Novel
Johnny the Partisan
Il partigiano Johnny
Beppe Fenoglio · 1968
Synopsis
Autumn 1943, after the armistice. Johnny, a young student in love with English literature, returns to Alba and hides in a house in the hills, then decides to join the Resistance. He first joins the communist partisans, the “reds”, whose ideology and disorder bewilder him, then moves to the Badoglian formations, which are more moderate. With his comrades, he fights in the Langhe until the winter of 1944–1945.
Context
The novel, unfinished, was published by Einaudi in 1968, five years after the author's death: Lorenzo Mondo established the text from two versions, one in Italian, the other partly in English, and the title itself was chosen by the editors. Other editions have followed, those of Maria Corti in 1978, Dante Isella in 1992 and Gabriele Pedullà in 2015. Gilles de Van translated it into French for Gallimard in 1973 under the title “La Guerre sur les collines”; Stuart Hood translated it into English under the title “Johnny the Partisan”.
Who it is for
A long unfinished novel, whose language constantly mixes Italian, English and invented words.
Prizes and reception
According to Encyclopedia.com, it is regarded as one of the great Italian novels of the twentieth century; Guido Chiesa adapted it for the cinema.
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