One of the books that I got from my grandparents’ shelves
(my granddad – despite oddly still remembering most of the first book of the Iliad by heart – is, well, rather “forgetful”
these days, and a couple of years ago my grandma has made the rather commendable decision to only
read newspapers).
Vino e Pane is a
good book about Fascism and its impact on small secluded Italian hamlets. It’s
also a book about Catholic piety and communist resistance (I favour one of the
two, you can guess which one…) that is probably at its best when the two
intertwine, like in the figure of the old Don Benedetto.
While the success that the book has enjoyed, in particular
outside of Italy, is perfectly understandable, the quality of this work doesn’t
match that of Silone's Fontamara or, for
someone who has spent years reading books about Fascist Italy, of most of the
works of Fenoglio, Vittorini, Malaparte, Levi, Revelli… So while I’m
glad I’ve read it, Vino e Pane doesn’t
really crack the top-10 of my favourite novels about the Italian resistance.
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