Wednesday 14 October at 5.30pm, at Villa Argentina, with the writer and philosopher Ermanno Bencivenga, presented by Fabio della Tommasina, to mark the release of the novel “Il giorno in cui non tornarono i conti” (The day when things don’t add up) Mds Editore.
Press Release: Like torches lighting the way, the books from the Lumina series, published by MdS Editore, focus on what, by will or chance, we tend to ignore. As is the case in “Il giorno in cui non tornarono i conti” by Ermanno Bencivenga the late night police arrest of Emanuele Pellegrino, who, from sleepy and monotonous Vercelli, dreamed of a biking trip from Arese to Bologna to see a university colleague, and his story does not suggest a spy story full of twists.
But, with a twist that will surprise the reader, the plot seems to stop after Pellegrino’s release, the reasons of which are unclear, like those of the previous arrest. Here the plot thickens to a nearly frantic search for the meaning, you could say ‘ontological’, of what really happened to Emanuele Pellegrino. In fact, once returned to the hotel where he was arrested the night before, the professor hastily writes an account of what happened. It is here that the problems start. Is the hotel room where he is real? Was the police raid real, or was it a dream due to being tired and his knee hurting, that forced him to break his schedule and stop in Fidenza? The narration spotlight seems to shift from the real facts and to their retelling.
With high literary language and tight arguments that fail the logic and the philosopher, Bencivenga guides us to reveal the mechanisms of thought and perception of reality that condition and beguile us with data about ourselves and our surrounding reality that are often wrong.
Ermanno Bencivenga is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Irvine, California and has written more than fifty books. These include the fortunate “la filosofia in sessantadue favole” still available from Oscar Mondadori and his last “il bene e il bello”, ethics of the image, published by “Il Saggiatore”.
The event starts at 5.30pm in the beautiful, and recently restored Villa Argentina.