Garibaldi
The story of Giuseppe Garibaldi has been narrated many times, but Bianciardi did it his own way: with a poncho which is more like a horse blanket and a long list of failed jobs (cowherd, middleman, private teacher, candlemaker), we see here Garibaldi in a new light. This is not just a biography, it is a novel of a rebel deposed from his pedestal and brought back to life and to its twists of passions, sufferings, errors, disappointments. Luciano Bianciardi – the irregular genius of Italian literature – gives us a portrait of the Risorgimento icon with the whispered tone of confidences, the scrupulousness of an historian and the vividness of a great writer.
The experience as a corsair, the deeds of the Rio Grande, the siege of Montevideo and Rome, the gaucho Aguyar, Anita’s death, the expedition of the Thousand: a life that seems like an adventure novel narrated in the homage of an anarchic man defeated by alcohol and a hard life. In fact this is the last book Bianciardi wrote and it was released posthumously in 1972: an heroic (or antiheroic) tale written against a country – Italy – that the author saw as coward, hypocrite, ingrate and prig. After all – amongst the Thousand – Garibaldi wasn’t even listed as Italian: therefore Bianciardi describes him as a stranger in his own land, an impulsive and generous man, an idealist.
«Every seaside town has at least one guy like this, the one who doesn’t back out, the one who buys you a drink, who knows all the songs, always the first to climb a tree or a ship shroud. Everyone knows him, down at the harbor, everyone calls him by his name.»
Press reviews
Alida Airaghi - SoloLibri.net
Garibaldi ripercorre la vita dell’unico grande condottiero rivoluzionario che ha avuto il nostro paese.Leggi
Maria Grazia Ligato - Io Donna - Corriere della Sera
Si legge d'un fiato, come un romanzo, l'ultimo lavoro di Bianciardi, da poco ripubblicato.Leggi
Filippo Maria Battaglia - Sky Tg24
Questo profilo, scritto mezzo secolo fa per umanizzare un eroe, oggi sembra fatto apposta per ricordare a tutti gli scettici il reale valore di un personaggio decisivo della nostra storia.Leggi
Giancarlo De Cataldo - la Repubblica
Un estratto in anteprima dalla prefazione di Giancarlo De Cataldo al libro di Luciano Bianciardi.Leggi
Filippo La Porta - Left
Con la sua penna colta e dissacrante Luciano Bíanciardi tratteggiò anche uno straordinario ritratto di Garibaldi,Leggi
Valerio Mello - Visto
Il testamento di uno scrittore che vestì fieramente in vita la camicia rossa contro l'ipocrisia della società.Leggi
Michele Berretta - Rock'n'Read
Raccontando l’Eroe dei due mondi Bianciardi racconta anche un po’ se stesso, sentendosi come un ex garibaldino deluso da tutto e tutti.Leggi