The Red Horse

This is one of the best books I have ever read; it was a random find at Midway Books in St. Paul, Minnesota a couple years ago, which that place in itself is an amazing place to go book hunting.

Eugenio Corti has a brilliant way of bringing you into his world. It is WWII era with plenty of descriptive combat, but it’s not so much that it gets boring. The Red Horse follows four, then three, friends as they take different paths via the military through the war and the introduction of Communism in their little town in Italy. I did hit a slow patch during the height of Ambrogio’s tour in Russia, but once it jumped a little more from person to person it picked up again for me. It’s not that I didn’t like Ambrogio, because, like the other three boys, he was a great human being and brother, he just seemed a little too neutral/middle man for me especially when the war was ending.

Michele grew on me really quick; he was the intellect of the boys as well as the quiet rebel. He sees the ugly head of Communism firsthand and has to live it as a POW. I commend him on not giving in to the cultural changes in Italy by doing so in a peaceful manner.

This is one of the few books I am keeping because I hope to read it again one day. There were points where I legit cried because of becoming invested in the boys’ lives. I was also a little triggered because my dad was in Iraq when I was going from elementary to middle school. If you are interested in trying out this behemoth of goodness, which I hope you will be, it’s available here. This is also an excellent book for discussion if you want to talk WWII era, Communism, etc.

10/10