Fantadream

By Davide Minuzzo

A fantastic journey of a special boy, an young Einstein.
An exploratory adventure to discover the solar system among celestial bodies and legends of ancient populations.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Jul 9, 2015
• ISBN: 9781329285545

Book preview

Fantadream

FANTADREAM

by Davide Minuzzo

Copyright © 2015, by Davide Minuzzo

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review or scholarly journal.

ISBN < 978-1-329-28554-5 >

Translation from Italian to English by Gaia Alessi

via Trottechien, 51-11100 Aosta, tel. [phone]

e-mail [e-mail] - www.lechateauedizioni.it

Dedication

To Nicola, my son.

Written while waiting for your arrival.

To my sons, daughters, grandson and granddaughters

Never stop dreaming and nurturing your dreams,

without them, life becomes just an empty box.

Synopsis

The search for balance and serenity

by processing his own past

in which dreams and fantasies are intertwined,

but also the fantastic trip of a special boy, a young Einstein.

An exploratory adventure to discover the solar system

among celestial bodies and legends of ancient populations.

In this work Davide Minuzzo develops a theme linked with his experiences and life: the search for a balance, for serenity, using dream and fantasy, two territories of the mind that are often confused, but with a fundamentally different nature.

While reading with find two levels: the first, the fantastic story, especially suitable for children, is developed on three levels interconnected by the dream, in which the protagonist-author lives three stories at the same time, with a series of engaging expedients making the story pleasant and interesting; on the second, more suitable for an adult public, the reader is instead allowed to read between the lines in order to see, even beyond the direct intentions of the author, his fears and aspirations.   

Talking about the first level, and leaving to the reader the interpretation of the deeper one, the protagonist of the story is Albert (living in a perfect situation, with a perfect family, a perfect social and school life), a child involved in a literally fabulous and fascinating experience; to dream about a science-fiction adventure, in which the world's inhabitants are saved by a planetary catastrophe. The dream is interrupted when Albert wakes up and starts again, with the following sleep, from where it was interrupted. 

We will discover that Albert is, in his turn, dreamed by somebody else; but this is part of the last plot twist that Davide Minuzzo saves for the reader.

• Introduction•

Davide Minuzzo's novel is addressed mainly at young people. Nevertheless, as is often the case with novels initially intended for young people, it can definitely speak in a meaningful way also to adults. The story becomes then a tool, skillfully used by the author, to assimilate an unpleasing reality, difficult to face, and at the same time to reach a deeper understanding of the same.

The title itself, Fantadream, illustrates immediately the central role played by the dream in building the narrative in which the author is also the protagonist of parallel stories, composing and connecting together in a sort of meta-dream.

What is the reason to choose this narrative style, to walk into the land of dreams, where reality is mediated? Probably to get away from the confrontation with a reality which is too painful to be expressed directly.

Fantadream is then the space for waiting, but also the space of fantasy, creativity, reflection, hope, and at the same time the space to process a past which is too difficult to face directly.  

The tools that the protagonist-author has at his disposal do not seem to be sufficient to master and tolerate a past which is difficult and at time unsustainable; so he transforms it, or to say better, he elaborates it, taking a further step ahead; he uses the dream together with his fantasy, two tools having a completely different nature, but often confused and associated.

The author's inventions, finding space in the dream and in fantasy, have therefore an evident therapeutic value, resulting in the compelling desire to put in written words, ordering and understanding thoughts, images and memories.

Davide Minuzzo projects in Albert its own deeper desires. Therefore he describes the family that every child would desire, a family in which all the members get along together lovingly, where there is a mum taking care of her children and a father working for their serenity and their well-being. Also, he describes a school where classmates are not simple classmates, but they prove to be sincere friends with whom to spend the free time pleasurably.

And finally there are the reference points outside the family, Alcy for example, the beloved and estimated professor of Albert. There is therefore the family, understood as a warm and welcoming love nest, but there are also people outside of the domestic unit, also playing an important role, as in every child's fantasies. And as a background, the lovely Swiss village, in the midst of nature, surrounded by thick woods and green fragrant grasslands, where Albert spends his days with the people dearest to him.

But what is the real message that we can extract from reading Fantadream?

Fantasy and dream, having no limits of time or space, nor any kind of censorship, can help us overcome difficulties.

Dreams and fantasy make us hope in the future, allow us reinvent the present and even to modify the perception of past.

This is the invitation addressed to all of us: we should never stop relying on fantasy and nurturing our dreams, because dreams become true as long as we keep believing in them.

AND ONE NIGHT…

Once upon a time there was a king, sitting on a sofa, asking his pageboy:

«tell me a fairy tale» and so the pageboy started:

«Once upon a time there was a king, sitting on a sofa, asking his pageboy:

tell me a fairy tale and the pageboy started…» (Italian nursery rhyme)

I jump out of bed and look around me, while a croaking voice keeps repeating the same refrain: like a broken vinyl. Outside it is still dark. A slice of moon is balancing in the sky. She is not alone, a few lingering stars keep her company. Thousands of lights still light up the tops of the skyscrapers. But no, these are not skyscrapers; they are the peaks of my mountains. «Once upon a time there was a king …» The voice is getting closer; it seems like I can touch it. After a few seconds a thud surprises me. On the chair the suitcase is still open. On the floor an elf looks at me smiling: «Once upon a time … », he resumes. Then it was him! «Shut up!» I scream irritated, getting close to the strange creature. But what is an elf doing in Dubai? Because I am in Dubai and, before leaving Sottocastello, I left this elf right on the fireplace so he would keep an eye on the attic and the orange notebook.  I take it and I put it on the table. Finally he shuts up. I go back to sleep while the silence of the desert blurs with the silence of the woods. The ring of the alarm pierces my ears. I jump off the bed, the suitcase is always there, still open on the chair, I look around. No trace of the elf! He must be hiding somewhere, I think. I hasten to dress up, I realize I am running late. I am about to go out when: «Once upon a time … ». That voice again: it is the soul of the wood that I carry inside me since my childhood. I keep daydreaming! The metropolis is ready to swallow me in its golden tentacles, but I am not alone.

Here we go again…

Chapter 1 • The never ending story •

Christmas was getting close, the period of the year that I care for the most.

The night was embracing the whole landscape with a