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Giuseppe Culicchia. Tutti giu per terra. Milan. Garzanti. 1994. 133 pages. L.20,000. ISBN 8811620031.
The phrase "Tutti giu per terra" makes up the last line of the well-known Italian nursery rhyme "Giro giro tondo, casca il mondo," which the author cites in his opening paragraph, the idea being "All fall down." Toward the end of the 1980s, when the world seemed to be coming to an end, Walter, our twenty-year-old hero, while waiting for the event, wandered aimlessly around Turin day after day, seeing the same streets, stores, and faces. He felt he was free, but only in the sense that he was free to do nothing. Then his draft notice came, and the story begins.
Walter reports for the physical exam and is told he is eligible to serve. Before joining up, however, he learns that by becoming a conscientious objector he can serve his time in a...