Un doppio possibile: Language, Choice, and Rivalry in Paolo Balestri’s Fiction - An Interview (NARRATOLOGIA/TEORIA LETTERARIA) ~ di Michael Lettieri - TeclaXXI

 

NARRATOLOGIA

TEORIA LETTERARIA

 

Michael Lettieri

University of Toronto Mississauga

Un doppio possibile:

 Language, Choice, and Rivalry in Paolo Balestri’s Fiction - An Interview

immagine Canva progetto di Jacqueline Spaccini

 

Paolo Balestri represents a particularly compelling figure in contemporary Italian culture, distinguished by his ability to integrate scientific expertise with literary reflection. A specialist in Pediatrics and Child Neuropsychiatry, he served as Professor of General and Specialized Pediatrics and directed the Pediatric Clinic at the University of Siena. Alongside his clinical and academic career, Balestri has cultivated a profound engagement with Italian literature, approaching it as a medium for exploring existential questions, individual choices, and their long-term consequences.

In 2006, he published the poetry collection Il senso e la forma (Melegnano, Milan: Montedit), signaling a sustained attention to the interplay between content and expressive form. His narrative debut occurred in 2019 with the novel L’asincronia del tempo (Rome: Edilet - Edilazio Letteraria), which introduces central themes of his literary work: temporality, responsibility, and the relationship between identity and destiny.

This interview was conducted in Siena on the occasion of the release of his most recent novel, Un doppio possibile (Rome: Readaction Editrice, 2024), a work that interrogates the notion of choice as an existential turning point within human subjectivity.

The novel follows Gianni and Giacomo, two young men enrolled in the same medical school whose divergent choices lead to dramatically different life trajectories. Gianni marries his fiancée, Lisa, while Giacomo leaves his partner to marry Katy. From this initial divergence, a lifelong rivalry unfolds. Gianni, chronically dissatisfied and disappointed with his professional outcomes, struggles to establish himself as a general practitioner. Giacomo, confident, unscrupulous, and ambitious, succeeds as a plastic surgeon. Their lives intersect again when Gianni engages in a relationship with Katy and Giacomo with Lisa, each unaware that their partner is the spouse of the other. The revelation occurs only at the narrative climax, culminating in a fatal confrontation and the ultimate disclosure of the identity of the lifelong adversary. 

Un doppio possibile thus emerges as a novel about rivalry, the concept of the double, and the responsibility inherent in personal choice, transforming an individual story into a reflection of universal significance. The following interview examines these themes, with particular focus on language, dialogue, and narrative form, situating Balestri’s work within broader discussions in narratology, philosophy, and reception theory.

Lettieri: In your novel, the reader is immediately struck by the clarity and modernity of the language, particularly the centrality of dialogue. How deliberate was this formal choice, and what role does it play within the work?

Balestri: It was a fully conscious decision. From the outset, I considered language not merely as a vehicle for the story but as a structural component of the novel itself. Implicitly, I drew on Umberto Eco’s reflections on reception aesthetics, which hold that a text proposes a form, while its meaning is realized through the reader’s active engagement. For this reason, I employed a direct, minimally metaphorical language that does not create unnecessary interpretive obstacles, leaving space for the reader’s participation.

Lettieri: Indeed, dialogue appears to serve a function that extends beyond narrative realism; it is where conflict and character identity emerge.

Balestri: Exactly. Dialogue is the true engine of the novel. Through their speech, characters define themselves, test themselves, and confront one another. I aimed to construct dialogues that are credible, natural, and yet recognizable, capable of guiding the reader both through the narrative space and the emotional world of the protagonists. In this sense, language becomes experience rather than mere description.

Lettieri: One of the most compelling aspects is the rivalry between Gianni and Giacomo, whom you describe as nearly mirror images. What type of antagonism did you intend to represent?

Balestri: I was interested in a rivalry devoid of rhetoric. Not spectacular hatred, but a layered, routine antagonism arising from confrontation with someone who resembles oneself. Gianni and Giacomo are different but not opposites; they reflect one another. This mirroring deepens the conflict, compelling both to confront what they could have become.

Lettieri: The theme of choice permeates the novel and touches on a longstanding philosophical question: are we the result of our choices, or are our choices the result of who we are?

Balestri: This question forms the theoretical core of the novel. It engages philosophy, psychology, and even biology. More specifically, it concerns the interaction between genetics and environment. Unlike works such as Sliding Doors (the 1998 romantic comedy-drama written and directed by Peter Howitt and starring Gwyneth Paltrow), which emphasize the role of chance and fate, I sought to explore the consequences of conscious decisions and their long-term impact. It is the “what if” that can become obsessive when we live with regret.

Lettieri: Despite the intensity of these themes, the novel maintains a remarkable narrative restraint. You never impose a singular interpretation on the reader.

Balestri: One of the risks of contemporary narrative is “over-explaining.” I preferred to guide the reader toward a conclusion without predetermining it. The story is already sufficiently charged with tension; my role was to shape it, not dictate its meaning. As Elena Ferrante observes, books have a life of their own, becoming something new through the way they are read.

Lettieri: In this sense, your work appears to aim for a universal dimension while remaining anchored in a concrete narrative.

Balestri: Yes. My ambition was to tell a particular story that could still speak to everyone. Rivalry, competition, and confronting others are everyday experiences fundamental to social life. But the starting point is always confronting ourselves. When we make a choice, we “kill” the self that might have made different choices and thus lived a different life. That is our “possible double.”

Lettieri: So, is it no longer possible to go back on one’s steps?

Balestri: Sometimes the same opportunity presents itself again. But would we make the same choice, or a different one? We would be different people, perhaps precisely because of the choice we made the first time.

Lettieri: There’s a quiet power in what you say: that each life we live contains the shadow of lives unlived, and yet we are always moving forward, shaped by what we’ve chosen... Thank you for this conversation and for a novel that combines narrative precision with theoretical depth.

Balestri: Thank you. Such attentive and thoughtful reading is, for a writer, one of the highest forms of dialogue.

PAOLO BALESTRI

BIONOTA Paolo Balestri is a specialist in Pediatrics and Child Neuropsychiatry. He served as Professor of General and Specialized Pediatrics and directed the Pediatric Clinic at the University of Siena. Alongside his clinical and academic career, he has cultivated a longstanding interest in literary writing. His publications include Il senso e la forma (2006) and the novels L’asincronia del tempo (2019) and Un doppio possibile (2024).

 

MICHAEL LETTIERI

 

BIONOTA Michael Lettieri is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Language Studies at the University of Toronto Mississauga, where he held several key academic roles. Founder of the department, he also directed the Italian School at Middlebury College and the journal Italica. His work spans textual criticism, early modern drama, and second-language acquisition. He has received notable academic honors and contributes to international scholarly committees.