THE LITTLE SARDINIAN DRUMMER
THE LITTLE SARDINIAN DRUMMER
BY EDMONDO DE AMICIS
Edmondo de Amicis, Italian publicist with a military training, born in 1846, is principally known as the author of “Il Cuore” (“The Heart of a Boy”), a simple classic intended for children, and which has had an incredible influence on school life in Italy. It pretends to be a child’s own day to day record of his school year.His style has not crystallised into originality—it suggests on one page Washington Irving, with gentle, smooth, playful humor, broad tolerance, and on the next it suggests the word-painters like Théophile Gautier, with their keen observation and warm, rich coloring.
Edmondo de Amicis, Italian publicist with a military training, born in 1846, is principally known as the author of “Il Cuore” (“The Heart of a Boy”), a simple classic intended for children, and which has had an incredible influence on school life in Italy. It pretends to be a child’s own day to day record of his school year.
His style has not crystallised into originality—it suggests on one page Washington Irving, with gentle, smooth, playful humor, broad tolerance, and on the next it suggests the word-painters like Théophile Gautier, with their keen observation and warm, rich coloring.