For a Handful of Books - Season 21

First aired: 1/20/2018 12 episodes

Episodes

1. The Catcher in the Rye (by J.D. Salinger)

Aired: 1/20/2018

In this first episode of the new edition, the classes of the Liceo Classico "Tito Livio" of Padua and the Liceo Classico "Galileo Galilei" of Florence will compete. The text on which they will compete is a true "coming-of-age novel" of twentieth-century literature that has marked generations of readers: "The Catcher in the Rye" by the American writer J.D.Salinger. The books presented by Piero Dorfles are: "Bambinate", by Piergiorgio Paterlini (Einaudi 2017) and "Maria Accanto" by Matteo B. Bianchi (Fandango 2017).

2. Diary (of Anne Frank)

Aired: 1/27/2018

The second episode of "Per un pugno di libri", the most famous book game in Italy, sees the "Galileo Ferraris" Scientific High School of Turin and the "Pellegrino Rossi" Classical High School of Massa Carrara compete. To commemorate Holocaust Remembrance Day, the classes were asked to read Anne Frank's "Diary". Published in Italy in 1954 with a preface by Natalia Ginsburg, the "Diary" was written by Frank between June 1942 and August 1, 1944. It is considered one of the most lucid and touching historical testimonies of the clandestine life of a Jewish family during the Second World War and of the tragedy of the Shoah in the Nazi extermination camps. The prize at "Per un pugno di libri", as always, is not money, but works of genius (i.e. many books) and the possibility of accessing the final between the two classes that ranked best during the program.

3. The Viceroys (by Federico De Roberto)

Aired: 2/3/2018

The eighteenth edition of the most famous book game in Italy continues unstoppably, with this episode pitting the "Oscar Romero" Linguistic High School of Albino (BG) against the "Orazio Flacco" Classical High School of Bari on Federico De Roberto's masterpiece "I Viceré". Published in 1894, the novel is a great portrait of a noble Sicilian family of Spanish origin, the Uzeda, between the Risorgimento and the Unification of Italy. Leading the game is Geppi Cucciari with Professor Piero Dorfles, who recommends, in this episode, "Borgo Vecchio" by Giosuè Calaciura (Sellerio 2017) and "Questo Nostra Italia" by Corrado Augias (Einaudi 2017).

4. Chronicle of a Death Foretold (by Gabriel Garcia Marquez)

Aired: 2/10/2018

The fourth episode of the most famous book game in Italy sees the Liceo Scientifico "Galileo Galilei" of Palermo and the Liceo Scientifico "Euclide" of Cagliari compete this Saturday on one of the most famous novels by Nobel Prize winner Gabriel Garcia Marquez: "Chronicle of a Death Foretold". Published for the first time in Italy in 1982, in this novel Marquez confronts the inevitability of fate by reconstructing the last hours of Santiago Nasar's life, victim, as the title itself says, of a crime foretold that the whole country knows about, but that no one can avoid. From this novel, in 1987, Francesco Rosi, with the collaboration of Tonino Guerra, made a film adaptation. The game is hosted by Geppi Cucciari with professor Piero Dorfles, who recommends, in this episode, "Selfie" by Jussi Adler-Olsen (Marsilio 2018) and "Nel Più Bel Sogno" by Marco Vichi (Guanda 2017).

5. The Metamorphosis (by Franz Kafka)

Aired: 2/17/2018

In the historic studios of Corso Sempione in Milan, the Liceo Classico "Jacopo Sannazaro" of Naples and the Liceo Classico "Giosuè Carducci" of Milan compete. In this fifth episode, "The Metamorphosis" by Franz Kafka (1883-1924) is the work on which the two high school classes will compete. The prize, as always, is not money, but works of genius (i.e. many books) and the possibility of accessing the final between the two classes ranked best during the program. Leading the game is Geppi Cucciari with professor Piero Dorfles, who recommends in this episode: "Vite straordinarie di uomini volante" by Errico Buonanno (Sellerio 2018) and "La cattivo" by Tammy Cohen (Astoria 2017).

6. Cosima (di Grazia Deledda)

Aired: 2/24/2018

In this episode, the Liceo Classico "Dante" of Trieste and the Liceo Classico "Nevio" of Santa Maria Capua Vetere (Caserta) compete. The book featured in the episode is "Cosima" by Nobel Prize winner Grazia Deledda (1871-1936), the work on which the two high school classes will compete. Leading the game is Geppi Cucciari with Professor Piero Dorfles, who recommends, in this episode, "Deledda, Una vita come un romanzo" by Luciano Marrocu (Donzelli, 2016) and "Isola" by Siri Ranva Hjelm Jacobsen (Iperborea, 2018).

