Listen to My Voice by Susanna Tamaro Read Free Book Online Page A

test my autonomy.’ She lit up. ‘If that’s the reason,’ she said, ‘I’m in agreement.’ I could have told her that I was going no matter what she said. I’ve finally stopped being a minor, and I can do whatever the hell I want. I’ve already lost two years because of her closed mind
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    When I came here in July, an announcement on the bulletin board at the university led me to this flat right away. It’s a real hole. I’m sharing it with Tiziana, who comes from Comelico and is studying medicine
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    In any case, I don’t stay home very much. I feel like a dog who, after trying for many years, has finally managed to jump the fence; I’m always roaming around, sniffing the air, my eyes wide open in wonder, and I’m determined to try everything, to understand everything
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    21 September
    Back from buying groceries – they have to last for a whole week!
    27 September
    Half of what I bought has disappeared from the fridge. Asked T., who denies everything. Avoided an argument
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    2 October
    Telephone call from the M. I’m still asleep when the phone rings. She says the bora’s blowing ferociously – it’s cracked the trunk of a tree in the garden. ‘Why would I care about that?’ I say and hang up. I know very well that this is just one of her ways of controlling me
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    13 October
    First class. The lecture theatre’s full, I get here late, and I have to stand the whole time. The professor’s an old guy with a reputation as a fascist. While he’s speaking, there’s a lot of tension in the air. Balls of wadded-up paper fly from one part of the hall to another. When, at the end, he explains the lecture schedule, a group of students rise to their feet and start hissing and whistling, joined by a large number of the others. The professor leaves in a huff, accompanied by a chorus of mocking laughter
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    15 October
    T. never buys groceries. She waits for me to do it so she can live like a parasite. She’s selfish and stingy, and one of these days I’m going to tell her so
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    30 October
    The M. called, at dawn as usual – she must be convinced that being a student is like being a farmer. ‘There’s a long weekend coming up,’ she said. ‘Why don’t you come home?’ I was feeling magnanimous, so I said, ‘Because I have to study.’ Then I turned on to the other side of the bed and went back to sleep
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    4 November
    Today, when I woke up, I thought about the times we’re living in. It’s incredible. Everything’s changing so insanely fast there’s no more room for hypocrisy, conformism, or injustice. It’s as if we’ve all suddenly opened our eyes and understood that we can’t go on in the old way. No more duplicity! No more slavery! The boss can’t exploit the worker any more! The man can’t exploit the woman! Religion can no longer oppress humankind
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    Freedom is the operative word for the times to come. Freedom for workers, freedom for women, freedom for children – they don’t have to be caged up in the obtuse rigidity of the educational system any more. We mustn’t clip their wings, because a different world can arise only from spontaneity and freedom, and we, we ourselves, are going to be the protagonists of this revolutionary change!
    18 November
    I’ve begun my philosophy of language course. The teacher’s an assistant professor. He’s got only a few grey hairs, and they make him even more fascinating. He’s the only professor who has a beard. Everyone listens to his lectures with great attention. When we left the lecture theatre, I said to Carla, my new study partner, ‘Not a bad-looking guy, Professor Ancona.’ C.’s smile was slightly malicious: ‘You think you’re the only one who’s noticed that?’
    2 December
    C. managed to drag me to a women’s consciousness-raising group. At first, I felt a little embarrassed, because they were all talking about their own bodies
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    According to them, they had finally learned to know their bodies only because of the disintegration of the