Conversation in Sicily

, Conversation in Sicily; U.S. title In Sicily), the clearest expression of his anti-fascist feelings. The action of the book is less important than the emotional agony of its hero, brought on by his constant consciousness of fascism, war, and the plight of his brothers.

… wrote Conversazione in Sicilia (1941; Conversation in Sicily); all definitely promised a new literary development. From these and from the discovery of American literature (William Faulkner, Erskine Caldwell, John Steinbeck, John Dos Passos, and Ernest Hemingway, translated mainly by Elio Vittorini and Pavese), postwar writing took its cue. Certain English…