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g_raffa2's review against another edition
5.0
“Egli avvertiva che l’affetto di un tempo stava cambiandosi in un sentimento tutto diverso, insieme obiettivo e crudele e gli pareva che quelle ironie pesanti per il solo fatto di affrettare questo cambiamento andassero ricercate e coltivate. Perché poi desiderasse tanto non amare più sua madre, perché odiasse questo suo amore non avrebbe saputo dirlo, forse per il risentimento di essere stato tratto in inganno e di averla creduta così diversa da quella che era nella realtà, forse perché non avendo potuto amarla senza difficoltà e offesa preferiva non amarla affatto e non vedere più in lei che una donna. Di istinto cercava di liberarsi una volta per sempre dell’impaccio, della vergogna del vecchio affetto ignaro e tradito che gli appariva ormai nient’altro che ingenuità e sciocchezza, per questo la stessa crudele attrattiva che poco prima lo aveva fatto sostare con gli occhi fissi sul dorso materno, ora lo spingeva a ricercare la compagnia umiliante e brutale dei ragazzi. Quei discorsi irriverenti non erano forse come la nudità intravvista distruttori della vecchia condizione filiale che ora tanto gli ripugnava, medicina molto amara. Ne sarebbe morto o sarebbe guarito.” Cit.
teresavh's review against another edition
3.0
Il primo libro che ho letto in italiano. Non é il piú buono ma é facile di leggere.
daimencianci's review against another edition
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
3.5
federicadaisy's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
Agostino is a young boy who, one summer, clashes against the reality of the adult world and its promiscuity which stains his innocence and becomes a source of turmoil and sorrow.
The novel mainly develops around his mother and what she represents to Agostino: in his naive perception of things, typical of childhood, he’s always idealised his mother and seen her as pure, comforting, protective and untouchable. Realising that she’s “nothing but a woman” and becoming aware of her sexuality and her physical attraction to the young man who pays visits to her, makes him question everything he’s believed in until that moment.
The group of young boys he meets while he’s on holiday with his mother initiates him to that world and brutally opens his eyes, forcing him to see the truth: that his mother isn’t innocent and he isn’t as well. Agostino spends time with these boys even though he resents them for he thinks they’re being cruel and unfair to him by presenting him the reality in such a brutal way. Although he wants to stay away from them in order to protect himself, he is also attracted to them and the stories they tell him, like he derives some sort of guilty pleasure from them.
In the end, Agostino is reminded he is just a boy and still too naive to actually enter the adult world so early even though he wants to.
The novel mainly develops around his mother and what she represents to Agostino: in his naive perception of things, typical of childhood, he’s always idealised his mother and seen her as pure, comforting, protective and untouchable. Realising that she’s “nothing but a woman” and becoming aware of her sexuality and her physical attraction to the young man who pays visits to her, makes him question everything he’s believed in until that moment.
The group of young boys he meets while he’s on holiday with his mother initiates him to that world and brutally opens his eyes, forcing him to see the truth: that his mother isn’t innocent and he isn’t as well. Agostino spends time with these boys even though he resents them for he thinks they’re being cruel and unfair to him by presenting him the reality in such a brutal way. Although he wants to stay away from them in order to protect himself, he is also attracted to them and the stories they tell him, like he derives some sort of guilty pleasure from them.
In the end, Agostino is reminded he is just a boy and still too naive to actually enter the adult world so early even though he wants to.
whoopsbooks's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
maiamiga's review against another edition
emotional
tense
fast-paced
4.0
Delicada y preciosa historia de crecimiento, con un narrador que nos sabe trasmitir perfectamente lo que piensa y siente el protagonista en esa edad tan difícil y contradictoria como es la adolescencia. Personajes muy bien definidos, situaciones muy bien elegidas, la trama justa y el lenguaje delicado y por momentos poético y erótico que le hace falta a la historia. Una pequeña joya.
garthranzz's review against another edition
3.0
2023 - 52 Weeks of Short Novels, A Buddy Read
From the book: A Year of Reading - Briefly Great Short Books by Kenneth C. Davis
Definitely not my typical read and, yes, I’m pushed myself to read it through to the end. It does make a different coming of age story, however, and one that many men may not want to admit hits close to home. Worth the read.
From the book: A Year of Reading - Briefly Great Short Books by Kenneth C. Davis
Definitely not my typical read and, yes, I’m pushed myself to read it through to the end. It does make a different coming of age story, however, and one that many men may not want to admit hits close to home. Worth the read.