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Ernesto
A coming-of-age story set in fin de siècle Trieste.
Ernesto is sixteen years old and ready for life to begin. His curiosity leads him into an affair with an older man – the first step on his journey to adulthood.
Full of tenderness, humour and warmth, Ernesto is a beautifully and empathetically rendered coming-of-age story set in fin de siècle Trieste. Written in 1953, when the author turned seventy, but not published until 1975, Ernesto is the great Italian poet's most personal and confessional novel.
Ernesto is sixteen years old and ready for life to begin. His curiosity leads him into an affair with an older man – the first step on his journey to adulthood.
Full of tenderness, humour and warmth, Ernesto is a beautifully and empathetically rendered coming-of-age story set in fin de siècle Trieste. Written in 1953, when the author turned seventy, but not published until 1975, Ernesto is the great Italian poet's most personal and confessional novel.
320 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1975
38 people are currently reading
1557 people want to read
About the author
Umberto Saba
108 books48 followersUmberto Saba was an Italian poet and novelist, born Umberto Poli in the cosmopolitan Mediterranean port of Trieste when it was the fourth largest city of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Poli assumed the nom de plume "Saba" in 1910, and his name was officially changed to Umberto Saba in 1928.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 141 reviews
March 3, 2022
I was only familiar with Saba's poetry, so it was going to be interesting to see what he was like as a novelist. I have to say that I was really impressed by this, and it's just a pity - a bit like the way I felt about That Awful Mess on Via Merulana - that it was left unfinished.
Despite not having the explicit nature of, say, Jean Genet when it comes to male homosexuality, I would imagine it would have caused a bit of a stir had it been first published in the mid 50s. (First published posthumously in the mid 70s). You can clearly see that a lot of love for Trieste, Saba's hometown, and his own memories and innermost feelings went into the character of Ernesto. I don't believe the novel should only appeal to queer readers - I liked it a lot and I'm not one - as it also speaks universally in regards to adolescence. It may well be set in the late 1890s, but I could see a little something of my sixteen-year-old self when it came to Ernesto and the way he tried to carry himself as sophisticated rather than, as in reality, being inexperienced.
Another in a long line of past European classics reissued by New York Review Books. I now have quite a nice collection. This one will slot in perfectly along side fellow Italians Moravia, Malaparte, Gadda, and Sciascia.
Read
February 11, 2019First the particulars:
But we don’t know. For here, Umberto Saba stopped writing what we are assured was a semi-autobiographical tale.
That’s not why I read this though. No. Jan Morris made me do it.
See, I read her Trieste and the Meaning of Nowhere earlier this year, and how she wrote about this Adriatic city, once Austro-Hungarian but now Italian and maybe leaning with one wind to Slovenian and on another wind to Croatian. Complicated, Jan Morris wrote, smiling, like herself.
And so too, perhaps, Ernesto. This is a Triestine author and a Triestine setting. Ernesto speaks Italian but his boss speaks German, and “the man” speaks the peculiar Triestine dialect. It is not a matter of a peculiar accent. It is not jargon or street slang. It’s what the city’s residents spoke, maybe speak. “The man” spoke it. The author used it then, and the translator went to lengths to apologize that she couldn’t approximate it.
Trieste’s more famous native novelist, Italo Svevo, used it, but that’s not why I didn’t care for his work much: As A Man Grows Older.
And Trieste’s most famous resident novelist used the Trieste dialect to inspire his own: Finnegan’s Wake.
This work is abbreviated and short and took a lot of explaining both before and afterward. You don’t have to read it unless you wake from a dream and Jan Morris is chasing you down a potholed lane with a copy of her book and a flask of something for you to take the chill off.
Ernesto is only a piece of something larger, a giant mosaic perhaps; something self-assured, or maybe not.
But we don’t know. For here, Umberto Saba stopped writing what we are assured was a semi-autobiographical tale.
That’s not why I read this though. No. Jan Morris made me do it.
See, I read her Trieste and the Meaning of Nowhere earlier this year, and how she wrote about this Adriatic city, once Austro-Hungarian but now Italian and maybe leaning with one wind to Slovenian and on another wind to Croatian. Complicated, Jan Morris wrote, smiling, like herself.
And so too, perhaps, Ernesto. This is a Triestine author and a Triestine setting. Ernesto speaks Italian but his boss speaks German, and “the man” speaks the peculiar Triestine dialect. It is not a matter of a peculiar accent. It is not jargon or street slang. It’s what the city’s residents spoke, maybe speak. “The man” spoke it. The author used it then, and the translator went to lengths to apologize that she couldn’t approximate it.
Trieste’s more famous native novelist, Italo Svevo, used it, but that’s not why I didn’t care for his work much: As A Man Grows Older.
And Trieste’s most famous resident novelist used the Trieste dialect to inspire his own: Finnegan’s Wake.
This work is abbreviated and short and took a lot of explaining both before and afterward. You don’t have to read it unless you wake from a dream and Jan Morris is chasing you down a potholed lane with a copy of her book and a flask of something for you to take the chill off.
Ernesto is only a piece of something larger, a giant mosaic perhaps; something self-assured, or maybe not.
March 29, 2017
NYRB describes this as a "classic of gay literature," just now available translated into English. It is said to be possibly autobiographical, but readers coming to it expecting a simple narrative will be surprised. The author never finished the book. The translator includes helpful information at the beginning and end of the content to help situate the reader - there is even one letter from the author inserted at a point in the writing where he couldn't decide which direction to go or if he even wanted this published.
If you go into it expecting the fourth wall to be transparent, it will be a better experience. I would call this a non-essential read, personally.
Thanks to the publisher who provided a review copy through Edelweiss.
If you go into it expecting the fourth wall to be transparent, it will be a better experience. I would call this a non-essential read, personally.
