Bread and Wine

The late Ignazio Silone, the author of "Bread and Wine," stated that he "would willingly pass [his] life writing and rewriting the same book -- that one book which every writer carries within him, the image of his own soul..." "Bread and Wine" is just that -- a beautiful reflection of a man's soul. Using humor, easy language and insights into the Italian fascist regime, Silone tells the story of all humanity's search for truth. In the figure of Pietro Spina, a Socialist political activist, the reader is lead to ask questions about politics, relationships, and faith. The irony is that Spina has just returned from exile and must remain incognito -- as a priest, of course. Through his experiences, he asks many difficult questions about his Socialist party, his church, and himself. In the end, he is left to bring together who he is as the "priest" Don Paolo and who he was as the anti-political activist Pietra Spina. He must learn to "let the inner and the outer man meet" (Plato).

Set in Italy, at the outbreak of the invasion of Africa, at the height of fascism, Silone's main character, the communist leader Pietro Spina, disguised as a priest, is confronted with a sad reality: the large distance that separates ideological communism and the daily reality of the "cafoni," the Italian peasants who have to face the cruel struggle for survival, their indifference to political rhetoric, their acceptance of a future with no perspectives, and their reliance on blind faith. Spina is the intellectual mind who painfully learns that ideologies by themselves are not enough, the element of "faith" has to be present in life. The narrative has superb discourses, simple in its language, but with an incredible depth of meaning, there are plenty of allegories for the attentive reader, the story is a pleasure and a delight, as much as some good bread and wine!

The book is deceptively simple in its language and plot, all of which merely serve to veil deep meaning and thought. The story takes place before WWII, when Mussolini is at the height of his fascist power and the country is preparing for a war with Ethiopia. The protagonist Pietro Spina, after having been forced to flee and live abroad because of his contrary political views, returns to Italy to spread the message of Communism. He goes into hiding disguised as a priest, Don Paolo, in the small mountain village of Pietrasecca. His casual views win the heart of all the villagers, and everyone he meets opens up to him (they all want him to hear their confessions, but he refuses on grounds that he does not have permission from the pope). As the novel progresses and as he comes to better know the peasants and their needs, his doctrinaire Communist views slowly change to one that takes on the appearance of grass-roots Christian socialism, and he more and more assumes the role of a priest. But even when the novel opens, one sees that he is person driven more by a determination to seek moral justice than a political answer: one gets the idea that Communism was the option most appealing of all the options to an idealist like he, as it was for most conscientious intellectuals of that time period. The novel reminds me of Camus's The Plague in that it poses the moral dilemmas people face and their reactions when confronted with a powerful dehumanizing organization, which in this case is fascism, while in Camus's case the organization is embodied in a disease. Pietro, the martyr Murica, and the priest Don Benedetto are the moral resistors of oppression, albeit each resists in his own way. However, theirs is a dignified, almost passive resistance which contrasts with the Communists outright rebellion. There is Zabaglia, once a socialist orator, who has now turned fascist sympathizer. And there are the peasants who are resigned to the follies of all politics because they see it as a part of life--the present government is merely one is series of historical and natural afflictions. Their down-to-earth cynicism allows them to be wary of all political propaganda. There are many passages in the book which reveal the quiet, rustic, and often times harsh beauty of the bucolic life, which is also sometimes shown as being crude and vulgar, yet always natural and unpretentious. There are hilarious passages showing the peasants' unquestioning Christian piety which they combine without any qualms with indigenous superstition: "One old woman was sliding along her knees toward the chapel of the sacrament, with her face on the floor, touching it with her tongue and leaving an irregular trail of saliva like that of a snail behind her. A young man in uniform was walking beside her, taking small steps, awkward and ashamed." The chapter before the last, when the villagers and Pietro come to pay their respects to the paren

Ignacio Silone's Bread and Wine takes up the issue of the individual within the community. Masterfully, he makes every character whole and unique. A noble communist Pietro Spina hides from the Facist as a priest in a peasant town. While in this role he realizes that abstract ideologies are do not strike a cord with the mass man. Instead, it is the essential sacarments of life, i.e. bread and wine, that justifies their suffering and their motive to live on. This is a book that should be read by all who attempt to define the mass man. As soon as it is read, they will discover that they know nothing at all. jmm

Originally published in 1937 while the author was in exile from facist Italy, this book chronicles the return of the main character, Pietro Spina, to Italy. Spina's hope is to restore the socialist revolution while in hiding, but learns the importance of other more simpler ways of life. He is sent to a small, remote mountain village to recuperate from an illness and, while there, gains and understanding of the simple ways of the peasant folk. These people are not interested in "idealogical" revolution but know only about waking up and putting a long hard day in at the fields and returning home and going to bed...only to get up and do it all over again. Bread and wine is their sustenance. Religious symbolism is abundant in this novel which is basically about the rebirth of Pietro Spina into "true" Christianity/Religion /Manliness. The relationships that he develops are beautifully and simply written in the novel. I orignally read this book 12 years ago as part of a college course and, for some reason, return to it every two to three years. Just finished it again