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Authors Martigli and Lombardi Offer Two Vastly Different Worlds |
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| 10/12/2009 |
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“When I was a child, I asked my parents if the Befana [in Italian folklore, the ugly old woman who brings children gifts at Epiphany] really existed. [My mother] told me that certain questions shouldn’t be asked, and that if I wanted to know the answer, from that moment on the Befana wouldn’t give me any more presents. My answer was clear-cut: I preferred the truth over the presents. From that day on, from the holiday of the Epiphany, the Befana didn’t bring me anything anymore, and was replaced by my parents.”
This search for truth compelled Carlo A. Martigli to write 999: L’Ultimo Custode, a historical thriller about Pico della Mirandola, an intellectual in the late Middle Ages, a friend of Lorenzo de’ Medici, and a highly educated and wealthy man who, according to legend, was endowed with an incredible memory. He died of arsenic poisoning, an extreme measure taking by the Church to ensure that della Mirandola’s revolutionary intentions would be forgotten. Della Mirandola had wanted to organize a counsel in Rome in February of 1487 that would affirm that “God is the Mother,” and on this basis unify the three great monotheistic religions: Christianity, Judaism and Islam.
“Obviously, my book owes much to the books of Umberto Eco. I wanted to write a historical thriller that was also based on reality, however. In this, Pico della Mirandola is an exceptional inspiration. Without wanting to sound disrespectful, I think that he’s even more interesting than Leonardo [Da Vinci], who followed him by several years. Da Vinci represented the “Roman world,” of scientist architects. Della Mirandola represents the Greek world, of thought, philosophy.”
Marco Lombardi’s I nuovi amici, on the other hand, is very contemporary. Said the writer about the thriller set in the world of business: “Obviously there’s a lot of me in this book. I worked for several years as the personnel director for various companies so it’s a world I know really well. Sometimes, writing requires that you dig inside yourself, kind of like the Brazilian healers who say they operate with their bare hands.”
Alongside his work as a film and food critic, producer and screenwriter, Lombardi, who was born in Turin but now lives in Rome, has now added that of writer. “I didn’t want to write a genre book,” he admits, “the important thing was to express myself. I can’t say if I was influenced by any one writer in particular. In writing this book I used my entire past, the things I’ve seen and read. The genre was the form through which this entire world could emerge.” |
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