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Romano Bilenchi's classic coming of age story, never before published in English, is set in northern Tuscany in the 1950s. The small hill towns and rolling Tuscan countryside provide a suggestive and constantly changing backdrop to a story that is thoroughly Italian in its particulars-its smells, sounds and sights-but universal in its themes.
Here, the changing seasons stir both the vibrant hues of Bilenchi's Tuscany and the many moods of his young nameless protagonist. But the abiding atmosphere in this tale is, as the title suggests, wintery. Following the death of his beloved grandfather, a chill has descended upon the teenage narrator of this classic tale, leaving him estranged from friends, family, and eventually even from nature itself- although always vivid and animated, the natural splendor of central Italy becomes increasingly harsh and hostile throughout this story. The protagonist's growing awareness of his own and others' sexuality leads to a series of difficult, confusing encounters that push him even further within himself. Each small awakening, each intimation of the adult world, with all its alarming ribaldry and vulgarity, drives him further from his kind. His reluctant journey into the adult world culminates in a seemingly innocent erotic adventure that, when discovered, will possess all the destructive potential of a natural disaster and at the same time all the potential for rebirth of a new spring.
94 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1982
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
December 31, 2017
This story, unfortunately, went nowhere.
February 2, 2021
L'adolescenza di un ragazzo nell'Italia Centrale nella prima metà del Novecento.
Prima parte troppo distaccata, il racconto prende finalmente ritmo e colore nella seconda parte e il finale è meglio della media di Stephen King.
Però....Mai 'na gioia eh!?
Prima parte troppo distaccata, il racconto prende finalmente ritmo e colore nella seconda parte e il finale è meglio della media di Stephen King.
Però....Mai 'na gioia eh!?
June 1, 2019
Set in an indeterminate time in Tuscany, The Chill tells the story of a boy's coming of age and loss of innocence. The natural landscape is beautifully described.
September 19, 2020
3.5 stars
January 4, 2010
http://www.hipsterbookclub.com/review...
Available now in its first English translation, noted Italian author Romano Bilenchi’s The Chill is a stylish but detached coming-of-age story following an unnamed teenage narrator through a brief period in the 1950s in a small Tuscan town. The title comes from the chill that settles over the narrator as he reluctantly stands on the cusp of adulthood. Though the book is elegantly composed, a lack of personal connection with the characters leaves the story somewhat icy.
The death of his grandfather triggers the boy’s emotional transition. Forced to see life in a more mature and introspective light, the 16-year-old becomes suspicious and confused by the world around him. The following weeks and months present seemingly trivial events that are, to the boy and his emotional development, momentous. As egos develop where there once was playful naïveté, the boy’s group of friends dissipates. He, for the first time, experiences the disappointment that can come with love. He witnesses a darker and more vulgar side of humanity as rumors spread about his friends and family, and scandals sweep the small town. Overcome by feelings of isolation and nostalgia for the childhood that is slipping away, the narrator is unprepared to face these new and uncomfortable situations. He often craves the simplicity of youth that is now out of reach.
The boy is immature in many ways but also exceedingly introspective. Though unable to process his new and difficult feelings fully, he realizes the change in himself as he slowly grows into his role as a man. Bilenchi captures the essence of the character’s fears and reservations through the boy’s reflections and eloquently conveys his teenage angst:
Bilanchi’s writing is clean and pared down so that every word is chosen carefully and not a single one is wasted. Because of this, a few short sentences can convey a mountain of emotion and implications. A careless or distracted reader could miss significant subtleties of the story by not approaching the book attentively. While the sparse language and lack of dialogue lends a stylish presentation to the book, it also results in emotional detachment for the reader. The narrator reveals very little about himself outside the year or so covered in the story and readers never develop a sense of attachment to him. By never even divulging his name, the boy remains a stranger throughout the narrative. Unfortunately, once the story ends, so does the character’s impression on the reader.
One aspect that is more memorable—or at least engaging—is the Tuscan countryside that Bilenchi so thoughtfully describes. A central component of the book, the scenery becomes a character itself and mirrors the narrator’s disposition. At times, the landscape impresses a sense of awe-inducing magnificence, with the remains of old castles and abbeys set against a background of fierce mountains. Sometimes it is a place for comfort and reflection amid the sunflower stalks. Other times it is ominous and sinister, with gray buildings jutting against the sky in hostility. As the narrator’s experiences and outlooks peak and valley, the Italian landscape comes alive. The striking landscape is a welcome element in contrast to a somewhat dull narrator and injects some desperately needed color into the imagery.
