Novels ought to be banned by law, says the protagonist of the only novel written by Elias Canetti.

They ought to be banned by law because they lead us to identify with just about anyone. They accustom us to understanding any attitude. They make us set our sights on goals far removed from our own. They make us take pleasure in the constant changing of circumstances. In short: novels end up corrupting even the most steadfast character.

Well, ‘Aprile è una strana stagione’, my new novel for Gramma Feltrinelli, follows the story of a singular individual, an Italian filmmaker who lived intensely throughout the twentieth century across three different continents and two opposing genders: a life far removed from that of most people.

But it is not true that by reading a novel one automatically identifies with ‘someone’ and comes to understand any behaviour.

While reading a novel, we travel to worlds that are sometimes very far removed from our own, whether geographically or in terms of moral standards. Immersing ourselves in these worlds can confirm our prejudices, or, conversely, undermine our most firmly held convictions. But if the world of the novel derives from an intrinsic truth – as in ‘Aprile è una strana stagione’, which stems from the narration of a real life – what remains after reading it is an encounter with a common, inescapable, profound human essence.

Ultimately, every story is as many stories as there are readers; each of us interprets it differently. What matters is how much that story ultimately helps us understand ourselves a little better.

Mimmo Calopresti and I will be discussing this, and the mystery of bodies and lives, on Tuesday 31 March at the Feltrinelli bookshop in Largo Argentina, Rome, at 7 pm. We look forward to seeing you there.