Comrade Don Camillo (original: 1963; edição: 1964)

Don Camillo, a village priest, manages to get Peppone, the mayor of the village and Senator who represents the Communist Party, to take him on a tour of the Soviet Union in a select group of ten of the best of the Communist party men of Italy. What follows is a funny yet poignant adventure of their complicated friendship and Don Camillo's calling. Even while poking Peponne and aggravating him to extremes, Don Camillo never forgets his true calling and is faithful.

Written in installments in 1959 for the paper Candido, this story was meant to be a nail in the coffin of Communism in Italy. It certainly laid its blows effectively, but what lives on are the characters and their very human interactions with each other and with God. This is a book I will read again, not for its political ideology, nor for its Theology, but for its warmth and humor and fine story-telling. ( )

I read this when I was in high school as it was a selection from the Book-of-the-Month Club . It was an entertaining and humorous account of a visit to the then Soviet Union by a group of Italians. Don Camillo surreptitiously gains access to the group and proceeds, disguised as a loyal Communist party member. As you might expect, the expedition provides one comic moment after the other. ( )

Entrañables y divertidas las historietas entre D. Camilo y Pepone. Cada cual más cabezón que el otro. Con sus defectos, con sus virtudes, gente sana, que no duda en defender sus ideas, si hace falta, incluso a mamporrazos limpios. Pero gente de buen corazón.
En este caso se trata de algo más que una colección de sus aventuras. Se trata de una relato de envergadura, que además de la hilaridad habitual, que en este caso es soberbia, incorpora pequeñas dosis de drama, que hacen un conjunto magnífico.
El argumento es que D. Camilo se embarca, de incógnito, a un viaje organizado por Peppone y sus camaradas comunistas a la Unión Soviética. Y allí sucede toda la trama. Divertidísima, pero tierna.
Es una de mis obras favoritas. Esta novela fue incluso adaptada para el cine ( )

When Don Camillo (the priest) blackmails Peppone (the Communist mayor and senator) into taking him on a trip to Russia, he finds ways to turn everyone's life upside down. Written in the mid-60's, it is wonderfully insightful about the political situation and about life and religion in general. Unlike the earlier Don Camillo books, this is a novel rather than a series of short sketches. ( ) ( )