Altroquando My Father The Revolution

he collection by Davide Orecchio – finalist for the Campiello prize 2018 – is halfway between history and stories, between the great and the small of the Revolution, between the sometimes naive enthusiasm of the leftist and the ferocious condemnation of errors / horrors, of those pages of communism that were more black than red. And so we see a revived Trotsky, who miraculously survived the attack, a Stalin at the head of an army of orcs, a moved Gianni Rodari visiting Lenin’s house, a Bob Dylan who writes songs about Trotsky and to seal everything, David’s father Ear, also a writer, former member of the Fasci who became a communist and then “fled” from his Sicily. Orecchio’s purpose is impressive, not at all easy, yet he remains a bit of a victim of his style, a style so virtuous that it tends to outclass the content, not to tell. Having discovered the basic idea behind each story, the rest is pindaric flights, literary fantasies, daring combinations. But if Orecchio has the defect of telling little, it certainly makes us want to deepen some figures, to study, to fill a series of historical / cultural gaps. For example, Ear in the book does not mention it but … did you know that Stalin’s agent who killed Trotsky with a pickaxe was Christian De Sica’s uncle? to fill a series of historical / cultural gaps. For example, Ear in the book does not mention it but … did you know that Stalin’s agent who killed Trotsky with a pickaxe was Christian De Sica’s uncle? to fill a series of historical / cultural gaps. For example, Ear in the book does not mention it but … did you know that Stalin’s agent who killed Trotsky with a pickaxe was Christian De Sica’s uncle?

18 €