AND It was truly “a wonderful night, one of those nights like perhaps there can only be when you are young”, as Dostoevsky writes in the incipit of The white nights, the book chosen by Alessandro Baricco for his “Silent Storm” . On June 17, Rome stopped, thousands of readers, distributed throughout the capital, read at the same time: «The sky was so full of stars, so bright, that looking at it made you wonder: is it possible that there are angry and capricious people under this sky?
Between the chirping of cicadas and the intense scent of wild mint, the atmosphere at the Palatine Stadium in Rome was relaxed and magical.
“The silent storm” by Baricco: a project born and remained (fortunately) crazy
Alessandro Baricco is the visionary advocate of this experiment in widespread and shared reading, assisted by Silvia Barbagallo and Alessandro Mari. «What happens tonight seems like a picnic but it is a feat, an exercise of strength, because it is something that doesn’t happen in ordinary life, where no one sits down and reads a book from beginning to end”, the writer declared to the journalists present.
A moment of reading at the Palatine Stadium. Credits: Patrizia Ruscio
“There will be those who will give up everything and decide to enjoy the scenery, but there will be those who will go all the way.” In the words of the writers, reading, especially if shared, acquires a new strength that contrasts with the violence taking place in many areas of the world. It is a gentle and gentle force, the daughter of a project that Baricco himself defines as a bit crazy, madness that Roman readers welcomed and enjoyed enormously, as demonstrated by the “small storms” of private individuals who joined the initiative, making time and space available.
Alessandro Baricco at the Palatino Stadium together with Alessandro Mari. Courtesy: Patrizia Rusci
Brief chronicle of a “stormy evening”
At 8.47pm sharp, Alessandro Baricco kicked off The Silent Tempest by reading the first lines of the novel. His unmistakable voice gradually faded until it disappeared, leaving room for background music and shared, silent reading. There were people everywhere, lying on the floor and sitting in chairs. There was a quiet and harmony in the stadium that was difficult to describe in words.
The cell phones were all turned off and the only lights came from the candles donated by the municipal administration together with a copy of the book, in Giulia Gigante’s translation. After an hour and a half or a little more, Isabella Ragonese read the last lines, and while Nastenka put an end to the dreamer’s hopes of love, the notes of I will survive by Gloria Gaynor. Baricco passed through the crowd and started dancing, immediately followed by the audience who welcomed him with well-deserved applause.
Reading together is a gentle revolution
Thousands of people united by the passion for reading and the desire to give respite to the rhythms of daily life, took part in this spontaneous and unstructured ritual of cultural sharing, as had never been seen before. A revolution made of modesty and kindness, as declared by Rome’s Councilor for Culture Massimiliano Smeriglio: «Initiatives like these demonstrate that we can be together without performative logic.
Alessandra Baricco kicks off the Silent Storm. Courtesy: Patrizia Ruscio
Tonight no one wins or pays anything, on the contrary, they make a piece of themselves available to build a collective energy and a kind counter-narrative. Nobody shouts, there are no enemies, there is only a white night and the desire on the part of a multitude to read a love story written by a literary great.”
A subway car and the tram platform between the “small storms”
Alongside the Palatine Stadium and the other 6 institutional locations (the Ara Pacis, Villa Torlonia, the Testaccio slaughterhouse, the Rome Opera House, Piazza del Campidoglio and the Casa del Jazz), there are over 300 places in the capital that have been colonized by the crowd of readers.
The platform of a tram stop and a subway carriage, where you usually meet passengers absorbed in scrolling, were the most original places. The day before yesterday, Alessandro Baricco met with a representation of the people who created these collateral spaces, personally delivering some of the 25,000 copies of the book, made available by the Municipality of Rome with the support of the library network.