Valerio Massimo Manfredi
Il mio nome è nessuno-Il giuramento

THE REVIEW

The first chapter of a trilogy dedicated to Ulysses, or rather correctly, Odysseus, meaning he who hates, or he who is hated, a name indicated by his maternal grandfather, Autolycus, who received from Hermes, the messenger of the gods, the skill in thefts.

The studies in classical literature permeate the work, a romanticizing of the Odyssey, with references to the Theogony, "in the beginning there was chaos," says Hesiod, practically the Old Testament of classical Greece, from that poem the Homeric writings are born.

As an archaeologist, the author captures narrative cues to describe how people lived, what propitiatory rites were performed, what motivations existed to dare or not to do something. War is experienced as a sort of reparation/revenge, the rules about wrongs still find their space in the agora, the people are the final decision-makers.

The references are remarkable; alongside the character of Odysseus is correctly paired Penelope, and the beauty of Helen finds its space. I find the narrative solution of the idea of the horse amusing, I would dare to say ingenious, for the character’s intuition.

I find the same creation a fall into the trap of making the reading more accessible to those who have not traveled those didactic paths, a fluent writing, impeccable style, you "drink" it in a moment.