Christ Stopped at Eboli: The Story of a Year by Carlo Levi
|
List Price: Our Price: $4.00 You Save: $11.00 (73%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: Book See more book details and other editions |
|---|
Book Reviews of Christ Stopped at Eboli: The Story of a Year
Book Review: highly recommended
Summary: 5 Stars
Carlo Levi writes in his usual warm style and gives us a timeless lesson of how one can face hardship with dignity. This book, which is hard to classify, has been described as everything from a novel to a diary and a memoir. Either way, it is a unique, moving and poignant look into the era of when Fascists controlled Italy and the lives of the people within it. Levi's descriptions of the people of the hilltop village of Lucania, where he was exiled by the Fascists in the 1930s, are precise and heartwarming. His descriptions of the landscape makes one feel as if they are there. Carlo Levi has produced a true masterpiece.Book Review: Italian book
Summary: 5 Stars
I ordered the book for my mother. She specifically selected the title. She loved the book.Book Review: Carlo Levi: Christ Stopped at Eboli
Summary: 4 Stars
Carlo Levi's book, in spite of being written 70 years ago, is a very interesting and fascinating one. It is some sort of autobiography, telling the story of the author's life as exiled from Turin in Northern Italy to the tiny village of Agliano in the south. The reason was Levi's opposition to Mussolini and the Facsist Party.
The sojourn lasted for a year from 1935 to 1936 when he was released.
Carlo Levi was educated a medical doctor, but was also a painter and writer. The latter is well illustrated by his book.
Coming to the province of Basilicata was like returning to the middle ages. Most people were peasants of very small means, the landscape was unfertile clayfields crossed by ravines. During the year Levi lived with the people in Agliano he came very close to the inhabitants. He had a sharp eye for how they lived, giving at times an unveiling account of their good and bad sides. The book is, however, all the time coloured by his love and respect for people he came to know. An interesting window into a time strange to us living in a modern world, even if it is less than a century ago.
A television movie was released in 1979 based on Carlo Levi's famous book. It was well received and got several awards.
Book Review: A brilliantly written book
Summary: 4 Stars
The book "Christ Stopped At Eboli," by Carlo Levi, is a very beautifully written book about an Italian politician who speaks out against Mussolini, and because of this, becomes a political prisoner. He is sent to the village of Gagliano, where life is completely different compared to his own in the big city of Turin. This book is titled this because it is a reference to how Christianity never spread further south in Italy than a town called Eboli, which was a town north of Gagliano. The author uses precise description to paint a picture in ones head of the very barren and poverty filled region of Southern Italy. He describes the people of the poor, malaria infested villages and their rather strange customs of life. It was very interesting to hear of these peoples' very pagan beliefs of dragons dwelling in caves, and gnomes, which were the spirits of unbaptized children, which would poke and prod people in their sleep. This is a wonderful book and I recommend it to anyone that is interested in Italian history, or anyone that appreciates a very artistically written story.Book Review: Unappreciative of This Work
Summary: 2 Stars
Being a college student who has read already read a diverse amount of literature, I would have to say that Christ Stopped at Eboli was one of the worst novels I have read. I will say that Levi has mastered the use of descriptive language to very accurately portray the plight of the peasants; however he offers little compassion for the peasants and at times writes of them in a condescending manner. Perhaps his condescension is a true portrayal of class differences back then, however I could not identify in the least bit with Levi. Nor could I identify with the peasants, because there was absolutely no character development in this book. Levi wrote a descriptive novel -- he told things like he saw them, but without passion and intrigue. I found this novel to be very dry and mostly uninteresting. A college professor or older person may disagree, but from my standpoint this book had little to offer except that it was a good look at a different part of the world.