One, None, and a Hundred Thousand

By: Luigi Pirandello

Narrated by: Kris Dyer

Luigi Pirandello's extraordinary final novel begins when Vitangelo Moscarda's wife remarks that Vitangelo's nose tilts to the right. This commonplace interaction spurs the novel's unemployed, wealthy narrator to examine himself, the way he perceives others and the ways that others perceive him.

At first he only notices small differences in how he sees himself and how others do; but his self-examination quickly becomes relentless, dizzying, leading to often darkly comic results as Vitangelo decides that he must demolish that version of himself that others see.

Pirandello said of his 1926 novel that it 'deals with the disintegration of the personality. It arrives at the most extreme conclusions, the farthest consequences'. Its unnerving humour and existential dissection of modern identity finds counterparts in Samuel Beckett and Vladimir Nabokov.

Public Domain (P)2021 SNR Audio

Beguiling and darkly comic

Vitangelo Moscarda's wife's innocent remark that his nose is not really straight begins a self-examination that leads to an identity & existential crisis, & madness.
Moscarda's slide into madness is subtle, convincing and the results around it tragicomic.
There was a time when director Lindsay Anderson and actor Malcolm McDowell might have made a perfect adaptation of One, None, and a Hundred Thousand.

But who makes movies like that anymore :)

Great book and solid narration

I appreciate the writing style isn't everyone's thing but I found it very fitting for what this book is about. It explores the central idea well and leaves plenty as an exercise for the reader to keep thinking about. The reading is never a distraction from the material, so if you're interested in the book I have no trouble suggesting this audiobook version as a fine way to enjoy it.

Fabulous Novel from Nobel Prize Winner

A weird and wonderful ride of a novel, brilliantly read by Kris Dyer. Pirandello was a Nobel Prize winner and with the mix of humour, philosophy, and perception you can see why.

Another one fought to the “end”

While a couple of thoughtful nuggets, they were completely lost in an ocean-wide, stream of consciousness style of writing. Having trod a similar path, & being curious, I gave it a swing. It was almost more painful (at least the monotony) to get through than going through my own introspective journey!

Boring and tedious

It was an extremely boring and tedious read. I don't recommend it if you want to read and enjoy what you are reading. Yes, there are some philosophical existential ideas in it, such as 'I'm not what other people perceive me' and 'I'm not even what I perceive myself to be.' And the world, the way we perceive it, is just an illusion or a mental construct. But these ideas are by no means novel or unique in literature. You would probably be better off reading Franz Kafka and Hermann Hesse if you like that kind of 'philosophical' literary novels.

Plot: No spoilers, as there is no story in this book per se. A man, after a remark from his wife that his nose is tilted more towards one side than the other, goes on an absolute madman's mental journey, deconstructing himself into an infinite number of mental constructs and ending up by not associating with any of them.