Sign in with Facebook
Loading...
18th out of 110 books
—
25 voters
The Red Horse
A literary phenomenon in Italy, this European best-seller was voted the best Italian novel of the decade in a public survey. Its success has gone way beyond Italy, having been translated into Spanish, French, Japanese and 3 other languages. This epic historical novel about World War II and after, written from the author's own personal experiences as an Italian Freedom Figh...more
Paperback, 1000 pages
Published
June 1st 2002
by Ignatius Press
(first published 1983)
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
133)
Dec 10, 2012
'Aussie Rick'
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
read-military,
ww2
I was sent a copy of Eugenio Corti's novel The Red Horse to read by the author some years ago. This looked like a daunting task as the book is over 1,000 pages in length. However I was amazed that the pages just seem to fly by. The novel is set in Italy during the Second World War and tells the story of how the war affected Italy and its people through the eyes of some of the participants. The first hundred pages may seem a little boring but I must tell you that after that the narrative moves al...more
3 likes · like · see review
view 2 comments
La prima parte di questo libro �� molto bella, si assapora l'atmosfera del paesino della Brianza in cui �� ambientata, ci si affeziona ai personaggi e si seguono le vicende della loro vita mentre l'Europa viene convolta nella Seconda Guerra Mondiale.
Molto coinvolgente la parte in Russia.
Purtoppo, finita la parte della guerra, il resto del libro l'ho trovato all'altezza.
Le vicende umane dei personaggi diventano una parte quasi marginale, un pretesto per parlare di politica a tutto spiano con una...more
Molto coinvolgente la parte in Russia.
Purtoppo, finita la parte della guerra, il resto del libro l'ho trovato all'altezza.
Le vicende umane dei personaggi diventano una parte quasi marginale, un pretesto per parlare di politica a tutto spiano con una...more
This is by far the best book I have ever read. Corti finds a way to make you feel love and compassion for every character and it is not a story in which there is only one protagonist, but it's a complete society in which everyone is different. This is a historical novel which is based in real life experiences of Italian soldiers during World War II. Even though the characters are fictitious, the places, dates, experiences and numbers are all true so it gives a truthful deep impression about the...more
One of the greatest Italian novels, and war novels, ever. But then I only read great Italian novels. Did you know that the Italians sent a few brigades of Bersaglieri to fight alongside Hitler on the Eastern Front? Very beautiful, and very Catholic - so much so, for those who are squeamish and sentimental, it's one of the few war novels that might be bearable - because whenever one of the young groups of friends from outside Turin gets killed in battle, an angel swoops down to take his soul.
So...more
So...more
I just started reading. It's a long, long book. I read some reviews on Amazon last night and they were all pretty good - except, and I was already suspicious of this - except that the translation from the Italian was bad.
In just what I've read so far it seems like the dialogue and descriptions must be better in the original Italian. I can't imagine an Italian writing without emotion and so far I haven't seen any in this book.
However, almost all the reviews say that the first 100 pages are dull r...more
In just what I've read so far it seems like the dialogue and descriptions must be better in the original Italian. I can't imagine an Italian writing without emotion and so far I haven't seen any in this book.
However, almost all the reviews say that the first 100 pages are dull r...more
This was one of those books where I stuck with the first half long after I'd lost interest in the hopes that it would pick up, and refused to declare the time I'd spent on the 1st 500 pages a waste of time by not finishing the 2nd half. I'm not glad I read it, because the list of books I want to read is growing exponentially; seeing as I'm already at a net loss, I'd rather not spend the time I could be reading other books on telling you why I didn't enjoy this one. Bleh.
Jan 16, 2009
Joe
added it
Very long and detailed. The story of WWII told by an Italian freedom fighter. It took a while to read, but was worth it.
I love books set in WWII, and I really appreciate Catholic writers/motifs. While this book has both, I did not really enjoy this book, and it was not the length that bothered me. The author couldn't seem to stay focused, the translation was not very good, and while I did identify with some of the characters and their plights, I still didn't seem to care what happened to them. I would give it 2.5 stars if possible.
Tiene una fuerte carga autobiográfica (o al menos lo parece). La primera parte es una emocionante natación bélica. La segunda es un relato comprometido del devenir político de Italia en la segunda mitad del siglo XX. El protagonista es profundamente católico.
In my humble opinion I think this is a great book. The author, having been a freedom fighter himself in WWII, writes from his own knowledge and experiences. ...not an entertaining book, because war and the suffering it causes could never be, but it was a story that I had trouble putting down.
Tremendous book, if "epic" means anything at all (and it does) then this is that meaning ... full review when I complete this book, hopefully before the year is out.
Tour de force. The de-christianization of Europe is neglected by all main stream historians. Wonderful, touching and true.
A fascinating read. I was captivated and found it hard to put down.
I think he was trying to write an Italian War and Peace...
May 02, 2013
Élodie Gendreau
marked it as to-read
May 02, 2013
Gina
marked it as to-read
May 23, 2013
Nicole
added it
Apr 24, 2013
Doug
is currently reading it
Mar 23, 2013
Justin
marked it as to-read
Mar 20, 2013
Art Crump
marked it as to-read
Mar 19, 2013
Audrey
marked it as to-read
Mar 11, 2013
Jason Pastor
marked it as to-read
Feb 09, 2013
Camille
marked it as to-read
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
Share This Book
No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »
“[Gli uomini] sono gli unici, fra tutti gli esseri creati, che hanno la possibilità d'andare contro l'ordine posto da Dio nel creato: gli uomini sono cioè gli unici esseri veramente liberi, appunto perché sono liberi nei confronti di Dio... Dio aveva dovuto tollerare, ecco, aveva dovuto permettere questo male, e tutte le altre cattiverie e carognate che gli uomini fanno: e ciò per non andare contro la loro libertà. Il gran problema del male nel mondo... Appunto per non impedire la libertà dell'uomo.”
—
2 people liked it
“Quanto ai cristiani, sarebbe stato proprio lo scossone della sconfitta nel referendum sul divorzio a costituire il principio del loro risveglio; più tardi Iddio avrebbe fatto alla sua chiesa l'immenso dono del papa polacco: un papa di nuovo 'pietra' e 'roccia' finalmente”
—
1 person liked it
More quotes…
