Concerning Decay of The Human Race by Massimo Fantini

The small village on the Island of Iguanas is home to three self-contained and interconnected stories. The first story tells of a brilliant young Physics graduate named Mattia, who embarks on a sightseeing trip to the island with his family. Right from the start, the family’s relations with the local native population on the island are strained, due to differences in customs and cultures. When the rapid spread of a lethal epidemic brings everyone face-to-face with imminent death; will this be an opportunity to reconsider their values, or just another situation to divide them further? In the second section, the Resettlement Program brings a new group of people to the village – some seventy desperate families willing to leave their motherland and start a new life away from the trappings of progress. Here, the fate of Riccardo – an introverted young man with suicidal thoughts – is intertwined with that of Luca – an exuberant boy who has just started discovering his own feelings and sexual drives. In the background, there are the contrasts between the adults grappling with a chaotic and deregulated community's life, while trying to build a new social fabric. The settlement grows and consolidates its democratic structure. In the third section, the villagers must deal with one last challenge – the eschatological one. Faced with the fear of God’s wrath, of mortal sins, hellfire and eternal damnation, many consciences awaken; bringing out past and present misdeeds. The adults’ lifestyle reveals its very nature: rotten, immoral, inhuman, exemplifying how low the human race has fallen in its process of decay.

Young Adult • Literary Fiction