The coming-of-age story has been written countless times, in every generation, language, and style. The Chill breaks no new ground, nor does it offer a unique interpretation of the fall from innocence, but is still a worthwhile read—if only to appreciate the captivating landscape and Bilenchi’s graceful prose. His elegant but raw style conveys the sharp chill and loneliness the narrator feels, making this an appropriate read for a cold winter day. However, just as the seasons are fleeting, so will this book’s mark be upon most readers.
Available now in its first English translation, noted Italian author Romano Bilenchi’s The Chill is a stylish but detached coming-of-age story following an unnamed teenage narrator through a brief period in the 1950s in a small Tuscan town. The title comes from the chill that settles over the narrator as he reluctantly stands on the cusp of adulthood. Though the book is elegantly composed, a lack of personal connection with the characters leaves the story somewhat icy.
The death of his grandfather triggers the boy’s emotional transition. Forced to see life in a more mature and introspective light, the 16-year-old becomes suspicious and confused by the world around him. The following weeks and months present seemingly trivial events that are, to the boy and his emotional development, momentous. As egos develop where there once was playful naïveté, the boy’s group of friends dissipates. He, for the first time, experiences the disappointment that can come with love. He witnesses a darker and more vulgar side of humanity as rumors spread about his friends and family, and scandals sweep the small town. Overcome by feelings of isolation and nostalgia for the childhood that is slipping away, the narrator is unprepared to face these new and uncomfortable situations. He often craves the simplicity of youth that is now out of reach.
The boy is immature in many ways but also exceedingly introspective. Though unable to process his new and difficult feelings fully, he realizes the change in himself as he slowly grows into his role as a man. Bilenchi captures the essence of the character’s fears and reservations through the boy’s reflections and eloquently conveys his teenage angst:
More and more, I felt rejected by those I knew, and moments of isolation were frequent. The most painful sensation was one that hit me at night when I went to bed: I felt a sharp certainty that I was not as strong as others, was incapable of defending myself, of asserting myself, of alighting under the wings of those existences who, in their tranquil flight, seemed to cover all and make them equal, natural, and happy, whatever adversity befell them.
Bilanchi’s writing is clean and pared down so that every word is chosen carefully and not a single one is wasted. Because of this, a few short sentences can convey a mountain of emotion and implications. A careless or distracted reader could miss significant subtleties of the story by not approaching the book attentively. While the sparse language and lack of dialogue lends a stylish presentation to the book, it also results in emotional detachment for the reader. The narrator reveals very little about himself outside the year or so covered in the story and readers never develop a sense of attachment to him. By never even divulging his name, the boy remains a stranger throughout the narrative. Unfortunately, once the story ends, so does the character’s impression on the reader.
One aspect that is more memorable—or at least engaging—is the Tuscan countryside that Bilenchi so thoughtfully describes. A central component of the book, the scenery becomes a character itself and mirrors the narrator’s disposition. At times, the landscape impresses a sense of awe-inducing magnificence, with the remains of old castles and abbeys set against a background of fierce mountains. Sometimes it is a place for comfort and reflection amid the sunflower stalks. Other times it is ominous and sinister, with gray buildings jutting against the sky in hostility. As the narrator’s experiences and outlooks peak and valley, the Italian landscape comes alive. The striking landscape is a welcome element in contrast to a somewhat dull narrator and injects some desperately needed color into the imagery.
The coming-of-age story has been written countless times, in every generation, language, and style. The Chill breaks no new ground, nor does it offer a unique interpretation of the fall from innocence, but is still a worthwhile read—if only to appreciate the captivating landscape and Bilenchi’s graceful prose. His elegant but raw style conveys the sharp chill and loneliness the narrator feels, making this an appropriate read for a cold winter day. However, just as the seasons are fleeting, so will this book’s mark be upon most readers.
February 19, 2017
"The chill of suspicion and incomprehension came between me and humankind when I was sixteen." This is how our unnamed protagonist begins his achingly familiar story about becoming a man in the real world.
Living in Tuscany in the 1920's, the protagonist is sixteen-years old and just lost his grandfather to old age. The loss--monumental in every respect--marks a shift in his perception of adult life, and adults in general. Standing on the precipice of adulthood, he studies it as if it's a piece of an overripe apple that he's reluctantly considering buying.
He contends that it isn't "possible to live among other people if all of a sudden they could attack one another with such ferocity." It's his innocence talking and it's precisely the loss of innocence that gives our protagonist the "chill."
Part of the inescapable process of becoming adults is that we shed our childhood innocence and replace it with an armor that helps us navigate the "real world." The shedding process--that inevitable fate--is what's at the core of this book.
