Morometii by Marin Preda

 Morometii by Marin Preda

Another version of this note and thoughts on other books are available at:

-              https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEVa4_CsRStSBBDo4uJWT8BSWtTTn0N1E     and   http://realini.blogspot.ro/

I have read this book about twenty, twenty five years ago.

And the wonderful Professor of literature Anton Chevorchian has listed this work with the suggestion that we only read the first volume.

Last night I had the chance to look at the film based on the book and recall some of my memories on Morometii.

It help that the title role was in the hands of the best actor alive in this land and then even on an international level:

-          Victor Rebengiuc- a wonderful actor and person that I am lucky to see on Facebook- where we are “friends”, even if that just means I admire him and enjoy being born on the same day

The rest of the cast was not on the same level, even if the wife Catrina Moromete was well played by an acclaimed actress- Luminita Gheorghiu.

The boy was somewhat awkward and the girls were not the result of excellent acting work, with a good performance from Mitica Popescu.

The narrative is that of a family torn apart by rivalry, animosity culminating in hatred and stupid on the part of the three sons: Achim, Paraschiv and Nila, played without zest and much talent by the actors involved.

The head of the family, Ilie Moromete is a wise, shrewd man, overcome by the conflict simmering in his house and the challenges of making ends meet, paying taxes to Jupuitu and eventually getting his youngest son to school.

His authority is challenged by the aforementioned sons from his first marriage that are vile, loathsome, aggressive and foolishly determined to get their hands on the dowry box that does not contain the supposed riches of Babylon.

The absurdity of the step sons’ position who should have seen that they all struggle and work hard to get the little they can get from their land, with poor means and always struggling to pay their dues, with nobody getting any advantage or benefits.

Catrina is trying to use her impressive Emotional Intelligence to keep the peace, attempting to stop their daughters from mocking their step brothers who indeed are grotesque quite often and just mean.

In one instance, they find hilarious their heinous act of burying their step brother’s book under a pile of manure and then loudly attacking and abusing the boy verbally- they would eventually resort to physical violence, against their step mother and step sisters.

There are other characters that add spice and humor to the tale, the most important being Cocosila, even if his wisecracks and irony are too much on the gloomy, negative side and with bathroom jokes making almost all his repertoire.

The very names are funny and I do not know if the author meant them to have a jocular tone or he had his inspiration from real people he knew, given that this account has echoes from the real life of Marin Preda.

Tugurlan is one of the tragic figures and a sort of a knight, if not in shining armor but in rags due to his poverty, trying to fight injustice and theft, which are the paraphernalia of the local officials, namely the mayor.

Then there is mayor- which in a loose translation would be “foam at the mouth”- who is abusing his office- alas a never ending story in a land which saw the ruling party try to eliminate punishment for corruption as recently as a few weeks ago.

Balosu is the rich neighbor of the protagonist Ilie Moromete and a good proof that money does not bring happiness, with his rat race, continuous effort to acquire more wealth, land and property without ever smiling.

Indeed, this is yet another case where we can see that material affluence is not the secret of happiness, but on the contrary, just a treadmill on which once embarked one has a never ending need, an addiction to accumulating more and more “things”.

If not the most important message that I gather from this wonderful work, at least one of the crucial ones is this:

-          Emotional intelligence, grit, virtue, humor are the key to a good life as Ilie Moromete represents them in opposition with corruption, greed, dishonesty, stupidity, vileness as epitomized by so many of the other personages

Even if the hero is so far from perfect- he slaps his wife around and addresses her with “Fa”- he is still a good example to follow in some ways and his resilience, patience, wit and humorous take on so many aspects of life and stupid men are admirable, even if his dark side is to be put into context and yet admonished.