Bernado's Circus

"Bernado’s synoptics

December 19, 2020, 8:34 am - The reviewer wrote:

Bernado was only nine years old when his gypsy family was slaughtered right before him by Nazi soldiers, some of which were from the Hitler Youth Camp. After witnessing the bloodbath led by the Nazi Commander, Gunter Khullman, a one-eared and one-eyed man who had lost his four middle fingers, he followed them silently and watched his family ungraciously buried in a nearly two meters deep grave. Returning, he wanders through the forest for the next two days in search of habitation and finds a farmhouse belonging to Stan and his wife. They offer him food and shelter for the night before he joins Stan to sell his pigs at Slaski village. He is taken in by Zelda, a fellow gypsy he finds at the village. He spends the next few months learning his heritage amongst other things like potion-making, the black arts, the art of fortune-telling, and healing via roots and herbs. A year later, he came back from checking his rabbit traps one day to see the house on fire with Zelda and her dog Pepe shot dead on the doorstep. The house had been raided by Nazi soldiers scavenging for food and they'd burnt it down and killed Zelda. 

He lived in an abandoned house nearby and was caught by a policeman stealing a blanket to keep himself warm. After narrating his plight, the policeman, having good intentions fed him and sent him to the orphanage where he had thought he'd be properly taken care of, but it was an entirely different reality. Life at the orphanage was the most terrible. The food was putrid and rotten, the sanitation was non-existent and the whole place stank of rancid urine. The dormitories were bed bug-infested and they barely had clothes to wear. During the winter, children died of cold and the harsh conditions of living. In his orphanage, there was a particular priest, Father Mark, a pedophile that enjoyed spanking the butts of the boys. Everyone knew and feared him, and he got off from abusing some of the boys, Bernardo inclusive. He had done so three times before Bernardo fought back with a nail he'd saved especially for the occasion. He'd aimed for his eye but barely missed it leaving Father Mark with a serious injury and a scar on his face. Bernardo had escaped right after the incident and found himself on the streets again.

Now, he was looking to help people around to get small tasks done in exchange for food, money, or accommodation. While doing this, he came across Stephan, a second-hand clothes vendor. Through him, he was able to find accommodation in a house that belonged to one of Stephan's friends, killed by the Nazis. It was in this house that he found his first stray dog. He found others which he began to train to do tricks. Shortly after, he was making money from their acts down in the village. He also worked at building sites demolished by the war. Oftentimes, he would find bits of treasures he hid and brought home. One day, during one of his acts at the village, he was spotted by Stefano, the leader of a circus band. He was recruited to perform at the circus with his dogs and left his life with Stan to join the circus.

His sexual escapades began at the circus. He spent numerous nights with the girls at the circus in sensual acts vividly described in the book. There was one girl he steered clear of, Marta. She was Stefano's, and he wanted to avoid trouble. There was another he was smitten with, Rina. She was a beauty, and soon, they became sort of an item. Bernardo had taught his dogs a lot of other interesting acts, including stealing, and they'd often go out the night before they left a town to lie in wait for wealthy victims. One of the dogs would act lame, then when she had gotten the attention of the victim, Bernado's vicious dog, Shandor, would snatch the bag and run away. They kept this up and made quite a fortune. One night, among the spectators, he saw an unusual sight. It was Gunter Khullman, the man who'd murdered his family and friends. He had him cornered after the show and released Shandor with an attack to kill him. Just as Gunter was dying, Bernado made known his reason for his actions. However, Shandor's aggressiveness worried Bernardo. It got Shandor in trouble with Stefano and caged and starved. When he became weak, he was shot and left to die. Stefano had also instructed Strombolo, a huge man that worked for Stefano's circus, to beat Bernardo up if he found him near Shandor. Bernardo is hospitalized and comes back with a broken arm. He also realized that the fortune he'd saved up had been stolen. He figured Stefano as the culprit when he saw one of his gold coins (part of his treasure that he'd picked up at a demolished building) under his newspaper. In addition to stealing his fortune, Stefano had fired him with only two weeks' earnings. Angry and frustrated, Bernado took up Marta on her offer and slept with her to spite Stefano, but Strombolo caught them and would have beaten or killed Bernardo had he not fought back by headbutting him down the stairs where Strombolo broke his arm and blacked out. Knowing they both couldn't stay, Bernardo and Marta made their way to Stefano's caravan and collected back his fortune together with some money Stefano owed Marta, then they ran away with the dogs and settled in Italy.

In Italy, they purchased a property that used to be a casino from Donna Gabriella, an old lady. They refurbished the casino and restored its glory. Rina made an appearance with a bulging belly, heavy with Bernado's son. Marta was pregnant too. The three worked together to build a peaceful family with Donna Gabriella as their adopted mother. The Casino was a huge affair and attracted people from parts all over Italy and Europe, including rich, famous people and others in places of authority in the country, even the bad eggs like Donna's niece and nephew and mobsters such as Vince Corrigano. The trio had been skimming off profits at the tables before they were caught with the help of a private investigator and sent to jail. When Donna's niece and nephew got out, they were responsible for the kidnapping of Bernado's daughter Gabriella. She was recovered with the ransom of $2 million. Donna fought off cancer and had her leg amputated. Two years later, during the kidnapping crisis, she fell ill and died. Surprisingly Donna was a rich businesswoman and left a huge inheritance to Bernardo at her death.

Bernardo, a rich, respectable man, began to advocate for the orphans to make sure they were well fed and taken care of. With the help of the mayor and the permission of the Vatican, he went on inspections of these orphanages and brought to justice those siphoning the donations for the orphanages. He recounted his experiences and sexual abuse at the orphanage and was glad to hear that Father Mark went to jail where he died. After reforming a lot of the orphanages, Bernardo wanted to do the same in Romania where he heard there was a lot of suffering for orphans. The country, however, was under the dictatorship of Nicolae Ceausescu, a very brutal man and Bernardo feared losing his life for nothing. He was advised to take up the matter with the UN, which he did. After a well-presented speech at the convention in America, his flight home contained some rebels and a detonated explosive. Bernado survives this harrowing experience.