Reads as though it was translated via babelfish circa 2001.

What better book to read in the Italian sunshine than this beautiful, little, re-discovered classic? This the latest instalment in the Penguin European Writers' series and is penned by Italian author, Cesare Pavese.I spent a glorious post-gondola hour in lovely Venice sipping coffee whilst fully immersed in this. The brooding summer heat permeated from the page and, combined with the evocative Italian landscape depicted, perfectly matched my surroundings. I will always associate this book with f...

Pavese captured a young girl's obsession with an artist, and her fallings-out and fallings-in with a friend who rather leads her astray, but that's about it. I did wonder about the translation into English (it's not clear who did this) in 1955, and whether it might be more enjoyable with a newer translation. It's full of poorly expressed cliches - for example, 'Ginia was in her seventh heaven'. And at one point, 16 year old Ginia says 'Poor blighter' about her friend Amelia, which seems like som...

I suppose it's a bit unfair to rate this short novel on its own, given that Pavese published it in a collection of three short novels of adolescence (under the eponymous general title La bella estate). However, since I snagged an old Einaudi hardcover from a Florentine circolo (Communist social center/coffee shop) library that was closing, well, here I am. I do own a ratty old pocketbook of the full trilogy and, since I enjoyed this one so much, I've already committed to reading all three. Yeah,...

3.5 StarsThis is a slightly curious one – not entirely successful for me, but an enjoyable read nonetheless.Set in 1930s Italy in the heady days of summer, this short novel focuses on the life of Ginia, a rather sheltered sixteen-year-old girl on the cusp of adulthood.To read the rest of my review, please click here: https://jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2018...

The Beautiful Summer is a very quick and engaging read and although all of the main characters were rather shallow and unlikeable, because of this, it offers quite an accurate depiction of life, although from a particularly pessimistic standpoint. Despite this, I really enjoyed the setting of 1930s Italy, focused on its bohemian artists and their models, alongside first romances, loves and sex in youth. I found the representation of the main female figures a little overly-negative, but it was de...

Having read six of Pavese's novels now over the past couple of months it's kind of become a case of having too much of a good thing. As a writer, he is now up there with some of my favourites, as I have been really impressed with the Italian's simple but beautifully crafted prose up until now. The Beautiful Summer, although a decent read, is the one that didn't fully leave an impression on me. I simply put that down to the fact, that, like I said above, I have read too much of him in succession,...

2 stars

I watched Antonionio's La Notte last night and there's a moment when the Marcello Mastroianni character, a married glamorous writer, is trying to seduce a beautiful young woman. The power in that moment is mostly possessed by the woman. But you know the minute she succumbs all the power will be almost immediately transferred to him. This novella is about the awakening of that possibility of power in a sixteen year old girl. The horizons of Ginia's routine of work and home life broaden excitingl...

Life was a perpetual holiday in those days. We had only to leave the house and step across the street and we became quite mad. Everything was so wonderful, especially at night when on our way back, dead tired, we still longed for something to happen, for a fire to break out, for a baby to be born in the house or at least for a sudden coming of dawn that would bring all the people out in the streets, and we might walk on and on as far as the meadows and beyond the hills. An almost perfect gem of

A very slim novella which could be read in one sitting. It was written in 1940. It was published together with two other novellas just before Pavese died. Pavese was not only a novelist, but a translator, literary critic and poet. He was also an active anti-fascist and after the war was a member of the Italian Communist Party. Disillusionment and a failed love affair leading to depression resulted in Pavese taking his own life in 1950, he was only forty-one. The English translation in the new pe...

Despite the seductive title and cover - this lovely little book is one of the #PenguinEuropeanWriters series - I couldn’t bond with this book at all. It’s hardly more than a novella, but it took me about two weeks to read it and I never really felt submersed in it. It’s a coming-of-age story featuring a young Italian girl called Ginia. Ginia, who is 16 when the book begins, lives with her brother Severino. Her milieu seems to be working-class Italy during the 1940s, but she takes pride in the fa...

I thought that The Beautiful Summer was a half-forgotten book, despite having won one of the most prestigious Italian literary awards, however apparently Viking Press is now publishing a new series called Penguin European Writers which constitutes of forgotten classics and The Beautiful Summer is among one of those, which means you can find it easily for less than 7£. (I can’t speak for the quality of the translation, but Pavese’s style is dry and yet poetic).Set in the late 30s/early 40s in the...

The Beautiful Summer by Cesare Pavese didn't impress me at all.The story examines the relationships between Ginia, Amelia and the bohemian artists Guido and Rodrigues in Turin, Italy. It is a very light read. It explores love, innocent, friendship and art though it lacks depth.It is badly translated (Peter Owen, 1955).In a nutshell - it was a huge disappointment.

I imagine this book being great, with sincere and realistic characters and an unlikable protagonist that you can't help but feel empathy for. I say I imagine, as there's no way of knowing with the translation being so bad. Was it on purpose? Was it written like that in Italian, with grammar and syntax making absolutely no sense, absent commas and dialogues where you have no idea who speaks to whom? I looked for an official review of the book but couldn't find any, so I'll stick to my own opinion...

I am always impressed to read a male author's character take of a young woman. He created this young, vulnerable, naive character as if he really knew her. I found this story interesting but a bit depressing.

A lovely novella. Gina at the age of 16 falls in love with Guido an artist who is also finishing his army services. Pavese captures the bohemian lifestyle in an Italian town between a group of young people. Amelia is the older woman who is a friend of Gina’s and an artists model with a world weary slightly cynical outlook on life. Gina is introduced by Amelia to Guido and Rodrigues who live in a small studio. The story progresses as Gina falls madly in love and with it becomes jealous and become...

I've just finished reading THE BEAUTIFUL SUMMER. It is a light, easy read about friendship, first love and the innocence that comes with it. It has echoes of Ferrante but, dare I say, Pavese writes it better for me, though admittedly I've only read MY BRILLIANT FRIEND. Pavese writes a great study of how when we are young we look up to those we admire, eager to please and gain their approval. It is a convincing narrative. There is a sentence at the end that captures the novel for me: 'She wanted

I’m not sure quite what to make of this little novella. I’m not an expert in translation, but somehow this one seemed to be a little clunky and didn’t make the best of the story. Certain phrases seemed to be translated too literally, resulting in sentences that made little or no sense, and some descriptions didn’t flow well. But the story? I loved that - it was simple, yet powerful, and everything ticked the boxes. Is it a translation fault that made the writing not flow?

Provisional review: Pavese wrote this novella to be part of a three story cycle, alongside 'The Devil in the Hills' and 'Among Women Only.' This volume won Italy's prestigious Strega Prize, but as far as I can tell it's never been published in English. Disturbingly, the three novellas instead have been separated and published on their own. So while 'The Beautiful Spring' felt a bit slight, I'm curious how it would read in the larger context that the author intended.