A review by onamoonbeam
Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi

dark lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes

3.75

very charming and i can understand why this became a beloved story in italy then the world. it's a lot darker than i expected, having only been exposed to the disney and del toro versions. i specifically had this really cool annotated copy that outlined how they translated everything. it even had a running tally of how many times pinocchio lied but his nose didn't grow, citing that collodi seemed to say that lies out of embarrassment are acceptable but lying about one's character isn't. the hanging is. insane. i find it funny how little gepetto is in the book, like he's definitely important in the beginning but most of the book is pinocchio getting back. anyway his little piteous rants are somehow funny and not annoying, and the quaint fairytale-esque writing overall. except the ending. even tho this was so fast-paced, the ending managed to feel rushed.