Bard, 1991, $7.99m USBB 0-380-71589-9, 723 pgs., paperback

When I bought this--out of a discount bin for 50 cents-- I thought this was non-fiction. Imagine my surprise when this turned out to be a novel. And it was my pleasant surprise to discover a well-written and imaginative novel. Of course, if I had been paying attention, I would have seen the word "fiction" under the Bard logo.

Anyway, Alessandro Giuliani, retired professor in Italy, is taking his last trolley ride from Rome when he impulsively steps off to try and help a young man catch the trolley. The trolley leaves both behind, so they walk. Along the way, the young man learns about life, philosophy, and WWI.

Halprin's novel combines chilling accounts of trench warfare with bizarre wartime hijinks. Giuliani, no fool, joins the Navy, and in a twist, is sent on an inland patrol that ends up holding a river post in front of the main trench line. Along the way: wounded, decorated, picked for a hazardous secret raid down in Sicily, mutinied, saved, wounded again, and fell in love. The Italian Army survives Giuliani, just as Giuliani survives the Italian Army and WWI.

Strangely, there's nothing much about WWII or afterwards in the novel--a slight oddity when you consider the old professor is pouring out his life story.

In any case, the main character offers interesting perspectives on life, limb, and property. Most of it sails over the head of the young man, but not over the reader's head. Though an odd circumstance, it works as you learn more and more about Giuliani's background.

All in all: well done!

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