Question 4
Several sources that I have come across have mentioned Salvatore Guiliano as being nick-named "Turrido". Do you have any idea as to why Mr. Puzo nick-named Salvatore Guiliano "Turi" in The Sicilian? I think that "Turi" sounds more child-fitting than "Turrido", to my non-Italian ears. Was that Mr. Puzo's objective; to emphasize Salvatore's innocence and child-like nature? In other sources, most people named "Salvatore" would be nick-named "Sal" or "Sally" (as Tessio in GF or Sal in Dog Day Afternoon). Was using a similar "Sal" variation in The Sicilian an option for Mr. Puzo as far as you know?

Hi Sonny,
I like your analysis. Mario chose Turi because he often chose nicknames by how they looked on a page. Turi was chosen so that the readers could remember his name easily, but also because it implied a fondness from the villagers for the child who grew up among them.

In my readings on Giuliano, I also find Salvatore called Turiddu. (For more info on this visit http://www.sicilian.net and click on Salvatore Giuliano) I'm hazarding a guess here, but I've often found that the difference between the Italian I learned in college and the Sicilian dialect is that the o's are replaced by u's. I'd love to go to Sicily and learn firsthand if i'm right or wrong.
By the way...for the Turi Giuliano that posts on this message board...thanks for that beautiful picture of Sicily's coastline.
Where is that exactly?

One of those pictures is the coastline of Sicily and the other is Sicily as we got off the airplane. I guess about an hour away from Palermo.

One of those pictures is the coastline of Sicily and the other is Sicily as we got off the airplane. I guess about an hour away from Palermo.