Laura Tegazzin

Pinocchio Laura Tegazzin

Everyone knows Pinocchio, but many people don't know the real story. The original book was written by Carlo Lorenzini alias Carlo Collodi. It was published for the first time in 1883 with the title "The adventures of Pinocchio: The Story of a Puppet". Since then, many versions have been proposed, especially cinematographic ones, which have modified and softened both the character and the plot. In the original story the world in which Pinocchio lives is merciless and cruel, populated by thieves, murderers and cheaters who will do anything to try to kill or rob. As he grows and matures, Pinocchio must not only learn to defend himself from danger, but also from bullying classmates and from the deception of kind and flattering men. He also learns not to place too much trust in judges, police and doctors. This may seem excessive to us today, but warning children about the injustices and cruelty of the real world was a feature of children's literature of the 1800s. However, the use of irony and the imaginary characters (puppets, animals, fairies) go a long way towards mitigating the dramatic reality described in the story. The original book uses 19th-century Italian and is strongly influenced by terms and idioms typical of the Tuscan language. In this edition, the language has been simplified and updated, to adapt it to intermediate level students of Italian.