An Author on Trial

Extremely intriguing and well-written; this novel, from the perspective of his son, tells the story of Giuseppe Iorio, his literary recognition and downfall for having written an "obscene novel". The absurdity of the law shines especially brightly in Iorio's text, as well as the devastating consequences that the events described have on someone's life, both in a professional and in a deeply personal level.

A son tells the story of his writer father and his being put on trial for writing an obscene book. At the best moments, the narrative reads like a novel with a very clever point of view. At worst, Iorio's father's journals are pieced together with rough edges. Overall, an interesting premise, but Iorio's reliance almost exclusively on his father's journals makes the overall story suffer.

Though highly regarded for his first book, Italian writer Giuseppe Jorio, became entangled with the country's dubious morality law with his second book Il Fuoco del Mondo during the fascist period and was put on trail, claiming the book was obscene. The multiple trails and the subsequent infamy cost him his literary career, sunk his other books into oblivion, affected his creative ability and eventually ended his marriage. Now, decades after his death, his son Luciano Iorio tries to reconstruct the life of a man who may be perhaps one of the most misunderstood figures in modern Italian literature. Extracted from his journals and his own memories, Luciano Iorio constructs a narrative that is at once illuminating, fast paced and touching. It's a short book and the author only briefly touches on similar cases of other books having banned during his father's period and hence it's not a study on stifling of freedom of expression and literature. Yet, it works effectively as a very personal biography of an author who deserved a better career but fell for the bigoted hypocrisy of a vague judiciary that allowed the translations of other books in similar vein to thrive in the Italina market, thereby exercising gross injustice. I enjoyed the book immensely.

What an interesting book! I’d never heard of Italian author Giuseppe Jorio (1902-1995) before, and I hazard a guess that not many other readers will have either. He had great success with his first novel, Death of a Man, in 1939 and looked set for a rewarding career. But his next novel, The Fire of the World, was considered obscene, and he was prosecuted and convicted, even spending time in prison, the only writer in post-war Italy to do so. In this well-written and well-researched account of his father’s life and work, his son Luciano Iorio explores exactly what happened, and why, and examines in detail the prosecution and trial and the devastating effect it had on his father’s life and career. Not only is the book fascinating from a personal and literary point of view, it also explores the politics of post-war Italy, and I really learned a great deal from it. Raising wider concerns about censorship and bigotry, the book is a thoughtful, intelligent and insightful exploration of this forgotten writer and the place and time he lived in.

AN AUTHOR ON TRIAL

THE STORY OF A FORGOTTEN WRITER

BY LUCIANO IORIO



TROUBADOR PUBLISHING LIMITED

MATADOR

BIOGRAPHIES & MEMOIRS , NONFICTION (ADULT)

PUB DATE 27 FEB 2019





I am reviewing a copy of An Author on Trial through Matador and Netgalley:





In 1939 the Italian Author Giuseppe Jorio Who was born in 1902 and died in 1995, found a great amount of success when his novel La Morte di Uomo (Death of a Man) was published, but following the Second World War his career was in shambles when he was prosecuted and subjected to five trials in six years, and was found guilty. He was the first writer in post war Italy to be tried and prosecuted for this. The novel in question was Il Fuoco Del Mondo (The Fire in the World).





In An Author on Trial Giuseppe Jorio’s son Luciano lorio shows how bigoted judges along with the illiberal censorship policies in defense of decency adopted by the ruling Christian Democracy Party, openly fuelled by the Vatican, were determined to make an example of Giuseppe Jorio even if it meant that they misapply the law!



In this book Luciano Loris uses family letters and his Father’s diaries to tell of the dramatic events that inspired the novel. He tells of the difficult times in which the novel was written as well as the incredible strain of five trials and their effect on his Fathers work, his life and his family. Particular attention was paid to the Father and Son relationship in this book.





I found that An Author on Trial to be an educational book on an Author I knew nothing about, an Author who had his share of challenges throughout his career, and lived through a lot of hardships.





I give An Author on Trial five out of five stars!





Happy Reading!

A must read! Superbly written and well researched. It shows how long injustices in the "justice" system have been going on.