Rating: 
Summary: Moving..different
Review: Truly a moving and a unique book. The setting is the narrowest of venues, an almost forgotten village in southern Italy, during the 1930's. A physician, internally exiled by the Fascist government, experiences a culture that in many respects is pre-Christian (hence the title.) Almost without plot, the strength of the book is in the wonderfully evocative descriptions of the people and landscape. One of the best written books I have ever read - remarkable considering the author was not a professional writer. The translator also deserves credit for helping to create so many memorable passages.
Rating:
Summary: Bad title - great book
Review: Why read this book? The title won't reel you in. It's not about Christ. It's not religious. It's not even about Eboli. It's about Lucania, a remote village in Italy. So remote, so inconsequential that even Christ never bothered to visit the village, but stopped short at Eboli. It's not really a novel, but more of a cross between a novella and a diary. Having said all that it isn't, let me tell you what it is. It is the true story of a doctor who is banished to a remote village in Italy due to his anti-fascist views during the Abyssinian war. What a turn off! So why read it? It is humorous. It is poignant. It is timeless. And yes, it is a page turner. May we all face adversity with the grace and dignity of Carlo Levi
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