Word: nicolo
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...time I got to college, though, I'd decided that I wanted to be a history professor. I was excited by the prospect of ensconcing myself in Widener Library behind a hard wooden desk, poring over the relatively obscure works of Nicolo Machiavelli, illuminating the great thinker's inner thoughts...
...also picked themes -- war and loss, youth and age -- that suit a large, elaborate style. His hero is a 74-year-old Italian, Alessandro Giuliani, during World War I a soldier who fought the Austrians and, in 1964, the novel's present time, a professor of aesthetics. Alessandro meets Nicolo, a 17-year-old illiterate factory apprentice, when they both miss a weekend bus from Rome to the hill towns. On a whim, they decide to walk the 70 km or so to their destinations. On the way, Alessandro tells his story...
...this traditional literary format takes shape -- pilgrims, a long walk, a tale to while away the distance -- the elderly Alessandro rattles on owlishly. "Tell me," he says, "what kind of feet do you have?" Nicolo is confused. "I have human feet, Signore." Alessandro lectures: "Of course, but two kinds of feet exist . . . Feet of despair are too tender, and can't fight back . . . On the other hand, if I may, are the feet of invincibility...