For Solo Violin: A Jewish Childhood in Fascist Italy

by Aldo Zargani

" For Solo Violin  is a gracefully written, elegiac memoir of childhood."— The Los Angeles Times "An eloquent tribute to [and] a moving account of those who, despite the cruelty of so many around them, found ways to rejoice and trust in the kindness of a few. One is instantly reminded of  Life Is Beautiful ."—André Aciman, author of  Out of Egypt In an extraordinary literary debut, Aldo Zargani reconstructs the lost world of his Jewish childhood during the perilous years 1938–45 when he and his family fled from Fascists and Nazis in northern Italy. His haunting memoir acquires a cinematic intensity as he crosscuts from the blood-red stone spires of Basel, where his father failed to find refuge for his family in 1939, to fiery scenes of the Allied bombing of Turin in 1942, to the freezing winter of 1943–44, which Zargani and his brother spent hidden in a Catholic boarding school deep in the countryside. For Solo Violin  is filled with colorful portraits of Italian aristocrats and peasants, priests and soldiers, teachers and students, informers and partisans. At its heart is Zargani's vivid depiction of his father, a concert violinist forced to give up his career when the Fascists came to power. In this time of persecution, the Zargani family survived through their own resourcefulness and through the efforts of the many Italians who came to their aid, from the young doctor who helped them escape from Turin to the shepherd who supplied them with milk during the last year of the war, when they lived among the partisans in a remote Piedmont valley. Looking back over a distance of fifty years, Zargani rediscovers the enchantment of childhood shining in "fable-like constellations" even amidst the inferno of war. Lullabies and school games, fairy tales and family jokes are interwoven with the events of terror and oppression. Lyrical, humorous, tender, and wise,  For Solo Violin  is a testament to resilience and hope during the darkest period in human history. "A broad panorama of Italian-Jewish history in [the last] century. Elegant in its style and, however tragic, also rich with understatement, irony, and wit,  For Solo Violin  counts among the great, enduring works of art."— Focus Magazine , Germany "A tragic, deeply engaging, delicious book—yes delicious, too. (Reading it makes you smile.) It's a miracle…It makes one think of the wit of Kafka!"— L'Espresso , Italy "Zargani depicts a wealth of sad, despairing, but often also incredibly funny episodes…But vibrating along with the humor is always the sense of threat, and behind it opens the abyss of terror."— Neue Zürcher Zeitung , Switzerland Aldo Zargani  was born in 1933 in Turin, Italy. For many years, he worked for RAI, the Italian broadcasting network.  Per Violino Solo  was first published in Italy in 1995 and won several literary awards, among them the Premio Acqui Storia and the Premio Ishia. Zargani now lives and writes in Rome.

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir, Holocaust

326 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

Reviews

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a holocaust memoir by a Jewish Italian man who was a child in northern Italy when the Nazis arrived. It's more intellectual and artistically ambitious than most memoirs. The narrative flits back and forth in time. Often the author draws out the comedy in his trials. There are passages of abstract thought. I can't say I always found it easy to follow the narrative. It becomes more moving at the discovery that he's writing it for his grandchildren. 3.5 stars.

[Kristalla · Rating 4 out of 5]

per una pura casualità mi sono trovata a leggere questo libro subito dopo "L'alba di un giorno nuovo" di Asor Rosa, che parte dalle stesse premesse: gli autori sono pressoché coetanei, ed in entrambi i casi si tratta delle loro memorie d'infanzia nel tremendo periodo 1938-45. devo dire che il racconto di Zargani, bimbo ebreo piemontese figlio di un musicista, risulta infinitamente più interessante di quello del piccolo ferroviere cattolico romano Asor Rosa; lo stile è spezzato e disuguale, con punte di eccellenza e abissi di confusione, e confuso è anche (volutamente) il racconto, nella sequenza temporale degli avvenimenti; il tutto però risulta estremamente vivido e continuamente illuminato da lampi di intelligente ironia, per non dire di quelle misture ebraico-piemontesi, parenti dei gas rari di Primo Levi, che tanto mi deliziano. quattro stellette solo per la discontinuità del livello letterario, ma per me è il libro dell'estate.

[Bobparr · Rating 3 out of 5]

Come i gelati: che fatica finirlo.
A volte qualche cucchiaiata di buonumore, molti scorci della vita degli anni 40 - sono la parte piu' interessante; a volte spunti di riflessione, molto spesso pagine che vorrebbero essere leggère, ma sono lunghe, dettagliate, un po' noiose.

Sembra qualsi un diario di ricordi trasformato in romanzo, ma da uno che non li sa scrivere, i romanzi. Giudizio tranchant e me ne dolgo, perchè la persona merita rispetto e la sua vita anche.
Piu' che un libro, avrei preferito sentirlo parlare, questo signore, per ore ed ore.
Non credo mi sarei annoiato neppure per un minuto.

[Suzanne Hoffman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Poignant, beautifully translated memoir of boy's coming of age during the Nazi occupation of Piemonte in the final years of WWII. English-language books about the Holocaust in northwestern Italy are few. This is a must read for anyone interested in learning more about an overlooked Holocaust experience in Italy.

[Maurizio Manco · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Benvenuti, benvenuti nella caverna fatata e infernale del girone di un'infanzia inverosimile ma accaduta. [...] Dentro è buio, ma c'è posto per tutti." (Prefazione, p. IX)

[Maria Bouvier · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ricordare è fondamentale, soprattutto se non si è vissuto in prima persona le nefandezze perpetrate da alcuni, e avvallate da molti.