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A flow of voices over which the soloist's voice stands out, sounding thunderous at times and lighter and more modulated at others: such was the first impression I received after reading the manuscript of Franco Borgogno's latest work. The book takes the shape of a polyphony, developing out of a nucleus which the author points to in his title: The Young Lady Who Committed Hara-Kiri.
It is like an a capella choral composition during the course of which the main themes of his research are presented again and again to the reader, amplified by the voices of the author's colleagues and co-authors who are brought in to debate those themes with him.
Taking the analogy further, the case of M., the young lady who committed hara-kiri, unfolds through the whole of Borgogno's book like a musical key in different harmonious structures out of which, in the various movements which intersect with and echo each other, his original symphony is woven. This is indeed, in regard to the themes it confronts, a symphony to life: a life which, even when stifled, debased and warped by the abuse of the weak and needy by the strong, can be re-awakened if and when it finds someone who is really ready to help by humbly “rolling up his/her sleeves” (as Borgogno puts it) without losing hope in being able to manage in some way. Implicit in this rolling up of sleeves is the closely woven dialogue between Borgogno and his many ‘journey companions’ on this adventure: the many analysts from the past and from today with whom he constantly seeks a meeting of minds, searching for the core and substance of their knowledge, and always avoiding the swamps of theoretical jargon.
So this is a book, but also something more: it is the author's flesh and blood wrestling with the tough task of really being present with the patient, on the same boat, undertaking this difficult venture of giving a meaning to our lives. The words we read are as true and necessary as befits one who faces the test unreservedly and without