It has the flow of a fairy tale, one of those that enchant both children and adults: the short novel The big tree (Salani), by Susanna Tamaro, tells the centuries-old life of a solitary fir tree, a silent witness to history and the object of envy of other fir trees.
Then one day its trunk is cut and the tree, after a long journey, arrives in St. Peter’s Square to be decorated for Christmas. But a squirrel who had chosen his foliage as a love nest doesn’t give up on the idea of the tree dying. “It would take a miracle,” he thinks. AND Who but that man dressed in white, a little trembling but looking so wise, can help him return the tree to his forest? Susanna Tamaro is one of the most translated Italian writers in the world. His are poetic books, which speak to the heart and in which nature plays a very important role. Some are books aimed specifically at children, others are universal fairy tales for everyone, just like “The Big Tree”. We propose again the interview we did with the author, who however wrote a column on Christian familywhen the book came out.
“The Big Tree” comes out 10 years after his last children’s book. Why so long?
«To write well for children requires a special sensitivity. Especially if you want to convey feelings and values through the medium of a fairy tale.”
Susanna, did you love reading as a child?
«As a child I didn’t like school, and I saw books as an imposition. Rather, I was an avid reader of comics and magazines in general. I started reading the “Giornalino” around the age of 12, I liked the columns and comics. My favorite was Pinky. Later, as an adult, I often gave children subscriptions to the “Giornalino”, and then also to “G Baby”.
What else were you passionate about as a child?
«Nature, a love that has accompanied me throughout my life. I was very fond of a large walnut tree, which I found every summer in my grandmother’s house on the Karst. Then, one year, in its place I only found a hole with roots: they had cut it down. For me it was a great pain that I relived by writing “The Big Tree”».
But here the protagonist is a fir tree…
«Yes, and this tree also belongs to a significant moment in my life. I was in Austria,
while recovering from an illness, I was walking in the woods when I found myself in a clearing where this imposing fir tree stood out, solitary and majestic. He was the perfect protagonist for the story that I had wanted to write for years and for which I had been looking for inspiration for a long time
right.”
In another of his books, Tobit and the angel, there is a grandfather who teaches his granddaughter how to distinguish trees by sound. Do trees really talk to us?
«I remember the concert of thousands of conifers one windy night in Northern Canada. Or the buzz that comes from the lime trees, trees with a unique color and scent.”
What relationship does it have with trees?
«I am in love with them. I have planted many in my life, also because I am lucky enough to live in the countryside, in Umbria. I love oaks for their stability; willows because they are flexible and have a large canopy; and of course conifers for their upward momentum.”
In the book for the salvation of the great tree the intervention of a pope is providential…
«It is a tribute to John Paul II, a pope I loved very much, and who I also met. He was a pope from the North, with a special sensitivity, and I liked to imagine him so pure that he listened to a squirrel’s cry for help and knew how to transform it into a great message to humanity.”
And what message do you want to leave to readers?
«Learn to look at nature: it is an open book that tells us about beauty. We ourselves are nature, true happiness lies in it. Walk in the middle of a forest, learn to distinguish the trees, and fight to defend them.”
And his biggest dream?
«A child’s dream: being able to travel far and wide in the world without the hassle of packing your bags and taking trains and planes…».
And it already seems like the beginning of a new story…
