A book that was given to me by two of my favourite Italian high-school
teachers before I left for Canada. Too bad one of the two was my Greek and
Latin teacher – I really liked him and I think he liked me, yet he was forced
to fail me in a good 50% of my in-class tests (I only passed the other half because
I was able to cheekily copy from a friend).
This book is, clearly, about Fascism (my teachers were also quite
political) and it stands to the Resistance in the Italian North-East in much
the same way as Fenoglio’s books stand to the Resistance in the Italian
North-West. In addition, I have the feeling Meneghello’s writing might be more
accessible than Fenoglio’s (and, compared to Il Partigiano Johnny, I
Piccoli Maestri is both thinner and written entirely in Italian – the many
English expressions in Il Partigiano
Johnny are fantastic for bilingual people, but might be a bit too highbrow
otherwise).
In this book, Meneghello gives a great outline of the options open to
20-year olds Italians after 1943, not a single one of which was easy (even
hiding). It also paints a perfect picture of the difficulties faced by the partisans,
often little more than boys, during a brutal civil war.
Unlike Fenoglio, Meneghello lived long enough to still make TV appearances
in my youth, and even in his 80s he was still a uniquely inspirational figure.
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