Cuore

Di Edmondo De Amicis

Cuore, libro per ragazzi scritto da Edmondo De Amicis, fu un grande successo, tanto che de Amicis divenne lo scrittore più letto d'Italia. L'ambientazione è all'indomani dell'unità d'Italia, e il testo ha il chiaro scopo di insegnare ai giovani cittadini del Regno le virtù civili, ossia l'amore per la patria, il rispetto per le autorità e per i genitori, lo spirito di sacrificio, l'eroismo, la carità, la pietà, l'obbedienza e la sopportazione delle disgrazie.
Cuore è stato per generazioni il libro più regalato da genitori e nonni a figli e nipoti, il romanzo più citato quando si parla di bontà, generosità, onestà. Il protagonista del libro è il figlio che tutti i genitori vorrebbero, anche se tutti i figli vorrebbero di più somigliare a "Gian Burrasca".
Cuore è il diario che un ragazzo, Enrico, tiene durante un anno scolastico, con frequenti interventi di pugno del padre o della madre con insegnamenti morali. Alcuni personaggi sono rimasti memorabili, tanto da uscire dal libro e restare nell'immaginario collettivo come prototipi letterari, come il cattivo e perfido Franti, il buon Garrone e la "maestrina dalla penna rossa".
Ogni mese è presente un racconto che narra le vicende di un ragazzo preso ad esempio di coraggio e lealtà. Questi racconti mensili hanno valore narrativo autonomo, essendo anche diventati a volte conosciuti quando Cuore stesso, come "Dagli Appennini alle Ande", "La piccola vedetta lombarda" e "Il piccolo scrivano fiorentino".

• Lingua: Italiano
• Editore: Scrivere
• Data di uscita: 25 apr 2011
• ISBN: 9788895160405

Recensioni su Cuore

[librisalexandria · Valutazione: 5 su 5 stelle]

I read this novel when I was a child and I have always carried it deep in the back of my mind. The story is seen through the eyes of Enrico, a school boy in 19th century Italy. Reality is not disguised as in American children's books. Enrico witnesses sudden deaths, disease, punishment, poverty, not happening to his family but to school mates and neighbors. This issue has the original illustrations that my childhood copy had.

[tabascofromgudreads · Valutazione: 4 su 5 stelle]

"Cuore" means "Heart" in Italian. This "classic" book by Edmondo De Amicis describes the life of an Italian school class a few years before 1900, as seen through the eyes of a boy, Enrico.

Given that the book was published in 1886, and was later utilized for political propaganda by various governments, not only in Italy, there are some fascinating aspects to the book's history. But before touching on that, I'd like to say this is at its core a very poetic, touching little book. So despite all the political and ridiculously patriotic themes, I really liked it as it stands as a fine portrait of pure feelings, and innocence. Some readers found it sad, I didn't. The author explained how he was inspired to write it by his own son, Furio, and his love for school.

The book reads as an utopistic and moralistic fable. Everything and everyone in "Cuore" is idealized - the book was meant to teach school kids the moral values and model behaviours of an idealized Italian citizen. To better understand the source of these values, we need to consider that De Amicis was part of the Italian elite, and his father held a high government post. The people who engineered the unification of Italy in 1860 had one common arch-enemy: the Pope and the Church, who opposed the inclusion of Rome in the new Kingdom of Italy. As a consequence, the school kids in "Cuore" spend their entire school year without ever mentioning, thinking, seeing, or going to a church, which is clearly unrealistic given that (for good and for bad) the Catholic Church has always had an immense influence in the day to day life of Italians. Even Christmas is totally ignored!

Interesting fact: the book was taught in many Italian schools, and that's often enough to make you hate a book: "Oh, God, not "Cuore"!!"

Back to the political themes: it's not too clear whether De Amicis wrote this as pure propaganda for the King, or that was just part of the process. One thing is for sure: according to this book, the perfect kid is the one who sacrifices his own life for his nation and his King. I like to think that this was just a reflection of the author's beliefs, after all patriotism did make sense in those times (personal note: today it doesn't. Ok to be proud of your country, stupid to be irrational about it and think that your country's citizens are "better" than anybody else).

Through its sensitivity to social issues such as poverty, "Cuore" has been initially linked to left-wing ideologies. De Amicis was later to join the Italian Socialist Party. Because of this, the book remained influential in countries of the Eastern Bloc. However, its patriotic message was later adopted by Mussolini's government and there are still people who remember "Cuore" being used as fascist propaganda.

In conclusion, I don't know what the author's true purpose was, I just want to remember this book in a good light. Many Italians, when reading this book, comment "These were times when values still mattered!". I don't think that is correct at all. A more precise statement, in my opinion, would be that "Cuore" reminds us of a time when things were much simpler than today, and, as a consequence, it was easier for everybody to point out the right and the wrong.

Despite the soppiness, and the utopistic and moralistic tendencies, "Cuore" is still a very poetic and inspirational book.