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laura_bichateca's review against another edition
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
reallbee's review against another edition
4.0
Gritty and raw. You can feel throughout that this was a writer experimenting and coming into his own. There were sections that I had to read multiple times to understand and yet others flowed seamlessly. I think that what I truly liked about the book was that it was just as beautiful as it was messy.
literarychronicles's review against another edition
reflective
medium-paced
3.5
The first book I read of Truman Capote was Breakfast At Tiffany’s and I was instantly in love with his writing. When I came across this book, I knew that I had to read it. This manuscript was discovered posthumously and was published two decades after his death. It is believed that this is his first novel. (The story felt incomplete, and it is possible that Capote never finished it. However, the story works even in that incomplete state.)
This is the story of Grady, who is left alone by parents for the first time. We see how the high-class teenager misuses her freedom and turns up the heat of her inappropriate affair with a parking attendant. We see how the carefree behaviour of a wild teenager leads to consequences that will alter her life forever. This is the story of Grady crossing from girlhood to womanhood.
In addition to that, this also shows the deep love Capote has for New York.
While I enjoyed reading this book, it was nothing like the later writing of Capote. The way in which Capote uses words is clever, and we see signs of the great author he will later become, but this was nowhere near the quality of Breakfast at Tiffany’s. The reason why Capote never published this could be that he knew he could do better. I wish he had thought to come back to this manuscript and polish it. However, I think Summer Crossing is wonderful when thought of as a debut novel. If you are curious to read the first book of a brilliant author, then this is for you.
This is the story of Grady, who is left alone by parents for the first time. We see how the high-class teenager misuses her freedom and turns up the heat of her inappropriate affair with a parking attendant. We see how the carefree behaviour of a wild teenager leads to consequences that will alter her life forever. This is the story of Grady crossing from girlhood to womanhood.
In addition to that, this also shows the deep love Capote has for New York.
While I enjoyed reading this book, it was nothing like the later writing of Capote. The way in which Capote uses words is clever, and we see signs of the great author he will later become, but this was nowhere near the quality of Breakfast at Tiffany’s. The reason why Capote never published this could be that he knew he could do better. I wish he had thought to come back to this manuscript and polish it. However, I think Summer Crossing is wonderful when thought of as a debut novel. If you are curious to read the first book of a brilliant author, then this is for you.
sandraandthecity's review against another edition
dark
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
ultreaux's review against another edition
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
ladyzluvcooljim's review
5.0
What a wonderful cross between F. Scott Fitzgerald’s ritzy world of The Great Gatsby and debonair debutante of This Side of Paradise with J.D. Salinger’s realism, intrigue, pessimism, and family politics from his stories on The Glass Family (Franny and Zooey, A Perfect Day for Bananafish). This is my first Capote novel (his first, too), so I can’t speak to his whole writing career and subsequent style, but going from reading a Cormac McCarthy novel to this shows the full breadth of possibilities of the English language. You might find as many colons or commas in an entire McCarthy book that you do in one Capote sentence, and yet both are perfectly natural and fluent (although my brain is more wire like Capote’s than McCarthy’s, for better or worse). The story follows the steady downfall of the adolescent Grady McNeil in the absence of her parents. I won’t pretend to know what Capote was really trying to tell us about these events but teenage angst and exploration does not meet a happy ending here. This is the first book in a long time where I felt my eyes breeze through both the syntax and the story, searching and craving for the next line. It was difficult to put down, which, combined with its brevity, made for a quick, enjoyable read.
cheyenneisreading's review
3.0
This was Truman Capote's debut novel that was discovered and then published posthumously. This was a short story to read and does slightly read unfinished, to a tiny extent. However for a debut novel I like the mystery behind it. The way that it was discovered.
sophieecook's review
4.0
a lovely little novel, capote’s first, which was undiscovered until after his death. it’s evident even in this work, (which while imperfect, has a character and life force all of its own) that this is a writer who evokes masterfully the atmosphere of the beginning of a life coming into itself. gorgeous writing style. 3.75 stars
anelisa_sanchez's review
3.0
Trauman Capote tiene una magia con las palabras, esta novela me gustó más que Desayuno en Tiffany’s y aunque le falto profundidad pude conectar mejor con los personajes que con su otra novela.