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Invictus
Cristiano Parafioriti
The epic story of Ture Di Nardo, known as “Pileri”, a young Sicilian peasant torn away from his family and his woman by the call to arms during the Second World War.
Enlisted in the Alpini and part of the Julia Division, he followed the bitter fate of the Italian Army in Russia in what was to be the biggest Italian military defeat of the 20th century.
Like a new Ulysses, the young Ture Pileri will have to face terrible trials on the long journey home.
With this engaging historical novel, Cristiano Parafioriti brings to light a real story that has been kept in the heart of its protagonist for seventy years. The strength of a man, driven by love, able to resist and react to the defeat of an entire army.
Sicily, April 1941. In San Giorgio, a small village in the Nebrodi mountains, live the Di Nardo family, known as the “Pileri”, a humble family that supports itself through agriculture and sheep farming. The head of the family is Zi Peppe, married to Za Nunzia, with whom he has seven children. Ture, the eldest, is twenty years old and has only managed to escape being called up to arms thanks to his father’s connections and can therefore continue to provide for the family. One evening, on his way to fetch water from the trough with his sister Concetta, the latter reveals to him the love interest of his cousin Lina. Ture does not reciprocate the young woman’s feelings, but on that occasion, he is struck by the beauty of Lina’s younger sister, Rosa. A few days later, Ture declares his love for her, and Rosa confesses that she, too, has secretly loved him for more than a year. Their passion immediately blows up, but the joy is short-lived: the war outcome takes a turn for the worse, and a new, irrevocable call to arms arrives. Zi Peppe can do nothing this time. His son must leave for the front. The family loses his strong arms while Rosa the newborn bud of love. Here begins the epic of Ture. Ripped from his family and his woman, enlisted in the Alpini and part of the Julia Division, he followed the bitter fate of the Italian Army in Russia in what was to be the biggest Italian military defeat of the 20th century.
Like a new Ulysses, the young Ture Pileri will have to face terrible trials on the long journey home that will end on 23 September 1943. On that night, Ture arrives exhausted on the Nebrodi under Rosa’s house, who runs into his arms. The two lovers, after many adventures, meet again to never leave each other again. A festive procession then escorts the young survivor to San Giorgio, to his family. Unconquered by the war. Unconquered by the Russian winter. Unconquered by the Nazi fascists. Unconquered by the Americans. Ture Pileri can finally embrace the rest of his family and get on with his life. Invictus. Ture Pileri will die in 2018, at the age of 97, surrounded by the love of Rosa and the affection of his large family. A real story, kept in the heart of its protagonist for eighty years. The strength of a man, driven by love, capable to resist and react to the defeat of an entire army.
Invictus
Cristiano Parafioriti © 2021
Cover photo
Anna Francica
Layout and editing
Stefania Salerno
CRISTIANO PARAFIORITI
INVICTUS
NOVEL
With an introductory essay by Antonio Baglio
Translated by Giovanna Bongiovanni
TABLE OF CONTENT
AUTHOR’S NOTE (#ulink_2e0c1183-7c50-58fe-a2a3-01f25bc68ade)
INTRODUCTORY ESSAY
PART I (#ulink_8dd99079-1ff5-596a-aa94-601bfa04c9f9)
I
II (#ulink_2b9ca7d6-6f23-5a8e-969e-8e75a2798643)
III (#ulink_54100be0-ea24-51db-813b-6f167bdee003)
IV (#ulink_ab0cd5d8-cc1f-5a7c-80c5-cf85ad81a78c)
V (#ulink_938c0dcc-a651-5d09-9cc5-c1011831df78)
VI (#ulink_3b4546ac-6a57-5674-9d5c-0a8c0ecc3e12)
VII (#ulink_5a7b207a-f3c1-5092-943b-aa68dcf2a438)
VIII (#ulink_8e8666ce-657d-5a34-b972-9dea2ac56ec4)
IX (#ulink_3e9e2e1d-8928-5361-8c93-fdf37df440b1)
PART II (#ulink_fca2fa37-d01d-5376-abd8-767c58e0162e)
I
II (#ulink_90211444-36d0-5def-abd4-c96b8f3b13a7)
III (#ulink_1b31961d-1033-500c-ae56-e248869cd53f)
IV (#ulink_a17bd17d-f077-59f2-9a7a-21f7fb472449)
V (#ulink_c71623a9-047a-51c1-8440-9c50f015741e)
VI (#ulink_54a73027-72bd-5df7-85fe-5c59eb257901)
VII (#ulink_61903bbf-c6d0-5880-9d91-d038b376b34e)
VIII (#ulink_e687f8ee-7c91-5c1c-87be-6402cb71330c)
IX (#ulink_c7d0c249-9f0d-5fee-8eae-fe79d8ea7b4a)
X (#ulink_5d0005af-f2e6-5742-a75e-360e523c29b5)
XI (#ulink_1f29ef69-7518-5d72-9239-48a046d0baad)
