“They found his heart intact because his will was pure.” We find ourselves in front of the book with which we decided to open the third edition of the “June of books – 2024” exhibition in Milan, and which we had the opportunity to read and analyze with the writer himself in great detail. The young author Ceccherini, after having spoken about the monster of Florence in his first book, in this second work recounts...
“FRIDAY RE-VERSO” “Today is my birthday. Everyone come and taste my sautéed pork liver.” When we reached page 50 we wanted to beat up whoever recommended this reading to us; by page 135 we had already cried three times; once we finished the book we were looking for the author’s complete bibliography. (Note to the reader: “The City That Doesn’t Exist” was released in recent days by Feltrinelli.) Yu Hua has mastered the ancient art of...
“…the euphoric state reveals itself for what it is, a manifestation of fragility…” When was Milan born? Pay attention to the question because it is not understood in the sense of the first agglomeration of people who reside continuously in a specific territory, but how was Milan as we know it today born? Capital of no one knows what. Once of fashion, once of industry, once of culture, once of finance. A continuous addition of...
“I was born to revolutionize hell.” Autumn colchicum is a small autumnal plant, beautiful in appearance, almost harmless, similar to saffron, with the only downside being that it is poisonous. Confusing the two plants is very easy, and if you are not ready to notice the mistake, the risk is high. This is a bit what happened to us when we read this book. Enraptured by an intriguing incipit, we are immediately immersed in the...
“I would like you to become passionate about something that you can do for your whole life.” An Indian family living in the United Kingdom is preparing to experience a pain that is impossible to describe, that no one in the world would want to experience. The death of their mother leaves three little sisters without the most important figure in their lives. The vortex into which they are sucked will also involve their father,...
“Everyone is afraid and feels alone, and life is everyone’s prison.” Elba is a young teenager forced to live inside a psychiatric facility in the early eighties. Her only fault is that of being the daughter of a woman hosted in the facility, and when she passes away, rather than being sent to an orphanage, she remains living in the asylum, although she has no diagnosis of insanity. Doctors, nurses, supervisors and patients, each committed...
“FRIDAY RE-VERSO” “In the midst of all that terror, the screams, the heavy footsteps there was something else, something strange. Kolya was laughing.” Every now and then it happens that you mention a book and the eyes of everyone who has read it light up. It is not the effect of the “essential classic” (to be read with the confidence that the quotes suggest), nor of the latest editorial case (“The book of the year” and...
“In front of the fascist house he cleared his throat, picked up the saliva in his mouth and spat on the ground.” Italy post armistice of September 8th, brothers against brothers, native homeland, a land of contention by foreign feet, and raped by innocent deaths. The action takes place entirely in the Comacchio Valleys, where History – with a capital H – during the Second World War collides and overwhelms the history – with a...
“Times have changed and so have men.” Ancient text, first published in France in 1931, of atmospheres and settings now uninhabited for almost a hundred years of dust and cobwebs. The protagonist of the long story is the elderly nurse Tatjana Ivanovna, completely devoted to the Karin family, where she has seen entire generations of boys grow up who quickly became men. Almost as an elderly member of the family, in fact, she will accompany...
“We have already been halfway around the world: so why do we feel like we have never traveled before?” Paolo Rumiz confirms himself to be, also in this book, the pen of the wandering traveler that we would all like to be. A fluid prose that at times borders on poetry, due to the pool of words in which it invites the reader to immerse themselves. The text is a reportage of six stories that report...
