A Bell for Adano

Back in high school, I made a vow to myself that I would eventually read all of the Pulitzer Prize winning novels. A Bell for Adano was one of the first that I read. Now, a few years later, I have read around 30 of those novels, and while many have been wonderful, few have matched the experience of reading A Bell for Adano, and I continue to return to it.
The splendid novel is set during World War II, though it isn't really a war novel. The novel is about how very different people can, and should treat one another, especially when in a difficult situation. A Bell for Adano primarily concerns Major Joppolo. He is an American officer placed in charge of the city of Adano after the invasion. Joppolo is a wonderful, though flawed man. He's always practical but remains sentimental. He sets out to make the lives of the people of Adano the best he possibly can. He does so by not treating them as the enemy but as People. The "bell" of Adano refers his attempt to restore an historic bell to the city that it had lost during the war.
I can never do justice to my favorite novels when I review them, and this is one of them. I can't say enough good about it. The characterizations are strong and the interactions between the characters are touching and thought-provoking. Joppolo's relationship to the city's people is truly remarkable. It makes one think about America's relationship with foreign countries. The story is heart-tugging and humorous. There are few novels written this century that can touch a reader as much as this one does, and this one can make you think a little, too. A Bell for Adano certainly deserved its prize, and it definitely deserves to not be forgotten.

My head read this book and said: "If only Iraq were this easy. The Americans invade Sicily in World War II and Major Joppolo is put in charge of the small town of Adano. Despite the grisly casualties in the taking of the town, the whole place falls instantly in love with the American major. And what about those ethnic stereotypes? The Sicilians all seem like goodhearted but slightly retarded children, an impression reinforced by their comical dialogue, both when they speak English ("Okay, a boss, you're a not a kid Giuseppe") and in literal translation, when they speak their native language (so "Viva il Signor Capitano!" becomes "Live the Mr. Captain!"). Sicilians who were there during the war say it was not this way at all: the Americans installed members of the mafia as mayors to keep the Sicilians under control."
My heart, who also read the book, replied: "You just don't understand. This is a beautiful tale about how a single individual can make a difference. Two vastly different worlds collide, but the result is pure magic because Major Joppolo throws the rule book away and reaches out to the town with his heart, inventing novel solutions to problems, trying to get a replacement for the bell that the Germans stole, and, above all, connecting with the people. The humor is marvelous: The scene in which the priest holds an interminable church service waiting for the major, who promised to attend but who has lost track of the time, will guarantee at least one chuckle. And Hersey choreographed the poignant scene when the Italian prisoners of war come home to their women as pure ballet."
In the end my heart prevailed when my head remembered that Aristotle said that the purpose of drama was not to represent reality, but to effect "a catharsis of pity and fear." This book will do more than that: it will make you smile, and it will make you feel a little better about the human race.

John Hersey would go on to win the Pulitzer Prize and become a prominent star in the pantheon of twentieth century writers. This book was written during World War II and was a best-seller when released in 1944. And it still resonates today. In short, it is the story of an American officer given civil responsibility for overseeing the coastal Italian town of Adano following its liberation by American forces.
How Major Victor Joppolo goes about this task is interesting as are the variety of Italians-former fascists and anti-fascists alike--he meets and, eventually, wins over. More gripping, though, is the character of Jappolo himself who, in many ways, Hersey repressents as Everyman--or at least EveryAmercicanman. He is practical, yet sentimental. He wants to do good, but also wants to be loved. He has a strong sense of loyalty, yet hungers after an Italian woman despite loving his wife back home. He admires the Italians, but shapes them in our American mold. He is--in modern psychobabble--conflicted; imperfect, yet very admirable.
The title refers to the city's most prominent--it has dozens of them--bell which for seven hundred years called the people to work, to eat, to love, to church, to life. It was shipped away by the retreating Germans to be made into bullets at some northern foundry. Its lack leaves a gaping wound in the civic fabric. Joppolo, of course, gets the town a replacement bell. How he does it fills you with pride. His first hearing of its strong voice can break your heart. This is a worthwhile book both as a story and as a still provocative look at the American character.

This a truly outstanding story. It can be enjoyed on many levels. Most obviously, it is wonderfully refreshing in showing American soldiers at their jobs -- winning a war and improving the lives of their former adversaries. It is also a poignantly understated love story. It is also a humorous and brilliant study in how organizations work, including the countless ways that underlings attempt to undermine "orders" from the top. It is also a true-to-life tale about the many ways an American occupation of a foreign country can go disastrously wrong, though in Adano disaster is narrowly averted over and again. The writing style is beautiful and spare.

Adult themes are treated with good taste. This treatment makes them all the more powerful in the story.

Not so long ago, Adano was a common fixture on school reading lists. The general lack of comments from students here on Amazon confirms my impression that schools are not teaching Adano much these days. That's a shame. Adano is a vastly better work than the politically correct tripe that so many schools dish out (a very partial list: My Brother Sam is Dead; Farewell to Manzanar; The House on Mango Street; The Bomb; The Slave Dancer). If you are home schooling, note that Adano won the Pulitzer Prize and is a proper substitute for almost any book that appears on current "recommended" lists.

An enchanting saga about how a variety of characters react to a difficult time.
An engaging view of a clash of cultures. The vigorous American culture versus the age-old Italian culture.
An endearing cast of characters that will linger in your memory. From peasant buffoons to wise old men. From selfish to magnanimous. From simple to sophisticated. From despicable to saintly. An amazing portait of humanity.
An enthralling quest of one Major Joloppo. His attempt to return civility to an incivil world.
And it is all couched in a warm, humorous story line which will keep you interested to the last word. Not a "page-turner" or thriller, but you will want to know what happens to the Major on his quest and how all of the characters either help or hinder him along the way.
I was very glad I followed the advice of the other reviewers and read this book.

