Cara Kato: lettere dell’attesa e della malattia

Abstract

Kato is the Hungarian name of Katia Bleier, Luigi Meneghello’s wife. The Bertoliana Library, in Vicenza, holds over forty letters from Luigi Meneghello to Kato, written during two very important lifespans: the autumn of 1948, when Meneghello was waiting for the arrival in England of his newly wedded wife, and the spring-summer of 1954, when Kato was hospitalised in Reading for a severe illness. These letters are a document of considerable emotional intensity, but they also shed some light to the experience of “dispatrio” (from Henry James’ dispatriation), that was to be the new cultural hub interplaying with the small but powerful world of Malo, the native village of Meneghello. The most interesting bunch of letters is the first one: here we can find, mingled with predominant familiar writing, some examples of sublime style, which foreshadows the masterly hand of the Author.