[sun surfer]

As with other months of this club's nominations, I'm interested in so many of the works that I'm having a hard time deciding which to support.

beppe, I read your post on Christ Stopped At Eboli and it seems as if you wouldn't quite view it as non-fiction (you mention that you see it as a narrative, a novel and as minor neorealism), so I searched a little on the internet on the subject.

The few answers I found are mixed.

In some places it is called a "documentary novel".

One blog reviewer said that "it's not quite a non-fiction novel because it lacks a singular plot strand and focuses more on anecdotes and observations".

One editorial review pointed out that "Levi also wrote non-fiction", which would of course lead one to believe that this reviewer didn't consider this as non-fiction.

Some sites though categorise this book as non-fiction.

Then there is this review: "Though called a novel, Christ Stopped at Eboli is really nonfiction. Levi changed the name of his town, Aliano, to Gagliano, but other than such minimal changes, most of the accounts in the 'novel' are true."

And I have a question: As far as this being neorealism, couldn't neorealism literature also be considered non-fiction?


All in all, my impression is that this work is somewhat of a blend. In my opinion at the moment, from reading the reviews, it seems to be largely non-fiction though, and thus seems to be appropriate for this month.

However, I leave it up to others to give their opinion on the matter too, should anyone else so desire.


ETA - I forgot to mention, it is interesting to note that when googling "christ stopped at eboli fiction non-fiction", this thread is on the first page of results!