turkish

"In 1988, Fred Leuchter of Malden, Massachusetts was contacted by Holocaust denier Robert Faurisson and hired to prepare a report on the gas chambers of Auschwitz on behalf of Canadian neo-Nazi Ernst Zundel. Zundel was on trial on charges stemming from the distribution of Holocaust revisionist literature. With his client footing the bill, Leuchter visited the site of the Auschwitz-Birkenau and Majdanek death camps. Upon returning to the United States, he published a lengthy report which concluded that the facilities he examined 'could not have then been...utilized or seriously considered to function as execution gas chambers.'
During the Zundel trial, however, it became increasingly clear that something was terribly wrong with the 'Leuchter Report.' As it turned out, Mr. Leuchter had no credentials as an engineer, and in fact, held only a Bachelor’s Degree in history. Leuchter's bizarre explanation that anyone who went to college knew enough Mathematics and Science to be an engineer raised even more eyebrows. Judge Ronald Thomas listened to excerpts from the 'Leuchter Report,' then castigated the author for his methodology which he labeled 'preposterous,' before ruling that 'Leuchter has no expertise.'
Leuchter's lack of credentials resulted in more than embarrassment at the Zundel trial. Leuchter, who had represented himself as an engineer and execution expert to various government agencies for years, was indicted by the state of Massachusetts for the imposture.
Faced with the possibility of jail time if convicted, Leuchter reached a pre-trial agreement with the Court in which he admitted that he 'was not and had never been registered as a professional engineer,' although he had represented himself as 'an engineer able to consult in areas of engineering concerning execution technology.' As part of the humbling agreement, Leuchter also agreed to cease and desist from the distribution of any more engineering reports during his probationary period.
An analysis of the 'Leuchter Report' by Professor George Wellers in Paris concluded Leuchter's 'calculations to be an absurdity...One can see in many ways to what degree this expert chemist (Wellers was unaware that Leuchter had no degree in any science) is operating outside the realities of the problem.' Concluding the analysis, Wellers characterized Leuchter's interpretation as 'false and absurd from start to end.'
Despite his embarrassment from both academic as well as legal circles, Leuchter took his show to Germany. Arrested in October 1993 on charges of inciting racial hatred, he was released on bail and allowed to return to the U.S. pending trial. Leuchter, however, refused to return to Germany for trial. A warrant for his arrest is still outstanding.
Despite the exposure of the self-styled engineer and his report as fraudulent, both are still held in high esteem among Holocaust 'revisionists.'"

"Let’s throw a party," in fact, reminds me of a scene from "I cento passi" where Impastato, looking down from the top of a mountain at the devastation of Punta Raisi (I think), says something like if people cared more about beauty (or were more outraged by ugliness), the mafia wouldn’t exist. This is absolutely true: one of the most striking things is the tackiness of the bosses; that is, they have power and money in abundance, yet they live in truly miserable, sad, boring places (which they themselves help to make and keep that way). The party that Antimo talks about (hi!) I understand in this way, as a demonstration of a desire for vitality, color, beauty, that lays bare the pettiness of the "bad guys." The problem, in my humble opinion, is that Italians have unfortunately lost this desire for beauty a long time ago. Just look at the progressive, severe degradation of the Italian landscape (both urban and rural) and the scarce awareness of it among its inhabitants.

@kosmo: I didn't understand the question.

Really a beautiful book... it seems to me that it was the first one by Palahniuk that I read.

Do as you wish, I won't lie anyway (I don't see why I should)

You see, there's no need to go up to the upper floors. Just read what you write, because you always write in the same way. You often have a confrontational attitude towards the site's management, and yet you seem quite attached, which is why today, I read some of your stuff here on the site. That's all.

Browsing through your IP addresses? Do you really think it’s worth it?

@alessioIRIDE: as you know, L'espresso is the newspaper for which Saviano writes; it may (definitely) suck, but I have the impression that the copies sold would be fewer without it. For the rest, if as you say it's possible to understand something only by living in it, I recommend you stay in your city: at least you know it; the rest of the world might be worse, but you can't know that. One question: when you leave, will you take all your fake accounts with you? Because if that's the case, one plane might not be enough.

@Geenoo: But you see, I absolutely didn't mean to imply that the events you mention are false (if anything, because they occurred after the time when I formed certain impressions). In fact, I find the whole matter exceptionally grave. What strikes me, so to speak, is the fact that I live in a country where something like this can happen (a writer being threatened with death by organized crime for what he has written) without there being - all in all - major upheavals. Let's be clear, I'm putting myself in the front line, in the sense that, as indignant as I am, aside from buying the book and maybe watching the movie, I don't do much either. OK, I live very far away (in many senses) from the place in question, but it is still my country, and yet... As for the issue of hero creation, I'm not very fond of it because, in the end, it is just another way to "digest" the event and forget it. The next step is participating in a talk show (maybe he has already been on one, I don't know, I haven't watched TV in many years), some controversy here and there, a candidacy in parliament as an independent. All things we've seen before. However, I am sincere when I say that I hope I'm wrong: Saviano seems sharp to me, I wish he would stay that way.

So: the book is written so-so; to be honest, I don't like his style. I struggled quite a bit to get to the last page; I find it repetitive and not very fluid. OK, he's young, OK, he talks about important things, OK, all that you want, but he chose the form of a short story instead of, I don't know, a serialized journalistic investigation: and as a story, I'm sorry, but I think it doesn't work. This doesn't take away from the merit of addressing certain themes, or the courage to clearly expose facts that well describe the disgusting state of our country. It's simply crazy to be citizens of a nation where such things happen and to find it normal. Yet it is so.
Regarding the character Saviano, I must say that I am quite annoyed by how he has been presented in the media where I've encountered him (especially l'Espresso): always black-and-white photos of him with high contrast, side lighting, a very stern expression, his bodyguards in the background... I have had a clear sense that there was an attempt to create a hero, I don't know how consciously on the part of the protagonist (I hope none, because I want to believe in his good faith). I regret to say it, because I hope it's not true, but everything that has circulated around Gomorra (including the instant-movie) seems very "fake" to me. Finally, shifting the discussion, it’s noteworthy that when the anathema against a writer is launched by Islamic fundamentalists, it creates a big scandal, while it's considered almost normal (see one of the comments above: "Saviano knew what he was getting into") when it's done by Italian criminals.