7. Bouvard and Pécuchet (by Gustave Flaubert)

Aired: 3/3/2018

This seventh episode of "Per un pugno di libri", the most famous book game in Italy, sees the "Aldo Capitini" Technical Economic Institute of Agliana (PT) and the Majorana Institute of Avola (SR) compete. The two classes are competing against each other on Gustave Flaubert's unfinished novel "Bouvard and Pécuchet", published posthumously in 1881. Leading the game is Geppi Cucciari with Professor Piero Dorfles, who recommends, in this episode, "Deledda, Una vita come un romanzo" by Luciano Marrocu (Donzelli, 2016) and "Isola" by Siri Ranva Hjelm Jacobsen (Iperborea, 2018).

8. Perfume (by Patrick Suskind)

Aired: 3/10/2018

This episode of "Per Un Pugno di libri" sees the "Leonardo da Vinci" Linguistic High School of Civitanova Marche (MC) and the "Luigi Siciliani" Scientific High School of Catanzaro compete. The bestseller "Il profumo" by the German writer Patrick Suskind, published in 1985, is the book on which the two classes compete. Leading the game is Geppi Cucciari with Professor Piero Dorfles, who recommends, in this episode, "L'invidia degli dei" by Stefano Jacini (Bompiani, 2017) and "Stella o croce" by Gian Mauro Costa (Sellerio, 2018).

9. Born Twice (by Giuseppe Pontiggia)

Aired: 3/17/2018

This episode sees the Liceo Classico "Giuseppe Mazzini" of Genoa and the Liceo Classico "Galileo Galilei" of Macomer (SS) compete on the latest novel by the Lombard writer Giuseppe Pontiggia "Nati due volte", published in 2000 and winner of the Campiello Prize the following year. The game is led by Geppi Cucciari with the professor Piero Dorfles, who recommends, in this episode, "Un ragazzo d'oro" by Eli Gottlieb (Minimum Fax, 2018) and "La lente di Svevo" by Giuseppe Pontiggia (EDB, 2017).

10. The Massage Ceremony (by Alan Bennett)

Aired: 3/24/2018

The most famous book game in Italy in this episode sees the Liceo Scientifico "Marco Gerolamo Vida" of Cremona and the Istituto Tecnico Industriale "Enrico Fermi" of Modena compete. The book on which the two classes compete is the short novel La Cerimonia del Massaggio, written in 2002 by the contemporary British writer Alan Bennett. Leading the game is Geppi Cucciari with Professor Piero Dorfles, who recommends, in this episode, "An English Crime", by Cyril Hare (Sellerio, 2017) and "Tutti i banchi sono uguali", by Christian Raimo (Einaudi 2017).

11. The Stranger (by Albert Camus)

Aired: 3/31/2018

This episode of "Per Un Pugno di Libri" sees the "Virgilio" High School of Rome (international-French) and the "Volta" Scientific High School of Caltanissetta (international major) compete. The book on which the two classes compete is the famous novel "The Stranger" by Albert Camus, published in 1942 by the publisher Gallimard. Leading the game is Geppi Cucciari with Professor Piero Dorfles, who recommends, in this episode, "Bora. Istria, the Wind of Exile" by Anna Maria Mori and Nelide Milani (Marsilio, 2018) and "The Lost Friend" by Hella Haasse (Iperborea, 2017).

12. Richard III (by William Shakespeare)

Aired: 4/7/2018

In this last episode of the eighteenth edition of "Per Un Pugno di Libri", the winners of the "endgame" are the fifth B of the Liceo Classico Statale "Giosuè Carducci" of Milan and the fifth H of the Liceo Scientifico Statale "Galileo Galilei" of Palermo. The classes challenge each other on one of William Shakespeare's theatrical masterpieces: "Richard III". Leading the game is Geppi Cucciari with professor Piero Dorfles, who recommends, in this episode, "Racconti del mistero di Charles Dickens" by Nero Dickens (Marsilio, 2016) and "Dieci lezioni sui classici" by Piero Boitani (Il Mulino, 2017).