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Travel Fiction?
For me, The Evening of the Holiday seemed like more of a "love story" than a travel fiction. The presence of travel takes a backseat to Tancredi and Sophie's strange love affair, functioning simply as a reason as to why Sophie is in Italy, and (arguably) as a reason for her departure. For the first time in any of the books we have read, one of the main character's does not die as a result of going abroad, and perhaps that is why the book did not feel like a true travel fiction to me. However, it did share some similarities to other more travel based novels we have read this semester.
The Sun Also Rises - This is a pretty direct relation. In both novels there are festivals that seem to jump start or complicate relationships. The bullfight festival in The Sun Also Rises is the point where Brett falls in love with Romero the bullfighter, causing tension in her relationships with both Michael and Robert Cohn. Similarly, in The Evening of the Holiday there is an extremely lavish festival. Sophie and Tancredi's relationship shifts from cold and distant to open and passionate during the time in which the festival takes place. The tumult of the festival in contrast with the controlled holiday Sophie had been spending in Italy symbolizes the quick and dramatic way in which the two fall in love.
The Comfort of Stangers - Other than being located in the same country and sharing similar landscapes, both of these novels follow a similar romance progression (although The Evening of the Holiday does not end quite so tragically/creepily). Sophie and Tancredi start off feeling indifferent toward each other, even resistant, and move into a passionate affair. This shift can be attributed to their experience of Italian customs (like the festival) or perhaps to the power of the picturesque landscape that they pay much attention to. In The Comfort of Strangers, Colin and Mary also are distant and passionless early in the book, but after coming in contact with a native their love life intensifies and they begin to feel much closer to each other.
The Sheltering Sky - One of the biggest uniting factors between these two texts are the importance they place on setting. In The Sheltering Sky, the African landscape is not only explored and appreciated by the characters in the novel, but even contributes to Port's death. The landscape also becomes more barren and desert-like as Kit travels deeper and deeper into the south of Africa and further away from civilization. The characters in The Evening of the Holiday also pay attention to the rich countryside of Italy. Most of their encounters and pivotal parts of the story take place while driving through the countryside or otherwise observing it.
So, this book reminded me of other books that had more to do with travel rather than illustrating a direct connection to travel within the text. I don't even think that travel is what forces Sophie and Tancredi apart; she makes the initiative to leave, even though Tancredi can not believe that she can go through with it, and even when she comes back after Luisa's death, she has the chance to see Tancredi and passes it up. To me it seems as if Sophie wants to use travel as an excuse to end their relationship, even though she seems just as heartbroken as him when she has to go. Overall I was very confused by her character and her motives for leaving, but at least it made for a "romance" not quite like any we have read about so far.
subliminal travel
I think Sophie left because she was characterized as “serious” by nature, and since she had planned to leave from the beginning, the spontaneity of her not doing so would irk her. Like Chelsea pointed out, I think Sophie’s leaving was a characteristic ‘expectation’, on her own behalf. And, as we pointed out in class, she initiated the intense relationship based on her mental set of leaving, even though painful, to stay would be like cheating herself, robbing her of the discipline. Although twisted and backward, it is in her nature, and that is probably why she decides to leave. (Just as a stretch, this could also be slightly sadomasochistic to herself.)
In regard to the travel portion of the novel, I think that Hillary’s point is interesting, and I agree that travel in this novel is not as obvious, just as the emotions and character development, as in the other tales. I feel that travel, subliminally, had a lot to do with the story. As the blog unintentionally mentions, it is the setting that has a lot to do with the pushing of feelings and the intensity of the affair. The carpe diem-like attitude was aided in its development thanks to the festival, the fresco, the fountain, and the Italian beauty. Thanks to the car rides, and mini getaway trips down the Italian countryside with Tancredi, Sophie was able to remove herself a bit and allow herself to fall in love. It was at he simple chateaux, on the walk to the church, and in the farm in the middle of nowhere that their love was characterized and solidified. In that sense, I think the beauty of Italy had more to do with the romance and travel than explicitly stated.
travel/escape/authenticity -isn't it all the same?
If there is one thing I've learned from this class it's that travel is full of surprise (and often death and getting lost), but more importantly, that travel doesn't neccessarily have to corrolate with the changing of a physical location. Yes, everything each of you has said is true, but I would go one step further and say that perhaps the romance with Tancredi was Sophie's form of travel. For her, travel seems to be about escaping. Though she found the countryside to be beautiful, it wasn't as much of an escape for her as completely indulging in a spontenous relationship with a man she barely knew. As Chelsea said, Sophie is used to doing the expected; I think she does go home at the end because it is what is expected of her. But so is going to a foreign country... It seems the only way she really could indulge in "travel" was to do it through someone she barely knew and who barely knew her, where she could be herself, and yet completely unrecognizable at the same time.
Travel's Role
I feel like, instead of making travel a big component of the novella all the way through, it kind of sprouted up in very direct manners here and there. In previous novels, as you point out, travel seems to play a much more consistent role, if not necessarily a larger one.
comment
I agree; it seemed like this one was more about romance than about travel, although I suppose it was about the experience a woman had while traveling. Still, though, the theme of travel itself was far less obvious than in any of the other novels we have read. As for Sophie leaving, I kind of thought she left because that was what was expected of her; it was in her original plans, and it would be a little crazy (in the eyes of everyone outside of their love) for Sophie to remain in Italy for a man she had known for a brief summer than to return to the life she had spent an entire life building. Luisa said the reason she told Sophie she didn't necessarily have to leave was because she looked so much like her mother as she announced her plans. Her mother seemed to be a very by-the-book person, who left little to chance and did not appreciate or utilize spontaneity. I think Sophie adopted these traits and left Italy and Tancredi because she could not summon the courage or the will to overthrow these super-"serious" qualities.