***** Stories from life, and sometimes livedI'm not surely a great reader of short stories, mainly because I love intricate plots and it's rare that something like that might be found in a short text. Nevertheless I ventured in reading this collection of Giovanni venturi that includes 15 short stories, which are not too short nor too long. The right measure to accompany you in a pleasant read, when you have time to relax a bit and you do not want to deal with challenging texts.
A strange thing happened though: I found myself reading almost all of it at once, captured by the smooth and engaging style of the author, but especially by the great variety of themes. There's something for all tastes. Some stories are funny, others make you think, or are able to surprise you. The writing is fresh and appealing. The stories told are true in every aspect, even the one with "The street light" (Il lampione), whose protagonist is just a lamp! Points of view among the most diverse, intense emotions, joys, sorrows, nostalgia are all ingredients of "Deve accadere" (trans: It Must Happen).
Whilst reading we see that the stories are the result of different life periods of the author, who easily passes from teen issues to more mature ones. Each of them, however, has a distinct, pulsating soul, which is able to amaze, whatever the age and experience of the reader.
A due note should be made regarding "23 novembre 1980", which - we learn from the notes of the book - tells a true story, the earthquake in Irpinia (Italy) lived and told by a child, Venturi himself. Here the involvement of the reader reaches the maximum. The description of such tragic events through the innocence and the fantasy of childhood is attenuated, turning it toward the end in a more positive tone, almost the most positive one among the stories from the entire collection.
I could stay here and comment on every single story, but I prefer not to spoil the surprise for future readers and let the stories be discovered one by one.
Highly recommended.
Deve accadere (Italian edition)
on Amazon.com.
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