A Bell for Adano
Set in an occupied Italian town during World War II, this novel follows an American administrator trying to win back the trust of the residents. Through practical action and empathy, it examines how civic dignity can be preserved in wartime.
Work Information
A wartime novel about a man who tries to build trust between military rule and everyday civilian life.
"A Bell for Adano" is one of John Hersey's best-known novels and won the Pulitzer Prize in 1945. Focusing on the restoration of order in an occupied town, it presents both the violence of war and the possibility of humane governance.
Book Information
- Publisher
- Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
- Published
- 1988-03-12
- Pages
- 288 pages
- Language
- 英語
- Size
- 13.1 x 1.9 x 20.2 cm
- ISBN-13
- 9780394756950
- ISBN-10
- 0394756959
- Price
- 2970 JPY
- Category
- 洋書/Literature & Fiction/Genre Fiction/War
PULITZER PRIZE WINNER • This classic novel and winner of the Pulitzer Prize tells the story of an Italian-American major in World War II who wins the love and admiration of the local townspeople when he searches for a replacement for the 700-year-old town bell that had been melted down for bullets by the fascists. Although stituated during one of the most devastating experiences in human history, John Hersey's story speaks with unflinching patriotism and humanity.
John Hersey was born in Tientsin, China, in 1914 and lived there until 1925, when his family returned to the United States. He studied at Yale and Cambridge, served for a time as Sinclair Lewis’s secretary, and then worked several years as a journalist. Beginning in 1947 he devoted his time mainly to writing fiction. He won the Pulitzer Prize, taught for two decades at Yale, and was president of the Authors League of America and Chancellor of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. John Hersey died in 1993.
Reviews
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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.
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This was a gift. The person liked it, but said they enjoyed the movie more.
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Book in decent condition . Good read.
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I checked out the book from the local library and really enjoyed it, so decided that I wanted a copy for my own personal library. The problem was that I did not see that the size of the book is big and then upon inspecting it, it has the quality of a slick magazine.......As for the story - one of the best and highly recommend the book, not just the size of this particular book edition.
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A beautiful and rather sad story; the characters are very well portrayed, both Italians and Americans, making the story believable and poignant.
Related Literary Awards
- Pulitzer Prize Edition 29 (1945) ・Winner