XII (#ulink_1b57f24d-916a-5bbf-91ce-bf06028fe000)
XIII (#ulink_839c91fe-fb67-5374-9941-34ddb5fc7e71)
XIV (#ulink_10132894-1d5e-58bf-be45-494d6e2d76a9)
XV (#ulink_e3960197-31df-5013-ae20-b914ffeb0092)
XVI (#ulink_e1d2a4fa-b40e-5867-bbbe-9dbdf834645d)
XVII (#ulink_419549fb-f38a-5df0-aa99-72b41a020ff4)
XVIII (#ulink_edd54dc1-d49c-59a4-a3ad-4bf416e8b450)
PART III (#ulink_58791234-ace2-56f0-82d0-003edc0841f5)
I
II (#ulink_339169e3-c6e3-5fd0-94a2-922132d3a18c)
III (#ulink_caa6cec1-00f8-5239-9d24-fc65243fc85d)
IV (#ulink_dfd77ea8-22e4-50cb-b59a-70f7ba2cfa59)
V (#ulink_fdf9d87a-32f1-5af3-90c2-f64dee7b5528)
VI (#ulink_8ed445d0-428a-5852-a090-92c0b96895c1)
VII (#ulink_58c8cdb2-a883-5475-a74e-4636085cbc67)
VIII (#ulink_3fc14927-9c62-5010-b09f-bf2d42ff3d9d)
NEMESIS (#ulink_d4e3504c-e2f2-5828-a4be-efcb61811b92)
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS (#ulink_85811604-2ef0-5cba-a1fb-0863a9eaa839)
Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate,
I am the captain of my soul.
(Invictus, William Ernest Henle (https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Ernest_Henley)y)
To Don Ture Di Nardo “Pileri”
to my grandfather Calogero Barone “Ccanino”
to all veterans
and to those who have never returned
AUTHOR’S NOTE
Nino Amadore, my friend and esteemed journalist of “Il Sole 24 Ore”, wrote in one of his articles: “Cristiano Parafioriti is the founder of a new literary genre, Sicilian minimalism, where the stories of a country and its people become the stories of the whole world”.
I jealously guard this definition in my memory and heart, and the more stories I write, the more I find myself in those words.
My work is born in my small and beloved village, Galati Mamertino, a mountain village perched on the Nebrodi mountains in Sicily. Galati is a melting pot of many other tiny places and many other realities that shine with their own light, each with stories to tell, with their people, with their own myths.
This novel was born from one of these magical corners, San Giorgio, a remote and by now an uninhabited village, of which today only a few abandoned ruins remain.
I believe that some stories come looking for you. Writers often live in a state of almost lethargy, and, suddenly, something awakens them from this sweet wandering. And so it happened that on a hot day in August 2019, Salvatore Di Nardo, the homonymous nephew of the main character of this story, woke me from my peaceful rest.
Salvatore, known as Salvo, has been living in Pisa with his family for years. He, too, is affected by the sicilitudine, a disease that makes us exiled children torn from our roots but always tightly linked to our native land.
I've known him since my days in the marching band when we both lived in the village. We had a good time between concerts, laughter, drinking and lots of friends. It was a lifetime ago.
For an unknown reason, I have always had a good feeling towards him, as if only beautiful things orbited around him. It is an irrational belief that comes out of my unconscious thoughts, so illogical that I feel it crystal clear! I am in this way. I follow instinct and live with passions.
Salvo told me that he wanted to publish on Facebook, through the successful Tuttogalatimamertino page, some videos about his grandfather, the homonymous Salvatore di Nardo (born in 1921), an Alpine in Russia with the Armir during the Second World War.
Nino Serio, the page administrator, raised some concerns as the material was complex and lasted more than three hours! It was a long interview with his grandfather about that tragic adventure, full of documentaries.
I could not stand that this story could end like this! It was the sparkle of that boy that did not give me peace. I suddenly felt within me a big craving to see that material, to know that story that had stayed buried for almost seventy years.
Those videos were like sparks that light a fire. The creative clapper set in motion, making my soul buzz. In me, the uncontrollable urge that I had already felt in my life and that I knew very well: to write.
I called Salvo Di Nardo.
“I’ll write a novel about it!” I told him point-blank.
He, touched, replied, “In my heart, that was what I wanted!”
This novel is, therefore, based on a true story. Nevertheless, some characters, organizations, and circumstances may be the fruit of the author's imagination or, if they exist, used for narrative purposes.
Almost.
