The Little World of Don Camillo - Book 5

This collection of humorous and touching stories was first published in Italy post World War II. The two main characters are Don Camillo, the feisty village priest and Peppone, the equally feisty Communist mayor. These two men, who apparently have a long history of partisan fighting together in the hills during the Nazi occupation, love to hate each other. Their constant one-upmanship is the fodder for these highly enjoyable stories. Don Camillo's first instinct is always to fight and then think later. This gets him into lots of ticklish situations. The tension in post World War II Italy is palpable. The violence and scars of the war are everywhere and though the characters of Don Camillo and Peppone are lovable and entertaining there is a dark, brutal undercurrent that is always present. Don Camillo tries to be a good priest but he has to deal with Peppone who can't quite be an atheist (He wants Don Camillo to baptize his baby with the name Lenin). The third main character in the book is Christ. The Christ up on the crucifix in Don Camillo's church talks to him. Christ is by turns encouraging, sympathetic, stern, chiding, tongue in cheek; always wise and always affectionate.

The characters of Don Camillo and Peppone are based on a real life priest and mayor the author knew. Giovanni Guareschi was a magazine editor, writer and cartoonist who spent time in concentration camps before being freed and returning to his native Po Valley. These stories were published in magazines at first but proved so popular they were collected into books. Three books were published in the author's lifetime but after his death five more volumes came out. The first book, The Little World of Don Camillo, was made into a very popular movie. Here's a clip from it.

The edition I read was printed by Benediction Classics. It is a slim paperback volume, pricey at $20.99 and there are numerous typos in it. It looks like something that was transcribed and then printed from a Pdf file. It has a Lulu publishing look to it. I guess the original book went out of print at some point and no big publisher has offered to reprint it. It Italy apparently this book is in its 7th edition. Someone started a webpage, www.doncamillo.net but frustratingly, it seems incomplete.

I had heard about these stories for years. I can see why people recall them fondly and treasure them. Guareschi was a delightful story-teller with memorable characters and whose writing was intelligent, insightful, clever and wise. The presentation of Christ is especially wonderful.

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