Fourth event in our series Children’s classics
Carmen van den Bergh
On Sunday May 25, Carmen van den Bergh, associate professor of Italian at Leiden University, focuses on the famous story of Pinocchio, a masterpiece of Italian literature.
With over 300 translations, it is not only the most translated and best sold Italian book, but also the third most circulated book of all time in world literature. Not only its exciting story and moral content, but also the unique way it was created makes Pinocchio a unique book.
Initially, the story did not end with a happy ending at all. In the very first version, Pinocchio dies a lonely, gruesome death – far away from his father and his friends. But the many young fans of Pinocchio could not stomach this and wrote enormous amounts of letters to the editor of the magazine which published the story in instalments. And with success: author Carlo Collodi adapted the story. Thus the story became what it is today, in which Pinocchio eventually rescues his father from the whale’s belly, and, as a reward, turns into a real boy.
During the lecture, excerpts from Pinocchio will be read from the original version and we will discover together how a classic is not only written, but also shaped – by the readers themselves!
Sunday May 25, 16.00. Admission: free. Mayflower Bookshop, Breestraat 70, Leiden.