Butterflies talk too
by
Giancarlo Dell'Angelo
Review
by Maria Teresa De Donato
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Also present in this
second novel by Giancarlo Dell'Angelo is the theme of travel. However, while in
"The side road," his first publication, the journey is
predominantly physical, made by the real protagonist, i.e., the envelope,
which fails to reach its destination, in this second literary work, the journey
is not only that of the memory, but also and above all introspective: a journey,
in short, into the depths of the soul.
The journey through
memories inexorably marks the passage of time and, therefore, the advance of
age. It raises awareness by better understanding how Life has changed us and
how formative and enriching our experiences have been, regardless of the
perception we may have had while living them.
Life is understood
metaphorically as "an endless railway track with a suitcase next to
it" (Dell'Angelo, 2022, p. 1). It is a path we can take or limit
ourselves to looking at as "we cannot see which is the right
direction" (p. 2) to opt for.
Despite the uncertainties
about what to do and the anxieties he tries to control, Nando, the main
character of this novel, carefully observes his surroundings, sometimes remaining
perplexed and often fascinated by human behavior, which, from an early age, he
tries to understand. However, sometimes it is more difficult for him to do so,
and sometimes it seems even impossible.
"An existence
obscured by the immense shadow of the mountains"
(p. 3) in the Contrada Muta, which for many years will be associated with a
limiting situation devoid of stimuli, which makes people feel uncomfortable
compared to those who live in the city, which hinders the possibility of
socializing even before realizing oneself in life is experienced with anxiety
on the one hand and painful resignation on the other.
The land that gives,
sometimes generously, is the same that too often takes everything away, even
though a farmer, such as his father, dedicates all his energies to it from dawn
to dusk without stopping and sparing anything.
Despite this latent
suffering due to fear or perhaps the simple awareness that abandoning those
places will not be easy, childhood and early adolescence spent mainly with
lifelong friends, Marco and Ale, remain memories to hoard.
The memory of Bianca will
also remain forever treasured, for, according to Nando, he met her "...because
the country roads always take me back to often known places of sounds and
scents..." (p.7) "…because the country roads were the paths
where I was forced to wander to discover ideas to observe and in search of
myself." (p.35)
Bianca, who has a doll
suffering from a disease, often feels sick; she suddenly faints, for which she
has to take medication; she doesn't speak well, but she never complains. Bianca
talks to the butterflies, and the butterflies answer her. Bianca,
immersed in her world full of fantasy, loves life and tries to transfer, in her
way and with her limits, a positive view also to Nando. "Bianca didn't
have fields to plow but an immense reality to teach…." (p.33)
And although the Contrada
Muta in Nando is close, living in the open countryside allows him to explore,
often with his friends, and sometimes even alone, that surrounding Nature that
is only apparently familiar. His memories take him, therefore, to the time when,
having ventured out on his own, he had learned the hard way how easy it was to
become disoriented, especially when he was completely immersed in his own
thoughts. Suddenly he had found himself traveling unknown paths and lanes where
the setting sun and "the mystery of the half-light" (p. 7) had
made the possibility of finding his way even more remote.
The desire to leave those
more or less familiar places, where he grew up and of which he also has good
memories, in the hope of a life that can offer him more opportunities, is held
back by the love that Nando feels, even more than for the land for his parents
who have dedicated their entire existence, their means, their efforts to that
land.
The beauty of the
countryside, of the woods, of those sunrises and sunsets he is used to living
in the country, is hindered in the city by all those palaces and buildings
built there that rise towards the sky "like American missiles"
(p. 14). Similarly, the noise of the threshing machine, the chirping of birds,
and the cries of all the other animals are mainly replaced by those of the
engines and city traffic.
However, the absolute
master of the Contrada remains silence.
The continuous
alternation of this double feeling, which on the one hand pushes one to flee
and on the other tries to find reasons to stay, is, therefore, the fundamental
aspect of this novel which, in its purest essence, is also the novel of
awareness: the awareness of the very core of one's being, of what one's roots
are and the values one is not willing to give up.
Thanks to a path of inner
growth and an economic improvement obtained precisely by a move to the city,
Nando will have the opportunity to realize his dreams, including that of
writing a book, and to achieve a balance between past and present, between
work, love, friendships and one's land and childhood home. The things and
people that he has always loved are precisely those that he has always had
before his eyes, Bianca included, now present "in the same luminous
radiations or the twilights and in the waves. … [in] the rainbow that
envelops part of the hillside... ." (p. 216)
A beautiful novel that is
written with the heart, with sometimes melancholy traits, characterized by a
profound empathy for human beings, a great love for one's family, one's
friends, and one's land, which offers ideas for deep reflection and which I
recommend to everyone to read.
