The Moon and the Bonfires - Cesare Pavese

...your PC and that is the problem with a lot of literature, the very fact that it is pigeonholed by 'academics' makes it look very unattractive to many readers. In the end these terms can very misleading and just offer a way of grouping together various related themes in novels.

SO WHAT IS MEANT BY REALISM?

In very simple terms realism usually means the novels are representing the world as it is rather than, as it ought ...
...the stories are usually about ordinary people rather then heroic noblemen or extraordinary character that tended to populate the 'gothic' and 19th century novels.

Early examples of realism in novels include the works of Dickens, Balzac, Flaubert and Zola. The ideas of Neo realism sprang up during and just after WW2 in Italy with a small artistic movement including the filmmakers Roberto Rosellini and Vittorio de Sica and the novelists ... more

"Neo-realism, realism sounds far to boring for me" I hear you shouting at your PC and that is the problem with a lot of literature, the very fact that it is pigeonholed by 'academics' makes it look very unattractive to many readers. In the end these terms can very misleading and just offer a way of grouping together various related themes in novels.

SO WHAT IS MEANT BY REALISM?

In very simple terms realism usually means the novels are representing the world as it is rather than, as it ought to be. Instead of invention detailed description is preferred and the stories are usually about ordinary people rather then heroic noblemen or extraordinary character that tended to populate the 'gothic' and 19th century novels.

Early examples of realism in novels include the works of Dickens, Balzac, Flaubert and Zola. The ideas of Neo realism sprang up during and just after WW2 in Italy with a small artistic movement including the filmmakers Roberto Rosellini and Vittorio de Sica and the novelists Primo Levi, Italo Calvino, Beppe Fenoglio and Cesare Pavese. All these authors and filmmakers tried to adapt a realist approach to producing work that made a clear political or social comment on the plight of ordinary people.

For me Berthold Brecht best summed up the difference between realism and neo-realism when he said "(neo-realism) doesn't show real things, it shows things as they really are!".

It does all sound a bit serious but in fact some great literature came out of this period and it is very worthwhile reading for anyone who likes a compelling and well-written story.

THE MOON AND THE BONFIRES

So enough history of literature let's look at the book!

Cesare Pavese wrote 'The Moon and The Bonfires' in 1949 and it was published in 1950 a few months before he took his own life. The story revolves around a man Anguilla who returns to his boyhood home of San Stefano Belbo in the Italian Northern region of Piedmont after having made his fortune in America. Through the memories of Anguilla and his childhood friend Nuto the novel explores episodes in the lives of three women from Anguilla's past. The story takes us to the time of pre war when a strict social hierarchy existed, the onset of fascism changed that and to an extent the old order collapses to be replaced by a new order of intimidation and fear. The story then moves on to the war and in flashbacks we learn about the desperate gangs of partisans living in the hills and mountains constantly hunted by Mussolini's fascist soldiers. As Anguilla talks to Nuto he finds out that a dark secret is haunting the small community. Nobody least of all Nuto is prepared to tell the full the truth to him but gradually through the course of the story Anguilla like a detective pieces together enough of the events to finally confront Nuto and force him to reveal the communities secret.

The novel in the tradition of other realist works takes for its subject the lives of ordinary common people. The narrative observes and document life in an objective and low key, unrhetorical style. Colloquial speech is used to express ideas and emotions rather than lengthy description. a style a little reminiscent of Hemingway.

Pavese draws the reader in to the small rural community, from the very first pages we are presented with an authentic geographical setting, for anyone fond of the classic Italian wines like Barbaresco and Alba this is the area we are talking about. Pavese bring to us the daily life of the peasants like the orphaned Anguilla that struggle to make a living from the land.

So far I'm making this sound a little bleak but the reason I decided to review this book is that it also encompasses many elements of more modernist novels. The language may be realist but it is also suffused with imagery and symbolism. Underpinning the narrative is an air of mystery as the plot shifts from Anguilla's personal inner search for his 'paese' or home to the broader story of the community and the tragic events of the war years.

In the early memories that Anguilla has we find out about 'Il Nido' (literally 'the nest') the largest house in the area, home to two girls Irene and Silvia that are being nurtured by the old Contessa in the way of the upper classes. There is also a younger girl Santina, a wild spirit who refuses to be mastered. These girls are the subjects of fascination and desire for the poor orphan boy Anguilla but the fascist and the war bring their idyllic existence to a sudden end. Anguilla's longing for the truth is infectious and we as readers are also held in suspense for the revelations at the end of the story.

Pavese loads this novel with many themes. Every character every action is significant but it never gets in the way of the central mystery.

A humanist view of man's position within nature is addressed. Parallels with nature and the idea of cyclical changes of the season are made with the different phases of a man life. The ideas of cyclical change and man's search for a better life, i.e. represented by Anguillas' flight to America and mirrored in the life or another boy peasant Cinto.

Pavese is telling us in Anguilla's story that true change or personal achievement can only be found at an inner level not through wealth or position. The complexity of the novel in these areas, the rich symbolism and the detailed study of the character's psychology rather than simply the outside world give the novel a modern feel that should attract readers that have enjoyed recent books such as Captain Correlli's Mandolin, Birdsong or Regeneration.

I loved this book, the central mystery gripped my attention, the imagery was vivid and transported me back to places I knew as a child, and the prose style was direct but contained many moments of poetry that spoke directly to my emotions.

So what is this an introduction to?

I hope that if anyone reads and enjoys 'The Moon and the Bonfires' they will go on to read and enjoy other similar works (in spirit if not necessarily in content). Suggestions I would make would be;

'The Conformist' by Alberto Moravia, 'Adam One Afternoon' and 'The Path to the Spiders' Nests' by Italo Calvino, Twenty Three Days Of The City Of Alba by Beppe Fenoglio 'If This is aMan' by Primo Levi and Christ Stopped at Eboli by Carlo Levi. All a widely available.

'The Moon and the Bonfires' by Cesare Pavese (Paperback 190 pages-Published by Peter Owen) ISBN: 0720611199 can be bought from Amazon.co.uk for £9.95 (p&p)

Thanks for reading and rating this opinion

© Mauri 2003
 

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