In the beautiful setting of Parco Frassanelle, Mauro Corona presents the book "The Paths of Pine Needles".
In this passionate fable, the writer explores the contradictions that underpin the relationship between man and Nature, with the gaze of one who, from the heights of the mountains, sees the storm coming in advance, but also the first glimmer of sunshine.
Not only are the lives of the two brothers, protagonists of Mauro Corona's new novel, different; they are irreconcilable.
Growing up amidst the breath of the forest and the severe, bare gaze of the peaks, the boy and the girl received teachings from their grandfather, a mountaineer of ancient wisdom, who tried to instill in both of them respect for Nature in all its forms and the value of good hard work, the kind that makes every achieved goal precious. Yet, now that they are adults, and that shared stretch of path is long behind them, the two have made different choices. She, alongside scientific studies, has put natural remedies preserved by the elders of their native village first, prioritizing environmental protection and developing a pure and uncompromising ecological sensitivity. He, who has always mocked his grandfather's warnings, has set less noble goals, making an opportunity for profit from his deep knowledge of trees. Thus, while for the sister cutting down a forest is an unforgivable affront and a foolish self-condemnation for man, for him it is the normal consequence of progress, the fruit of the unstoppable evolution that places the human being and his needs at the center of everything. Retired in his den, among the books and sculptures that remain to keep him company now that fatigue has distanced him from the peaks, the old man watches this new generation, somewhat lost, with concern but also with the kindness of one who believes that if the roots are good, not all is lost. Mauro Corona knows how to be both a singer of a past that is fading and a sentinel of a future full of uncertainties.
