'La Fortuna' by Valeria Parrella intertwines the destinies of men in the face of nature: the Vesuvius volcano consigns the city of Pompeii to the history of humanity. An event in the historic headquarters of the Vesuvius Observatory, on Vesuvius, to talk about it in front of the natural protagonist.
The presentation of Valeria Parrella's novel "La Fortuna" will be held on Friday 7 October 2022 in the historic headquarters of the Vesuvius Observatory in Ercolano (NA) in a dialogue between the writer, Prof. Carlo Doglioni, President of the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV) and Mauro Antonio Di Vito, Director of the INGV Vesuvius Observatory.
With the intervention of Ettore De Lorenzo, journalist of the TGR Rai Campania, they will discuss the most famous eruption in history, the prodigious events of nature, their beauty and the indispensable awareness of natural risks.
Valeria Parrella, writer and playwright of Neapolitan origin, in her latest novel relives the events of 79 AD giving them an unprecedented perspective: that of a Pompeian teenager who, having enlisted in Pliny the Elder's fleet, witnesses the destruction of his city which, in that tragic event, finds immortality in history.
In the words of Prof. Doglioni: “History should teach. From the memory of the past we have many foundational elements for building our future. The eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD represented, in its tragedy, all the effects of the lack of knowledge. Indeed, precisely the belief that Vesuvius was only a mountain and not a volcano meant that the population was not alarmed when, as Pliny the Younger recounts, seismic events had already been felt for some days. Science and the past evolution of the Earth are a powerful means of prevention to be handed over to future generations to protect themselvesi ".
Participation is free while seats last.
'La Fortuna' by Valeria Parrella, ed. Feltrinelli, 2022
The prodigy comes from the earth, and shakes air and water. Incandescent stones and ashes rain from the sky, the sea is thick and the coast seems alive, every map drawn is distorted, the reference points lost. … Words are missing for that prodigy, there is no memory or history to reassure.
Image - Flyer for the presentation of Valeria Parrella's novel "La Fortuna", in a dialogue between the writer, Prof. Carlo Doglioni, President of the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV) and Mauro Antonio Di Vito, Director of the Vesuvius Observatory of INGV.