Words are Stones: Impressions of Sicily Book

Levi writes at the end of this scorching indictment of corruption in Sicilia: (my translation-perdonatemi) "Sicily is far away. But already the train, in the glowing morning light, carries me to Rome, too aware and too ignorant, asleep in its own history without limits and in the torpor of the hot summer." By Rome, he alludes to Italy's central government, from the time of the Risorgimento until relatively recent years, willfully ignorant of social injustice and misery in Italy's southern regions. Here, Levi's encounters around Sicily underscore established and nearly unassailable inequities, abetted by the complicit relationship between government (local and national), the police, and the mafia. By the last chapter, Levi convinces the reader of the indomitable spirit residing in the heart of every contadino, every small shop owner, every worker in the sulphur mines, and every soul sacrificed to the betterment of life for everyone.