What is gli indifferenti?

Gli Indifferenti (The Indifferent Ones) is a novel by Italian writer Alberto Moravia, first published in 1929. The novel is set in Rome during the Fascist era and follows the lives of the members of the wealthy, idle, and indifferent Raffaelli family. The main characters are Mariagrazia, prone to hysteria and illness, her husband, an increasingly frustrated businessman named Leo, their daughter Carla, and their son Michele, who is a nihilistic hedonist.

The novel is a critique of the decadence of the bourgeois Italian society of the time, which was characterized by moral corruption, cynicism, and indifference to social and political issues. The characters emblemize this society, being unable to find any meaning in their lives and floating through life without making any real choices or commitments.

The book was highly controversial at the time of its publication as it challenged the Fascist regime's idealization of the Italian family and the bourgeois lifestyle. The novel's literary style is characterized by its frank, realistic portrayal of human sexuality and its profound psychological insight into the characters' inner lives.

Gli Indifferenti has been translated into numerous languages and has been adapted into a film and a television series. It is regarded as one of the most important works of Italian literature in the 20th century.