“In Milan everything plays and everyone plays something.”
A nice and in its own way captivating idea, that of the author to describe his city, Milan, through the five senses that man has: a clear perception of how the city is felt and envelops each person, even before it can be thought; an observation so true in a city where everyone is passing through life. In fact, as an old adage says, Milan is for everyone, but not everyone is for Milan.
The text cannot be defined as a guide, nor even a novel, but rather a long love letter, that the author feels the need to write to his city. That irrational falling in love from which the sixth sense then springs, which in Milan is transfigured as the ability to understand and predict and intuit it in every season of the year.
Many of the stories told by force of circumstances, stir in the basket of the author’s memory, from the lightheartedness of the Bob Marley concert at the San Siro stadium, to his victory in the fight against a sudden illness. A roller coaster ride, that every Milanese (both native and adoptive) has experienced.
The people and places narrated, because they are known firsthand, or by hearsay from the author, have the ability to make the city less cold and gray than the stereotype teaches. Then certainly this is a perception that changes from neighborhood to neighborhood, but that’s another story.
Easy reading, not at all demanding. The many curiosities present, on the most disparate sayings and characters, soaked in urban legend, have an indirect ability to attract the younger reader, discovering the world, and also the older one, curious to test his level of knowledge of the city, and perhaps to navigate through memories.
We read it in a day (and we are not fast readers), but we were happy to do more than a few ears to the pages, as a reference of some fact narrated, or explained, that can be easily consulted in the future.
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Marco Dell’Acqua, Milano in tutti i sensi, Laurana, Milano, 2024