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The Moon and the Bonfires

By Cesare Pavese
Series: Penguin Modern Classics
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Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
The Moon and the Bonfires by Cesare Pavese explores the emotional and physical journey of a man returning to his native village in Northern Italy after years in America. As he reconnects with his past and uncovers stories about the people he once knew, he grapples with themes of identity, belonging, and the changes wrought by time and history. The novel delves deeply into the narrator's reflections on life, home, and the resilience of human nature.
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Format: Paperback / softback
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

This book may appeal to you if you enjoy introspective narratives that explore themes of memory, nostalgia, and the search for identity. Set in post-war Italy, it weaves a poignant story about a man's return to his hometown, highlighting the contrasts between past and present. It's a powerful read for those who appreciate deeply reflective and richly atmospheric storytelling.

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The Moon and the Bonfires

In Pavese's last and greatest novel, Nuto, an orphan saved from death by a rural family, returns to Italy from America soon after World War II. He is now rich, and much has improved at home, but peace and prosperity cannot long mask the enduring realities of love and death.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

Pavese's seductive masterpiece of memory and betrayal set in the Italian countryside, The Moon and the Bonfires comes to life in a vivid new translation by Tim Parks.

Having made his fortune in America, Eel is magnetically drawn back to the Piedmontese countryside where he grew up poor and illegitimate. Spending the summer wandering its valleys and vineyards with his childhood friend Nuto, Eel obsessively returns in memory to the farm where he worked as an adolescent, and to his employer's beautiful daughters. The landscape and its people seem locked in timeless rituals; but as Eel discovers the secret stories of the partisans who hid out in the hills during the war, he comes to recognise that the truth is both more complicated and more disturbing.

Shortlisted for The Society of Authors Translation Award 2022

Series: Penguin Modern Classics

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Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

The Moon and the Bonfires by Cesare Pavese is widely regarded as a masterpiece of modern Italian fiction, praised for its depth and the ability to reveal new layers of meaning with each reading. The novel is noted for its reflection on the aftermath of the partisan war, capturing both the haunting and lyrical aspects of postwar Italy. Esteemed authors like Susan Sontag and Italo Calvino have lauded Pavese for his impactful narrative style and contemplative voice, marking him as a significant figure in mid-twentieth-century literature.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780241370544

Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 28 January 2021

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Penguin Classics

Contributors:

  • Translated by Tim Parks
  • Translated by Tim Parks

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 10.0mm

Width: 130.0mm

Height: 198.0mm

Weight: 138g

Pages: 176

Collections

Cesare Pavese Fiction General Fiction Literary Fiction Penguin Books Penguin Classics Series: Penguin Modern Classics

About the Author

Cesare Pavese (Author) Cesare Pavese was born in 1908 in Santo Stefano Belbo, a village in the hills of Piedmont. He worked as a translator (of Melville, Joyce and Faulkner) and as an editor for the publishing house Einaudi Editore, while also publishing his own poetry and a string of successful novels, including The House on the Hill and The Moon and the Bonfires. Never actively anti-Fascist himself, he was nevertheless sent into internal exile in Calabria in 1935 for having aided other subversives. He killed himself in 1950, shortly after receiving Italy's most prestigious literary prize, the Strega. Tim Parks (Translator) Tim Parks moved to Italy in 1981 and lives in Milan. Well known for his non-fiction writings on Italy - Italian Neighbours, An Italian Education - and his novels - Europa (shortlisted for the Booker Prize), Destiny, In Extremis - he has translated a number of Italian writers, in particular Macchiavelli, Leopardi, Moravia, Calvino, Tabucchi and Calasso. He has twice been awarded the John Florio Prize for Translation from the Italian.

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