Jacaré - Luìs Sepùlveda

I am a fan of all latin american literature (and I am madly in love for George Amado, but you won't see any comments on his books here because I have already read them all... but I digress), and Sepulveda is one of the reasons why. I like how,when he talk about his country, you can feel the love for it in every single word!.

This book is composed of two short stories, Jacaré is the first of them. It takes place in a foggy Milan, but the story originates from  South-South America, and, behind the plot there is the story of an almost extinct tribe of indios. It'sad and melancholic, and it makes you doubt all the values that are foundamental in western society.

The other stoy takes place in South America, where the main character is an Indio himself. It is easy to read, interesting, and has a surprise ending that makes you smile and believe that maybe sometimes, just sometimes, it's not the bullies who win it all.

Four Blondes - Candace Bushnell

I bought this book thinking it was a long novel about the stories of four blond women who knew each other and whose lives would be somehow connected. It was, instead, a sequence of four stories, with faint connections to each other (some minor characters).
I liked the book. I wasn't able to identify with any of the women Candace Bushnell tells about, because none of them is a real positive hero - but that's why this book is so good. We can participate in the pain, feelings, joys, of each of them, but never totally approve their behavior. The same way as, in real life, nobody is perfect, and it's something we just have to accept!
And the author looks at her "creatures" with love but with a subtle sarcasm, always avoiding to judge too harshly, though.
The stories are well told, the glamourous Manhattan is ever present (even in the last story, which takes place for the most part in London, but where you can breath Manhattan in every step the main character takes).

I like Candace Bushnell, and althoug this is not my favourite novel of hers, I had fun reading it.

Che la festa cominci - Niccolò Ammaniti

I asked to have this book as a Chrismtas present from my family. Having just finished "Nel nome del padre", I was curious of what Ammaniti had reserved for us.

This book very much reminded me, both stylistically and in the topics treated, of the novel "L'ultimo Capodanno" (by the same author).

The writing is, like there, sarkastic and irreverent, and the story (a big party organized by a parvenu in Rome, to show everybody his wealth and power, goes bad, with the most absurd ending). Two stories proceed, first independently, then together, and while at the very beginning we, as readers, tend to like more one of the two main characters (Ciba), then we just feel the pain of the other one (Saverio-Mantos), while Ciba reveals how rotten is his soul at the end.

The characters very much represent a certain kind of Italy, with its will to be peresnt and be seen everywhere, and its underlying idiocy.

I just read some very hard critics on this book...

I do not agree on them, as I really liked it. And this sarcastic thread, if not dominant, was present also in "Nel nome del padre", for example in the story of Danilo or the social worker.

I'd say, it is one of the (many) voices o Ammaniti.

Slam - Nick Hornby

I have the habit to read a book in english after I have read one in italian - this way I keep my english fresh, while enjoying reading (the need to keep my english fresh is also the reason why I write in english on my blogs).

This is the third book from Nick Hornby I have read - the other two were "High Fidelity" and "A Long Way Down". And so far, it's the one I have enjoyed the most.

The writing is fresh and simple, the narrator is Sam, a 16 years old boy that finds himself in a difficoult situation - at least difficoult for his age.

I am really surprised by the ability of Hornby to become the voice himself of this 16 years old boy, talk and think as he would.

The book is funny (I was laughing aloud on the couch when the boy said -"I am expecting a baby!". It's just brilliant!) and an easy read, and I really reccommend to anyone to read it.

I got so enthousiastic about this book, that I bough his last one too, to be read pretty soon.

A note on languages. I have to admit that I read the other two books from Hornby in italian - I had borrowed them from my sis. I think part of the reasons I liked this one better, is that I read it in its original language. I

 find english much more immediate than italian: it goes faster to the point, sentences are usually shorter, it is, in a way, "lighter" and easier.