I wanted to read this book ever since I had read Carlo Levi’s Words are Stones – an evocative book on life in Sicily during the 1940s. Christ Stopped at Eboli is even better.
Christ Stopped at Eboli is a semi-autobiographical story of a year Carlo Levi spent in the province of Lucania (current day Basilicata) when he was exiled by the fascist government. The region is dirt-poor, scorched by the sun, ravaged by an unending history of invasions and dominance. Even the benevolence of Christ did not reach them. Hence the term, Christ stopped at Eboli, alluding to the idea that even the grace of God did not reach them, as He stopped at Eboli, a large town many miles away, without coming to Lucania.
As Levi writes:
Christ never came this far, not did time, nor the individual soul, nor hope, nor the relation of cause to effect, nor reason nor history.
Christ never came, […] No one has come to this land, except as an enemy, a conqueror, or a visitor devoid of understanding.
Levi is observant and his characterization of the people is an exercise in maintaining distance while staying sympathetic. Mostly, he describes the slow passage of time — livelihoods painted by ennui, superstitions, escapism (sometimes through alcohol, procreation, and emigration), and mostly boredom that is wrapped in peculiar freedom of the mind that comes with economic destitution.
It is astonishing how America is a shining beacon, as the men escape west. Of course, their lives in the United States is also hard. Some don’t make it and return penniless and more destitute than they left. The men invariably leave women to rear children and sometimes, birth more children out of wedlock. Yet, America holds a promise — the existence of American life as an aspiration for true freedom contrasts against the fatalistic history of southern Italy.
Some customs are peculiar — even for a person like me who grew up around rural superstitions and mores. The most puzzling one was when peasants stretched all their earnings to give Christmas presents to their employers, bosses, landlords, and owners, who were not expected to reciprocate back. It was the most peculiar custom — almost like a regressive tax scheme in which the penurious do favors and seek gratitude.
Related:
The Leopard by Giuseppe Tomasi de Lampedusa: A contrasting book written by a noble also covers territory struggling to reunite since the Risorgimento. How could one not find interesting, a man in love with the stars? The Leopard (Il Gattopardo, which translates to civet) is a melancholic story of a Sicilian prince — the man who loves astronomy — in the dying days of royalty, during the birth of the Italian Republic. The book is full of keen observations of human frailty, the weight of the past, and the futility of future plans, as the slow summers under the Sicilian sun sediments under the fast onslaught of the future unknown. There are also some broad parallels to the story of Pu Yi, the last emperor of China, although the conclusion in the Leopard is less dire. Like Toole’s A Confederacy of Dunces, The Leopard was published posthumously, as Lampedusa had no luck in getting publishers to agree to publish during his lifetime. The book has since gone on to become one of the most remarkable novels of 20th century Italian Literature.
Christ Stopped at Eboli (film) – a film directed by Francesco Rosi. As I finished the book, I learned about the existence of a well-regarded film adaptation of the book.
My Voyage to Italy – Martin Scorcese talks about Italy that influenced him, through Italian films.