Reading \'The Little World of Don Camillo\' is to travel to the Valley of the River Po, Italy\'s widest and most fertile plain, with its unique atmosphere, culture and natural history. \'Written with such warmth and simplicity, so concern.
In this newly translated volume, many are available in English for the very first time.
They have been feted not only in books but in films, in series on TV, on radio and most recently on YouTube.
More than fifty years on, these enchanting, wise and strangely moving stories of life in the Lower Plain continue to enthral millions of readers of all ages around the world.
Guareschi\'s message is that what works at the level of the Little World can be made to work universally, the World over.
Guareschi claimed that the voice from above the altar was simply the voice of his own conscience, but in the stories it is a living reality which enables solutions so simple that they are beyond the reach of political minds clouded with ideology and the need to win.
Il Cristo presides over proceedings from above the altar of the town church and counsels Don Camillo, exposing and undermining the stubborn priest\'s personal politics and prejudices and, with fascinating insights and gentle humour, suggests paths of action which, with the benefit of hindsight, we come to see make things right.
To enable this, the author creates a third main character, his finest creation and the most surprising.
The clever bit is the way Guareschi engineers a resolution to the conflict and transforms the situation to the great benefit of the local community, so that the two men put their political convictions aside and, however begrudgingly, develop respect for one another.
In story after story, the hot-headed Catholic priest, Don Camillo, and the equally pugnacious Communist mayor, Peppone, confront one another, sometimes in a serious and violent manner. . .
Nor will you be surprised when a third person watches the goings-on from a big cross in the village church and not infrequently intercedes .
If you keep this in mind you will have no difficulty in getting to know the village priest, Don Camillo, and his adversary, Peppone, the Communist Mayor.
In the Little World, eternal forces grapple with the absurd drama of everyday life, and hilarious and unearthly things can happen.
And to do so in the incomparable company of a cast of fictional characters who testify to the exquisite humour and humanity of their creator.
Reading \'The Little World of Don Camillo\' is to travel to the Valley of the River Po, Italy\'s widest and most fertile plain, with its unique atmosphere, culture and natural history
