Probably the most successful book by Ammaniti, also
owing to a movie by Gabriele Salvatores that was good but lacked the magic of
some of his earlier works (Mediterraneo and
Turné above all for me). I remember
being utterly surprised by the fact that a translated copy of the novel had
somehow made its way to the tiny Italian section in the tiny college library of
our Canadian high-school, and I forced my then-girlfriend now-wife to read it
when I found it.
The book tells the story of a kid and his
discovery of a hideaway where a kidnapped boy is held prisoner. The contrast
between the simple world of the local boys and that of the troubled adults is
evident throughout the book, but Ammaniti
deserves credit for not idolizing and over-romanticizing youth. The book is a
great, quick read – not something that will re-write (or has re-written) the history
of literature as we know it, but something that can make the reader think about
the turbulent 1970s and 1980s in Italy from a different perspective.
And with this I’m all caught up, having written
something about all the books that I’ve loved, liked, or that I was meant to
have loved and liked over the past few years. Or at least the ones that I can
remember. From now on, updates will be a lot more sporadic (like a blog should
be), particularly now that the new academic year is starting and that I am
supposed to teach a course I have never taught before.
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