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3.52 AVERAGE
3.52 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
sad
fast-paced
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I started reading this because my son had to read it for school. Since I loved Io Non Ho Paura, I opened up this one and read a few pages and was immediately hooked! It’s a beautiful little book and delves poignantly into life’s big questions in just a few well-chosen words. Like Io Non Ho Paura, the ending leaves you wanting more information and yet fully understanding that it was perfectly right to end there.
Minimo sindacale, ma il personaggio principale è interessante, e la storiella del robottino che pulisce le piscine mi ha fatto ridere.
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This was fatastic up until right before the end and then the story just stopped. I felt there could have been a little more closure.
Yet another small novel - 150 pages - of exquisite writing and heartbreak that says so much more than something twice its length. This is a love story, yes, but not your typical love story. This is a story of a 14 year old boy, Lorenzo Cuni, only child of parents who need to be seen to be fitting in and going to the right places. Like many 14 year olds, he feels disconnected from those around him - his peers and his parents, and really just wants to be left alone. To escape he tells his parents he is going on a week long ski trip with the popular kids from school, but in reality he sneaks away into the basement of the apartment building he lives in, relishing a week of peace and quiet and no expectations. His paradise is suddenly shattered when his 24 year old troubled drug user drop out half sister, Olivia, turns up. Neither wants the other one there - Olivia is estranged from her father, and Lorenzo has grown up only hearing bad things about his sister. But over the few days left of Lorenzo's 'ski trip', they slowly stop circling each other, realise they have much more in common than they thought, and ultimately find the acceptance and belonging neither had ever really had from their family.
The character of Lorenzo captures perfectly the angst - justified or not - that most young teens feel. He is caught between wanting to be his own person, but not really knowing what that is, and like most children, wanting to please his parents and keep on their good side. Like many teens he is ingenious in his thinking to cover his murky tracks and I enjoyed very much the flawed young man I was reading about. Olivia is a tragic figure, not much has gone right for her in her young life, but in meeting Lorenzo, her little brother, she finds a softness and warmth that she had long forgotten about.
Of course the escape has to come to an end, and Lorenzo returns from his ski trip happier and more at peace with himself, and Olivia too leaves and gets on with her life. I almost can't believe so much can be said in such a small book. Stunning.
The character of Lorenzo captures perfectly the angst - justified or not - that most young teens feel. He is caught between wanting to be his own person, but not really knowing what that is, and like most children, wanting to please his parents and keep on their good side. Like many teens he is ingenious in his thinking to cover his murky tracks and I enjoyed very much the flawed young man I was reading about. Olivia is a tragic figure, not much has gone right for her in her young life, but in meeting Lorenzo, her little brother, she finds a softness and warmth that she had long forgotten about.
Of course the escape has to come to an end, and Lorenzo returns from his ski trip happier and more at peace with himself, and Olivia too leaves and gets on with her life. I almost can't believe so much can be said in such a small book. Stunning.
I didn't enjoy this little novel as much as the other by Ammaniti that I have read - I'm not scared - which haunted me for years and resulted in a haunting film that did the same. The plot is a little simpler and the simple prose of Ammaniti seems a little less poetic. Ammaniti reminds me a little of our own David Malouf - simple and poetic works which speak of the good and bad and weaknesses and light of common human beings. This was a short, enjoyable tale but I think I will be able to dismiss it from my mind with more ease than the other.
dark
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes