Book reviews : To Feed the Hungry Danilo Dolci (MacGibbon and Kee, 30/-)
| DOI | 10.1177/026455055900900410 |
| Author | Margaret A. Adams |
| Date | 01 December 1959 |
| Published date | 01 December 1959 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
description
-
mountaineering,
the
Duke
of
Edinburgh’s
Award
Scheme,
and
drama.
Finally
the
authors
turn
to
a
discussion
of
the
future.
Turners
Court
can
deal
with
170
boys;
the
need
is
for
facilities
for
60,000
children.
A
voluntary
organisation
can
blaze
a
trail,
but
we
now
need
statutory
residential
establishments.
In
addition
we
must
make
it
possible
for
boys
to
arrive
earlier
and
leave
later
than
money
and
the
law
will
permit
at
Turners
Court.
The
book
ends
with
positive,
and
sometimes
provoca-
tive,
suggestions
for
improving
our
facilities
for
the
back-
ward
boy.
One
of
these
suggestions
is
that
in
the
juvenile
courts
the
power
of
the
magistrates
should
be
limited
to
determining
whether
the
case
has
been
proved.
&dquo;Disposal
of
the
body&dquo;
should
be
the
responsibility
of
the children’s
officer.
There
is
plenty
of
material
for
discussion
here.
It
may
be
that
when
the
Ingleby
Committee
presents
its
findings,
we
shall
see
possible
solutions
to
some
of the
questions
posed
in
this
book.
Certainly
after
reading
it
we
cannot
feel
complacent.
It
is
too
easy
to
assume
that
the
state
has
now
provided
for
every
kind
of
need.
This
book
shows
how
large
is
the
problem
of
the
backward,
and
how
inadequate
are
our
provisions
for
dealing
with
it.
It
also
provides
an
enthralling
account
of the
work
of
Turners
Court.
D.
A. Haxby
To
Feed
the
Hungry
Danilo
Dolci
(MacGibbon
and
Kee,
30/-)
Any
further
notice
of
this
book
might
appear
super-
fluous,
in
view
of
the
considerable
amount
of
attention
the
English
edition
of
&dquo;Enquiry
into
Palermo&dquo;
has
attracted,
but
Dolci’s
work
in
Sicily
is
of
such
a
remark-
able
quality
that
it
is
merited.
The
more
sober
Italian
title
suggests
scientific
detachment
and
it
is
a
pity
that
the
English
edition
has
been
somewhat
pruned.
but
the
vernacular
translation
is
brilliant.
It
is
horrifyingly
dis-
quieting
when
it
is
remembered
that
this
book
describes
conditions
in
Western
Europe
in
an
island of
antique
culture
but
seemingly
little
civilisation.
Its
main
content
is
the
personal
testimonies
of
illiterate,
destitute
people
which
may
cause
surprise
to
Anglo-Saxon
readers
by
their
extraordinarily
articulate
vividness,
and
I
myself
was
amazed
when
visiting
the
Cortine
Cascino
in
Palermo
with
one
of
Dolci’s
workers - this
was
a
juxtaposition
of
one
room
hovels
in
a
meandering
alley,
unvisited
by
officials
or
priests
because
of
the
unbearably
squalid
conditions -
how
readily
the
inhabitants
described
their
miserable
plight
and
the
delighted
friendliness
of
the
hordes
of
children.
Chalked
up
on
the
walls
was
an
appeal
to
the
aristocracy
to
free
them
from
their
bondage
and
it
was
easy
to
appreciate
their
feelings
regarding
the
chasm
between
the
rich
and
the
poor - the
day
before
I had
seen
a
society
wedding
in
the
glittering
splendour
of
the
Cappella
Palatina
a
stone’s
throw away,
and
no
words
could
describe
the
contrast.
&dquo;But
where
will
you
find
men
who’ve
got
enough
courage
to
come
flat
out
with
the
truth&dquo;
asks
one
of
the
agricultural
labourers
interviewed.
