This is a very funny, but ultimately bittersweet, book. In the waning days of WWII, Major Victor Joppolo, an Italian American from the Bronx, has come to Adano, Sicily with the American occupying forces to install a democratic government. His job is complicated by the basic distrust of the thoroughly jaded townspeople, the labyrinthine Army bureaucracy and one particularly bull-headed American General. The Major gradually succeeds in winning over the townspeople even as he becomes obsessed with the effort to replace the 700 year old town bell that the Fascists melted down for bullets. His final success comes at a great personal cost, but he leaves the town of Adano a significantly better place than he found it.
The simple idealism that Joppolo brings to his task is very appealing, here is his address to the town officials when they have been trying to cut to the front of the breadline:
Democracy is this: democracy is that the men of the
government are no longer the masters of the
people. They are the servants of the people.
What makes a man master of another man? It is that
he pays him for his work. Who pays the men
in the government? The people do, for they pay the
taxes out of which you are paid. ...
Remember: you are servants now. You are
servants of the people of Adano. And watch: this
thing will make you happier than you have ever been
in your lives.
This is a noble sentiment and must have been especially resonant when
the book was published. But there is a little too much of Opera Bouffe
to the portrayal of Italians. Mussolini and Fascist Italy may be
easy to parody, but the people of Italy should not be totally absolved
of responsibility for allowing the regime to rise and endure. The
oppression of their own government aside, they were also somewhat culpable
for the crimes of their allies, the Nazis. This criticism aside,
the book is very amusing and can easily stand toe to toe with the more
pretentious novels of WWII.
(Reviewed:)
Grade: (B+)