Easy reading. Shows an American officer organizing a small Italian village during World War II. Chapters are short. Main character is admirable. Humor has been injected in the form of the Italian villagers. Not overly complex. This copy of the book was easy to read and make notations in.

This book has been on my mind a lot since I read it. It is funny, sad, frustrating, and tragic at the same time. I admired, but hated the ending. The book was beautifully written, but, Oh, so sad! I wish things could have gone differently for Major Joccolo. He certainly deserved better. On the other hand, he takes everything well, even his final punishment. A must read.

I loved this book. I will admit that I'm a fan of the 1940s, both movies and books. However, this Pulitzer Prize-winning novel transcends all that -- it's simply a fine story. Even though the theme is World War II, this is not a story of battle. Instead, it's about a compassionate major and his attempts to bring humanity to a war-torn town in Italy. The books is funny, charming and moving. It's a quick read and a worthwhile one. I highly recommend it.

Every so often I feel inadequate writing a review because I fear it cannot express my reverence for the book’s writing. Such is the case now. My words about John Hersey’s A Bell for Adano are a tinkling triangle compared with the deep, full, rich town bell Major Joppolo insisted on for Adano. Hersey’s 1944 novel well deserved the 1945 Pulitzer Prize. When I read this book for high school English in the late 1960s, I could not possibly have grasped its depth and wisdom. Almost 50 years, four major U.S. overseas conflicts, some foreign travel, and a more realistic understanding of human nature later, I can now appreciate Hersey’s story. And I am a different citizen because of this book. I only hope more Americans will read this novel today. Here’s why:

• Although John Hersey’s A Bell for Adano takes place in World War II, it is more about human nature than about that war.
• Although A Bell for Adano shows the general nature of wars, it is more about why the United States fights them.
• Although A Bell for Adano is about ideologies underlying regimes, it is clear that of all the U.S. military personnel occupying Adano, only one man is a patriot for the right reasons.
• Although that one man, Major Joppolo, exhibits daily justice, mercy, wisdom, and democratic government to Adano’s people, he is subject to U.S. military personnel who abuse authority and do not understand democracy.

To see the blossoming of Adano’s townspeople from cowering, bitter, closet-rebels under Fascism to welcoming, cooperative citizens under Major Joppolo’s loving and respectful administration of democracy filled me with joy to be American. To see Major Joppolo’s U.S. military colleagues take advantage of and even be cruel toward the Italian people whose town they occupied filled me with horror at our part in the arrogance the world sees in Americans.

Reading this novel did indeed produce mixed emotions. I also very much enjoyed the book and didn’t want it to end. Hersey created colorful characters and lively authentic dialog, which gave an intriguing pace and many funny moments. The book is full of little descriptive gems like “the man who still wears spurs even though he rides everywhere in an armored car.” Major Joppolo seems to have the wisdom of Solomon when solving townspeople’s myriad problems. I especially liked how he finds the source of runaway inflation and solves it. He has human weaknesses, of course, but Major Joppolo gives the reader a living example of how democracy is supposed to work.

Toward the beginning of his time as acting mayor of Adano, Major Joppolo gathers his team of administrators and tells in words what he tries to live out [page 45 in my edition]: “Adano has been a Fascist town. That is natural, because the country was Fascist, therefore the town was also. But now that the Americans have come, we are going to run the town as a democracy. Perhaps you do not know what a democracy is. I will tell you. Democracy is this: Democracy is that the men of the government are no longer the masters of the people. They are the servants of the people. … Therefore you are now the servants of the people of Adano. I too am their servant. When I go to buy bread, I shall take my place at the end of the line, and I will wait my turn. … Remember, you are servants now. You are servants of the people of Adano. And watch: This thing will make you happier than you have ever been in your lives.”

If only we could live this out …

It's 1943, just after the invasion of Sicily by the American army. Major Joppolo is assigned to be the administrative head of the newly-captured town of Adano. He has to face crisis after crisis and deal with all sorts of people--both Italian and American--in order to get things running again. He falls in love with a local girl and incurs the enmity of an arrogant American general. To gather the town's spirit, so much damaged by the war, he tries to get a bell to replace the one melted down by the Fascists. A BELL FOR ADANO is basically a series of vignettes centered around this story, not a tale of personality transformation. The good guys remain good, but bad guys will be bad.
Hersey presents his story in a very naïve style, similar to Saroyan at the same period. It was a morale-boosting effort, self-praising by Americans to tell themselves "this is what we stand for, this is what we are fighting for". It was a moment in history when Americans believed they had something very special to offer the world. The American way, democratic and hardworking, is contrasted to whatever existed in Sicily before. Even if there's army-navy rivalry, if there are bad apples among the Americans, the newly-arrived victors mean well. The American characters are rough and smooth, good and bad, but nothing is very philosophical or psychologically deep. The characters are all pretty thin. Some parts seemed very sappy to me with their "sweet" Italian characters, most of whom came from some stockbook of stereotypes.
Fifteen years after Hersey wrote this novel (which was a great success at the time), "The Ugly American" tried to show a similar thing---that we have a lot to offer the world, but we are our own worst enemies. After another half century---how many invasions more ?--- today we are perhaps a bit wiser, a little more cynical. The American occupation of Sicily is an interesting bit of world history, but our approach to the period has changed over 65 years, and it would be hard to convince most contemporary readers that we are so benign. That's why I would say that this is a book that has not stood the test of time very well. It may have made Americans proud in those days of world war, but I think three stars are more than sufficient today.