Tim Parks

[Tim Parks @TimParksauthor]

Good to see someone engaging seriously with The Novel, a Survival Skill. @cribbenMerrill on Substack. https://t.co/MEvByIsyTH

[Tim Parks @TimParksauthor]

On second thoughts, this photo is closer to the spirit of the thing...

[Tim Parks @TimParksauthor]

With the armistice and eventual withdrawal of the Bourbons from Palermo, the Across Sicily posts are over, but the book is there full of the voices the protagonists of this extraordinary adventure...

[Tim Parks @TimParksauthor]

“The idea was to enjoy the fruits of conquest, but to get rid of the conquerors.” Garibaldi on the attitude of the new Italian government after the collapse of the Bourbon kingdom and unification.

[Tim Parks @TimParksauthor]

30 May, 1860. ‘The enemy has offered conditions humiliating to the city of Palermo.’ Garibaldi pronounced these words from the first balcony of the town hall and concluded by asking the people if they wanted peace or war … ‘War! War!’ The people were delirious.” Antonio Beninati

[Tim Parks @TimParksauthor]

30 May, 1860, Palermo. a 24-hour armistice is signed on board HMS Hannibal, of the Royal Navy, anchored on the waterfront. "“God knows we needed a truce, obliged as we were to assemble cartridges that were fired as soon as made.” Garibaldi.

[Tim Parks @TimParksauthor]

29 May, 1860, Palermo. “The bodies of the dead, assuming the many and strange shapes of death’s convulsions, lie unburied in the streets, where their nauseating smell poisons the air.” Fratelli Borghese. (Palazzo Abatellis)

[Tim Parks @TimParksauthor]

29 May, 1860. The battle for Palermo rages. “Furniture was thrown down from the windows, the paving stones torn from the streets, to build the barricades.” Giuseppe Capuzzi.

[Tim Parks @TimParksauthor]

28 May, 1860. “Garibaldi had them put a mattress on the steps of the fountain, opposite the big door of the Palazzo, and there, at the foot of one of the tall statues that grace the piazza, he was brought news, gave orders, rested.” Cesare Abba.

[Tim Parks @TimParksauthor]

28 May, 1860. The Bourbon bombardment of Palermo. “Christs and Madonnas and pictures of saints and everything precious was, terrible to say, destroyed. People expected a miracle – that didn’t happen.” Emilio Zasio

[Tim Parks @TimParksauthor]

@cribbenMerrill Thanks Trevor. Great to see someone engaging seriously with this. Most critics seem to have avoided it. Next year I'll be publishing a little book on my lifelong engagement with Beckett, which goes deeper into this. I'll retweet soon. Again thanks.

[Tim Parks @TimParksauthor]

“At the first light of dawn we found ourselves near Ponte dell’Ammiraglio, where the Bourbons attacked us and the battle began.” Vincenzo Fuxa

[Tim Parks @TimParksauthor]

@johnmckeag Thanks John! It's better I think... See if you agree.

[Tim Parks @TimParksauthor]

Night of 26/27 May. The descent to Palermo. “It was barely a path at all dropping down from crag to crag." Cesare Abba

[Tim Parks @TimParksauthor]

Gibilrossa. 12 km south east of Palermo. "IN THIS PLACE ON 26 MAY 1860 THE LEADER OF THE THOUSAND CAMPED HIS BRAVE MEN AND WAS WELCOMED WITH EXULTATION BY LA MASA AND THE PICCIOTTI."

[Tim Parks @TimParksauthor]

@bigciof Not this time...

[Tim Parks @TimParksauthor]

25 May., 1860. "The crenellated Marineo," Francesco Crispi.

[Tim Parks @TimParksauthor]

25 May, 1860. “Our column followed Orsini, convinced that Palermo was no longer an option." Abba... But, "At dawn we, turned and marched towards Marineo.” Bixio.

[Tim Parks @TimParksauthor]

24 May, 1860. Flight to Piana. “The order came to climb further up the hill. But as soon as we were on the road, we were led towards the rising sun, away from the battle… it felt like we were fleeing from Parco, from Palermo.” Giuseppe Capuzzi

[Tim Parks @TimParksauthor]

@bluebird57dke 🙄

[Tim Parks @TimParksauthor]

"Rosolino Pilo (Sicilian revolutionary), who had sat down to write a dispatch to me on the heights of San Martino, was struck by enemy fire and fell down dead.” Garibaldi.