International Correspondent
It’s a surreal story, but also full of humanity,” said Giovanni Nucci, author of The Gods at Six O’Clock, after a suspected burglar was caught reading his book during a robbery.
The 38-year-old alleged thief gained access to a flat in Rome’s Prati district via the balcony but became distracted by Nucci’s book about Homer’s Iliad on a bedside table.
“I’d like to find the person caught red-handed and give him the book, because he’ll have been arrested halfway through reading it. I’d like him to be able to finish it,” Nucci told Il Messaggero.
Reports claim that the thief entered the home of a 71-year-old man with the intention of stealing. While in the bedroom he noticed a copy of the book on a bedside table. He then sat down and began to read.
It is claimed homeowner, woke up and confronted the alleged thief, who was engrossed in the book, and he was later arrested after attempting to escape via the balcony.
“I thought I had entered up in a B&B, saw the book and started to read it,” the suspect told police, claiming he had climbed the building to visit someone he knew.
Nucci found the incident amusing, noting that his personal favorite deity is Hermes, the god of thieves and literature. “It is clear: everything fits,” he joked.
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