Courage
indeed
is
needed,
owing
to
the
extremely
complex
conditions
pre-
vailing
on
the
western
side
of
the
island.
Dolci
knows
no
fear
and
he
has
been
bitterly
attacked,
not
least
by
his
own
government.
He
combines
the
qualities
of
a
scien-
tific
worker
and
a
humanitarian
with
not
a
vestige
of
re-
moteness.
His
own
home
in
Partenico,
a
wretched
and
unlovely
town
in
the
heart
of
the
Mafia
country,
is
reached
through
unpaved,
farmyard-like
streets
swarming
with
flies,
and
he
shares
the
conditions
unreservedly,
though
his
home
is
radiant
with
the
warmth
of
his
personality
and
his
utterly
sincere
kindliness.
This
book
does
not
describe
any
of
Dolci’s
fundamental
schemes
to
strike
at
the
root
of
the
problem.
He
has
already
established
five
centres
of
agricultural
education
and
irrigation
enterprises,
but
it
does
indicate
his
pains-
taking
enquiries
to
establish
the
need
for
the
right
to
work.
with
what
inherently
follows.
The
people
speaking
in
this
book
can
be
apprehended
for
&dquo;stealing&dquo;
a
handful
of
wild
herbs
to
appease
the
pangs
of
hunger.
tortured
at
the
police
station,
imprisoned
with
the
concomitant
punishment
of
losing
their
vote
for
life.
Its
nightmarish
gruesomeness
does
not
commend
it
to
squeamish
readers,
but
the
sympathy
of
thinking
people
in
an
historically
advanced
country
and
the
respect
of
specialised
social
workers
with
unlimited
resources
at
their
disposal
should
be
given
to
Dolci
in
his
valiant
and
inspired
efforts.
Margaret
A.
Adams
Clarke
Hall
and
Morrison :
Children
and
Young
Persons
Second
Supplement
to
Sixth
Edition
A.
C.
L.
Morrison
and
L.
G.
Banwell
(Butterworth
and
Co.,
20/-)
The
industry
of
these
men
is
prodigious.
No
sooner
have
we
found
room
for the
brief
note
in
our
last
issue
about
the
First
Supplement
than
the
Second
arrives,
incor-
porating
the
first,
and
bringing
the
sixth
edition
of
this
work
up
to
date.
The
supplement
costs
£ I;
the
complete
work
as
now
brought
up
to
date
is
£4
10s.
Od.
It
is
still
a
&dquo;must&dquo;
for
every
court
and
every
probation
office.
With
the
current
supplement
the
law
is
up
to
datc
to
the
end
of
April
this
year
(1959)
and
room
has
been
found
also
to
tuck
in
the
Probation
(No.
2)
Rules
of
this
year
which
appeared
in
July.
The
Adoption
Act
1958
is
now
included
in
full,
with
the
various
Rules
made
under
this
to
cover
proceedings
in
different
courts
and
with
a
most
helpful
table
to
show
how
the
new
Act
has
in
fact
replaced
the
Adoption
Act
of
1950
and
the
major
portion
of
the
Children
Act
1958.
Thank
you
again
Messrs.
Morrison
and
Banwelh
a
splendid
team.
F.D.
Probation
Diary
APRIL
22ND
TO
24TH,
1960
N.A.P.O.
Annual
Conference
and
Annual
General
Meeting.
Margate.
AUGUST
8TH
TO
20TH,
1960
Second
United
Nations
Congress
on
the
Prevention
of
Crime
and
the
Treatment
of
Offenders,
London.
OCTOBER
7TH
TO
9TH,
1960
Northern
Branch
Week-end
Conference,
Beadnell
Hall.
Northumberland.
OCTOBER
14TH
TO
16TH,
1960
Lake
District
Branch
Week-end
Conference,
Keswick
Hotel,
Keswick.
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