I sentieri degli aghi di pino

Meeting with Mauro Corona

Free entry until seats are filled

The lives of the two brothers, the protagonists of Mauro Corona's new novel, are not just different; they are irreconcilable. Raised between the breath of the forest and the severe, bare gaze of the peaks, the boy and the girl received their grandfather's teachings, a mountaineer who tried to instill in both of them respect for nature in all its forms and the value of honest hard work, the kind that makes every achievement worthwhile.

Yet, now that they are adults, and that shared stretch of path is behind them, they have made different choices. She has prioritized environmental protection and developed a pure and uncompromising ecological sensitivity. He, who has always mocked his grandfather's warnings, has set himself less noble goals, and has turned his deep knowledge of trees into a profit-making opportunity.

Thus, for the sister, the cutting down of a forest is an unforgivable affront and a foolish self-condemnation for mankind, while for him it is the normal consequence of progress, which places human beings and their needs at the center of everything. Withdrawn in his den, among the books and sculptures that have remained to keep him company now that exhaustion has distanced him from the peaks, the old man observes this new generation, somewhat lost, with concern but also with the benevolence of one who believes that if the roots are good, not all is lost.

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Mauro Corona was born in Erto in 1950. He is the author of several works, including Il volo della martora, Le voci del bosco, Finché il cuculo canta, Gocce di resina, Nel legno e nella pietra, Aspro e dolce, L’ombra del bastone, Vajont: quelli del dopo, I fantasmi di pietra, Storia di Neve, La fine del mondo storto (Bancarella Prize 2011), La ballata della donna ertana, Come sasso nella corrente, Venti racconti allegri e uno triste, La voce degli uomini freddi (finalist for the Campiello Prize 2014), Una lacrima color turchese, I misteri della montagna, La via del sole, Nel muro, L’ultimo sorso, Le altalene, Lunario sentimentale, and the fairy tale collections Storie del bosco antico, Torneranno le quattro stagioni. Recently, Mondadori republished his first short story, Il soffio del gallo forcello, written over thirty years ago.