The Volga Rises in Europe

The Volga Rises in Europe (Italian: Il Volga nasce in Europa) is a book of World War II journalism by the Italian writer Curzio Malaparte.

Summary

The book is a collection of newspaper articles about the Eastern Front during World War II that Malaparte wrote for the Corriere della Sera.

Publication

The book was printed twice in 1943. The first edition was destroyed in Allied bombing and the second repressed by German authorities. It was republished and reached readers in Italy in 1951, and in English translation in 1957.^[1]

Reception

The Times Literary Supplement wrote in its review: "If The Voga Rises in Europe does not quite come up to the level of [Malaparte's 1944 novel] Kaputt, and one has very much the feeling that it has already been stripped of many of its plums for earlier and other use, yet it convincingly confirms Malaparte's right, whatever his faults, to be rated one of the most brilliant reporters of our time."^[1] International Affairs wrote that The Volga Rises in Europe and Kaputt share the same "virtues and faults", but that Kaputt covers some of the same events in a more substantial way. The critic called Malaparte an "epic scene-painter of extraordinary power" and wrote that his sociological reflections about World War II are striking, although ultimately unconvincing.^[2]

References