Pinocchio and Other Serialized Novels

There is a wonderful article in the June 13, 2022 issue of the weekly “The New Yorker” magazine. It is written by Joan Acocella with the title “Puppet Regime: The Further and Further Adventures of Pinocchio.” Everything that you ever wanted to know about this creation of Carlo Collodi (1826-90) is in it. Collodi’s Pinocchio began his life in 1880 with a name derived from pino in Italian, or pine, and occhio, or eye. Pinocchio’s eye was the first of his parts to materialize from Geppetto’s carving of the original log. According to Acocella, the story began in serial form in a fledgling children’s newspaper with the name of “Giornale per i Bambini.” The serial was entitled “La Soria di un Burattino,” or “The Story of a Puppet.” Of the many subplots of Acocella’s telling from this point…