Our unnamed friend's journey into adulthood, as dramatic and chilling as it is at times, is so relevant and real. His encounters with the fragility of friendships, the hollowness of death, the explosion of sexuality and the dullness of shame are timeless and tireless themes that usher us into the world of grownups. He has to learn the hard way to become a man.
I didn't know much about the book when I picked it up a few months back, but I'm so glad I did. Bilenchi's prose in these 84-pages is classical and refined (Ann Goldstein did a wonderful job bringing the Italian text to life with precise and beautiful locution.) In addition to the protagonist's engrossing story, the Italian countryside setting is so delicately and thoroughly described that it makes the story that much more captivating.
This short story managed to capture the essence of adolescence like no other novel or novella has. The shedding analogy I used earlier can really be summarized in one word: rebirth. As we go past our adolescent years we are in fact reborn with calibrated sensibilities and a wiser (or damaged) perspective.
Living in Tuscany in the 1920's, the protagonist is sixteen-years old and just lost his grandfather to old age. The loss--monumental in every respect--marks a shift in his perception of adult life, and adults in general. Standing on the precipice of adulthood, he studies it as if it's a piece of an overripe apple that he's reluctantly considering buying.
He contends that it isn't "possible to live among other people if all of a sudden they could attack one another with such ferocity." It's his innocence talking and it's precisely the loss of innocence that gives our protagonist the "chill."
Part of the inescapable process of becoming adults is that we shed our childhood innocence and replace it with an armor that helps us navigate the "real world." The shedding process--that inevitable fate--is what's at the core of this book.
Our unnamed friend's journey into adulthood, as dramatic and chilling as it is at times, is so relevant and real. His encounters with the fragility of friendships, the hollowness of death, the explosion of sexuality and the dullness of shame are timeless and tireless themes that usher us into the world of grownups. He has to learn the hard way to become a man.
I didn't know much about the book when I picked it up a few months back, but I'm so glad I did. Bilenchi's prose in these 84-pages is classical and refined (Ann Goldstein did a wonderful job bringing the Italian text to life with precise and beautiful locution.) In addition to the protagonist's engrossing story, the Italian countryside setting is so delicately and thoroughly described that it makes the story that much more captivating.
This short story managed to capture the essence of adolescence like no other novel or novella has. The shedding analogy I used earlier can really be summarized in one word: rebirth. As we go past our adolescent years we are in fact reborn with calibrated sensibilities and a wiser (or damaged) perspective.
November 23, 2011
The Tuscan writer Romano Bilenchi (1909-1989) apparently believed adolescence was the most critical period of one's life, a time when the future was largely fixed. It is during these years that one loses innocence and achieves some new awareness, both essential ingredients in a "coming of age" novel like this. The young narrator of Bilenchi's short work discovers the world to be a place of dark sexual urges and terrible moral complexity. He is suddenly adrift and does indeed suffer a "chill" from which the reader suspects he may never recover. The theme is announced from the first sentence: "The chill of suspicion and incomprehension came between me and humankind when I was sixteen." And it culminates when his mother, who had been the center of his life up to that time, looked at him "with revulsion from head to toe." Bilenchi specialized in short literary forms. He writes with great concision and each image, some of them highly disturbing, is sharply etched. He is a writer worth reading, and rereading.
May 16, 2014
Although this wasn't a badly written coming-of-age novella of an Italian boy, with interesting insights into life in the region, it didn't bowl me over either. part of it may be his style, although that too could be partly due to translation, but the delivery is rather monotone, so to speak, and I really didn't like much the protagonist (probably because he didn't more actively work to protect girls in trouble). I liked the first part of the story more than the latter. This was my first encounter with Bilenchi, and this book was apparently written much later in his life, so perhaps one of his earlier works deserves a look. But with so many books on my schedule, I am not sure I will get back to him.
August 10, 2012
Italian novel of the New Wave style, set sometime in the past in Italy. The narrator is a boy in late adolescence who writes about the death of his grandfather and being sent away to the countryside and his actions with Gino, a repellent young man that women find strangely attractive. Although its well written, why anyone bothered to reprint this is a mystery. Its like a book you'd be made to read in an Italian high school.
July 1, 2011
Insightful, quiet, frightening. Set in Italy in the '50s (apparently), though written in the '80s, it opens up a world almost entirely foreign to most of us, even though the theme -- the end of adolescence -- is universal: the matter-of-fact (but not graphic) sexual violence, for one thing, the sexual double standard at an extreme degree.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews