The Paul Street Boys - Ferenc Molnár

The beauty, and the simplicity of this book... I read it when I was 15 (4 years too old, sadly) and was fascinated by pretty much anyone named Ernest, Ernesto, or Ernő (be it Shackleton, Hemingway, Guevara, or Nemecsek).

I loved the novel because my generation, at least in a small town in the Italian North-West, could still play like The Paul Street Boys. The code of honour of their gang very much applied to that silently established between me and my friends at the time. And, years later, I really wish we had the maturity and wisdom to protect smaller kids like János Boka does.

And probably the fact that, years later, I finally went to Budapest and found it possibly the most charming city I have ever visited, surely added to my love for the novel.