to the exchange consist of questions meant to clarify and continue her story. His part in the exchanges might suggest the role of psychiatrist, confessor, or investigating prosecutor, but the 'I' is rarely challenging; it goes along with Desideria's story, wherever that leads, and indeed Moravia's insistence from the outset that the 'I'-role is that of the author underscores the idea that this is, in fact, not an actual exchange between two individuals, but rather a (singular) authorial thought-experiment, the mind-invention Desideria something he can shape to his specific purposes.