I FIORI | I EDIZ. 1999 | MARCO LODOLI

I fiori is a coming-of-age novel by Marco Lodoli that blends poetic sensibility with realism. The protagonist, Tito, a 25-year-old postal worker in a small village, receives a mysterious letter from Rome commanding him simply: “Scrivi!” (“Write!”). This summons triggers Tito’s journey — leaving home, forsaking his old life and relationships — to pursue his calling in the capital. Along the way he meets Aurelio and Morella, companions who share his quest, each in their own way fragile, passionate, burdened by past losses. Rome becomes both the stage and mirror of Tito’s poetic, moral apprenticeship, with moments of beauty, disillusionment, love, and sorrow. Lodoli treats Tito’s growth with a lyrical eye, exploring the tension between silence and expression, solitude and fellowship, the visible world and the inner vision. In the background looms a figure, an observing presence (“someone who watches from above”), evoking questions of destiny, art, and responsibility.