SYNOPSIS

The story is set in Milan at the beginning of the Second World War and follows the adventures of a group of partisans who carry out attacks against German people and fascists to free some of their comrades held prisoner. The main character, Enne 2, captain of a partisan section, while organizing the resistance, lives a complicated love story with a married woman, Berta. The cruel retaliation of the Germans unites them, at least in part, and a worker who warns Enne 2 of an imminent danger also joins the fight.

REVIEW

It is difficult to evaluate this work. On the one hand, it deals with interesting themes such as the partisan struggle, humanity and non-humanity and love in the time of fascism, but on the other hand, the reading is not fluid and exciting, and it is confused and discontinuous due to the author’s profound reflections that have to be interpreted. Considering the times in which it was written and the personal experience of the author who collaborated with the Resistance, I think it is a remarkable work that makes you reflect on issues that in a certain way, still today, torment humanity.
The author used a third-person narrator who describes the actions but not the thoughts of the characters. In some moments, however, he introduces personal reflections and “dialogues” with the protagonist to break the accelerated pace of the narration.
He dwells little on the descriptions of the characters and places and focuses much more on the dialogues, which are fluid but not diversified. In this way, it seems that it is always the same person speaking.
The themes covered are the central part of the story and the engine that makes it work.