First, thank you to A Life In Books for introducing me to this book!
The Story
City boy Pietro comes to the Alps for the summer with his nature-needing mother and mountain climbing, but emotionally distant father. Bruno is a local boy from a dysfunctional family. The friendship they begin in boyhood last a lifetime.
What I Loved
There was something poetic about the language in this small, quiet, book. The language, coupled with a fine audiobook performance by
This story is the child’s view, then the sullen teen’s view and so on, of his parents and world–that was, at times a bit revelatory for me. I raised a son and daughter on my own. This story shows the impact even an emotionally cold father or an abusive father can have on a boy. As each boy came of age, b
I liked reading the man’s side of a relationship, too. That Pietro had an exit strategy in mind at the beginning of every relationship was not news, but it was refreshing to hear it voiced. But more refreshing was that he still had more respect for women and than many who pretend to embrace relationships and imbue them with the predictable phony trappings.
The ending was poignant [no spoilers] and not at all what I expected which was yet another sign of the excellence of the writing.
My Verdict
4.0 stars
Highy Recommended
Blogger Dolce Bellezza put it brilliantly: “I don’t have the right words for this wonderful book, except to say that I recommend you read it.”
So glad you enjoyed this. I’ll be reading it next week.
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I’ll look forward to your review.
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Oooh, this sounds so good. Adding it to my to-read list; thanks!
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I love how you wrote about this book; I love that you enjoyed it as much as I did. I saw that Net Galley has a new book coming out by Paolo. It is a memoir called The Wild Boy. Do a search if you like, on books to “Read now” for free access.
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Great–thanks! I’ll look for it. And, thank you for your kind words about my writing.
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