“My family can be said to have never existed as such.” A collection of short stories published posthumously, in which Piero Chiara’s lovers find all the contents of his narrative style: Lake Maggiore, the gossips of the village, the fixed time of provincial life, the lost memory, the cynicism of the human being. Starting from the twenties of the last century, the events reported arrive up to the very early eighties, to ideally identify with...
“Democracy is exercised not only at the time of elections, but also through continuous confrontation between the majority and the opposition.” This is a book with a clear vision, written by one of the most well-known economists on the Italian landscape, and appreciated internationally. The text is divided into two parts, the first one in which Cottarelli describes his eight-month experience as senator of the republic, and the second one in which he tells the...
“I wonder how many of us live with unfounded fears that perhaps we have unconsciously grown fond of.” If the title of the book is true, then it is equally true that it is books like this that transform prisons into peninsulas. Land languages that come to light at low tide and facilitate communication between islanders and mainland inhabitants. The more texts like these are written and read, the more the strip of land will...
“Breathe. You are alive.” For those who know the author, and have also read her previous works, this book can be defined as what in television jargon is called a spin off, that is, where the protagonists previously appeared in other stories as secondary characters. Be careful though, because the ideal link between the books stops here, the rest of the story is a separate story, with its own beginning and end. The two protagonists...
“Maybe, I thought, it’s not the first love that counts, but the last, the one that accompanies a man to death, that helps him to die.” Piero Chiara’s most complete book, written on the writer’s usual and solid narrative structure, with a strong autobiographical component. The places in which the story is set are those of the province, between Trieste, Udine and the lands across the border in Slovenia that belonged to Italy until the...
“There is no Italian who manages to completely escape the mistletoe of opportunism.” Book son of the time in which it was written (1995), and of a different, higher, morality and political conscience of the Italian intelligentsia. Reading it today, one greatly appreciates the analysis of the past, and the one that is in some parts incorrect on the future, but not due to the demerit of the author, but rather to the demerit of...
“We live never knowing when something will last…” Reading is good. Having the chance to meet and chat with some authors does a lot of good. We were lucky to have had the opportunity to read and converse with Gemma Calabresi Milite. Getting in touch with the hand and heart that wrote the light words on which the story of memories rests was an unexpected gift. The book has as its main theme that of...
Written by Alessia Colombo This review is available only in the original language. Tipologia: albo illustrato Tematiche principali: empatia, amore, amicizia Tecnica delle illustrazioni: acquarello, inchiostro e matite Età consigliata: 3-10 anni Non conta quante sono le pagine, ma la storia che il libro racconta. Non conta ricordarsi tutte le parole, ma cantare con tutto il cuore. Non conta avere sempre più amici, ma voler bene a quelli che ci sono. Non conta possedere...
“The lady was waiting for him at the door and pulling him in like a sip of water.” The story of Augusto Vanghetta, before and after rising to the public office of judge, is that of a miserable person who, due to a fortuitous series of events, and very few personal merits, manages to have social success. Annihilated by a continuous carnal desire to have as many women as possible, he even manages to organize...
“You fall before you fall.” Following a fall from a horse, just outside the riding school he manages with his partner, Luca discovers that he is a man on the verge of an existential crisis. The few certainties on which he had built the second part of his life, in the countryside of central Italy, crumble. The physical pain of falling opens the doors to the latent pain of the soul. After a short period...
