Witty Wood Michael Aposporos Collodi, Carlo. The Adventures of Pinocchio. Trans. Nancy Canepa. Illustration. Carmelo Lettere South Royalton: Sheerforth Press, 2002. Within this review of the cherished Italian fairy tale The Adventures of Pinocchio I aim to address an audience of my peers, generally within the age range of 18-28+. Those of whom are likely familiar with the extremely popular fairy tale “Pinocchio”. I assume most of my peers have seen the Disney version of “Pinocchio”, however, they have likely never read the novel.

If I were to choose where I would likely have this published it would probably be in an online blog or forum. I would say you could consider this a persuasive review. Witty Wood When I ask friends what the first thing that comes to mind is when they recall the story of “Pinocchio”, it often conjures images of a wooden puppet, lies, a growing nose, a whale, and occasionally the fairy. If you had asked me the same question a month ago I would have responded similarly, however, now The Adventures of Pinocchio invokes a sense of nostalgia for myself, accompanied by memories of the trial and tribulations of childhood and adolescence.

This is because the story of “Pinocchio” is not just another fairy tales with a simple moral, “Pinocchio” is rather a tale with a wealth of valuable morals as well adventure, mischief, love, courage, confidence, and heart. The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi was first published in 1883. Collodi, wrote “Pinocchio” to convey the excitement, danger, and deception of being a young puppet that hopes to one day become a man. In 1940 the first “Pinocchio” film was made.

Disney has certainly impacted the way in which our generation views fairy tales, one expectation I, along with most everyone who has any prior knowledge of “Pinocchio”, certainly carries with them is the “growing nose. ” Everyone vividly remembers when “Pinocchio” lies and his nose begins to grow longer and longer. However, in the novel, which is a bit over 200 pages long, this magical and vivid memory of the wooden puppets nose growing for spite of his lies only occurs twice. “Pinocchio” quickly learns not to lie for there are far to many other lessons to be learned by the puppet in his aspirations to become a man.

One of the crucial elements to “Pinocchio” becoming a man is his growth. Not just physically but intellectually as well, specifically, in his decision making skills. When he is a young puppet in both the Disney movie and the novel by Collodi, “Pinocchio” is portrayed as being a very naive boy whom is tricked and swindled by con artists for lack of better knowledge. In the film version he remains naive throughout the movie, never really gaining from his past experience. However, in the novel, “Pinocchio” begins as a naive boy who is hustled out of his money on a couple of occasions, but he learns from his mistakes.

Eventually he begins making the right decisions, all the while Collodi so perfectly depicts a young boy whom struggles with the temptations and pressures of adolescence and, in the end, “Pinocchio” certainly gets the last laugh. From a young mans perspective, while reading this tale it was very easy to connect with “Pinocchio”, his curious habits and mischievous demeanor, the novel did give me a great sense of nostalgia because it is intended to address the dangers and difficulties of being an adolescent boy becoming a man, however this brings to light another inconsistency with the film and the novel.

In the film “Pinocchio” desires to “become a real boy! ” however, in the novel he desires to become a man. The Disney film portrays “Pinocchio” becoming a real boy, but certainly not a man, much less a teenager. This why I feel that it is a necessity that you read The Adventures of Pinocchio, Collodi wrote this wonderful fairy tale in an effort to bring to light the many difficulties and experiences, both good and bad that help to define a man. Through “Pinocchio’s” hardships he shows courage, confidence, intelligence, and valor, eventually earning himself the right to become a man!