Like Wind, Like Wave: Fables from the Land of the Repressed. By Stefano Bolognini. Translated by Malcolm Garfield. New York:  Other Press, 2006,  xvii + 116 pp. Originally published as Come vento, come onda. Torino, Italy:  Bollati Boringhieri Editore, 1999.

Stefano Bolognini is an Italian psychoanalyst who won the Gradiva award in 2000 for Like Wind, Like Wave. The book is a collection of ten stories which consists of reminiscences from his childhood (a few stories are memories from patients) and reflections on them from his adult perspective. Bolognini has written numerous articles and books on psychoanalysis, but this book is of a different nature, written in an informal, personal manner. His picture on the back cover conveys a warm, friendly man who looks as if he is attempting to restrain a chuckle. His sly humor is evident throughout these stories. He suggests that because he is not writing a psychoanalytic treatise that people might actually read his book.

In his preface, Bolognini outlines the task at hand. He lets us know that these are ordinary stories, but from the perspective of a child they seemed sensational. He acknowledges that “mankind has always needed a certain amount of mythology to give respite and nutriment to the life of the mind, not only in childhood but throughout life” (p. xiv). Bolognini also seeks to explore “where warm human ideals are found, those that inspire vitality and creativity in people, making them tolerant toward themselves and others” (p. xv). Another focus is looking at omnipotence and disillusion. We remember Donald Duck merrily paddling his canoe in the water unaware of the impending waterfall, for a brief moment paddling on air (magical omnipotence at its peak) but then inevitably crashing down. We also recall the grandiosity of Icarus flying so high that the sun burns his wings and leads to his