Thanks to the publisher who provided a review copy through Edelweiss.
July 3, 2024
[COMENTÁRIO]
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
"Ernesto"
de Umberto Saba
Tradução de Cristina Dabraio
"Ernesto" é uma novela escrita por Umberto Saba, um escritor e poeta italiano natural de Triste. A história narra a vida aos 16 anos do jovem Ernesto, uma personagem solitário que lida com questões existenciais e emocionais profundas próprias da sua idade. Num registo muito cru, e muitas vezes, a nu, a obra explora temas como solidão, identidade, amor e desejo. Sendo uma obra escrita em 1953 é um texto corajoso na descrição dos desejos e práticas sexuais do jovem Ernesto.
A narrativa de Saba é conhecida por sua introspecção e profundidade psicológica, oferecendo aos leitores uma reflexão sobre a natureza humana e as complexidades das relações interpessoais. Um leitura queer que nos faz pensar a importância da adolescência nos nossos processos de aprender a ser.
Ernesto é um personagem complexo e cativante - com uma voz cheia de encanto e ternura -, e a sua jornada ao longo do livro é repleta de momentos emotivos e reveladores. Saliento a mudança de rumo da história que o último episódio, à moda de posfácio, nos deixa em aberto...
Elsa Morante valorizou especialmente este obra, destacando a escrita e a coragem de Umberto Saba, afirmando:
"Ele na sua narração não põe de lado nenhum pormenor, por muito difícil e secreto, desde que lhe pareça necessário; não castiga nenhuma palavra. Porém, as mesmas coisas que outrem, ao dize-las, poderia tornar obscenas, ou ridículas, ou sórdidas, pelo contrário revelam-se ditas por ele na sua clareza real, naturais e sem ofensa. Deixando límpida, no fim da leitura, a emoção dos afectos, devolvida à pureza consciente da consciência madura."
Leitura que faz parte do #bingodeverãodonaleitura dinamizado pela @cat.classics, na categoria "perda da inocência" proposta pela
(li de 02/07/2024 a 03/07/2024)
#livro #leitura #literatura #literaturaitaliana
https://www.instagram.com/p/C89j7dNM7...
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
"Ernesto"
de Umberto Saba
Tradução de Cristina Dabraio
"Ernesto" é uma novela escrita por Umberto Saba, um escritor e poeta italiano natural de Triste. A história narra a vida aos 16 anos do jovem Ernesto, uma personagem solitário que lida com questões existenciais e emocionais profundas próprias da sua idade. Num registo muito cru, e muitas vezes, a nu, a obra explora temas como solidão, identidade, amor e desejo. Sendo uma obra escrita em 1953 é um texto corajoso na descrição dos desejos e práticas sexuais do jovem Ernesto.
A narrativa de Saba é conhecida por sua introspecção e profundidade psicológica, oferecendo aos leitores uma reflexão sobre a natureza humana e as complexidades das relações interpessoais. Um leitura queer que nos faz pensar a importância da adolescência nos nossos processos de aprender a ser.
Ernesto é um personagem complexo e cativante - com uma voz cheia de encanto e ternura -, e a sua jornada ao longo do livro é repleta de momentos emotivos e reveladores. Saliento a mudança de rumo da história que o último episódio, à moda de posfácio, nos deixa em aberto...
Elsa Morante valorizou especialmente este obra, destacando a escrita e a coragem de Umberto Saba, afirmando:
"Ele na sua narração não põe de lado nenhum pormenor, por muito difícil e secreto, desde que lhe pareça necessário; não castiga nenhuma palavra. Porém, as mesmas coisas que outrem, ao dize-las, poderia tornar obscenas, ou ridículas, ou sórdidas, pelo contrário revelam-se ditas por ele na sua clareza real, naturais e sem ofensa. Deixando límpida, no fim da leitura, a emoção dos afectos, devolvida à pureza consciente da consciência madura."
Leitura que faz parte do #bingodeverãodonaleitura dinamizado pela @cat.classics, na categoria "perda da inocência" proposta pela
(li de 02/07/2024 a 03/07/2024)
#livro #leitura #literatura #literaturaitaliana
https://www.instagram.com/p/C89j7dNM7...
September 12, 2019
Bought at the NYRB 50% off sale
Recommended by Ryan
This is a very slight (100 page) unfinished Italian novel. I skipped the intro so knew absolutely nothing going in. I loved the writing! Someone (the narrator) is telling us the long ago story of a boy (Ernesto) and "the man". There are a lot of parentheses, (multiple per page ;-) After awhile I looked forward to the next comment that was (in parentheses). It is very conversational and almost comforting to read, if that makes any sense (okay, I could be the only one with this reaction, but that's how it felt). There is some graphic sexual description, in case you like to know these things before you read.
After I finished the novel I loved reading the introduction to find out more about the very troubled author and the supplemental history at the end. It's a gem of a book. Thanks Ryan!
Recommended by Ryan
This is a very slight (100 page) unfinished Italian novel. I skipped the intro so knew absolutely nothing going in. I loved the writing! Someone (the narrator) is telling us the long ago story of a boy (Ernesto) and "the man". There are a lot of parentheses, (multiple per page ;-) After awhile I looked forward to the next comment that was (in parentheses). It is very conversational and almost comforting to read, if that makes any sense (okay, I could be the only one with this reaction, but that's how it felt). There is some graphic sexual description, in case you like to know these things before you read.
After I finished the novel I loved reading the introduction to find out more about the very troubled author and the supplemental history at the end. It's a gem of a book. Thanks Ryan!
October 13, 2022
Premesso che Saba ha il mio cuore dalla prima volta in cui lessi il suo trittico di poesie dedicate alla balia (ai tempi in cui ero al liceo), consiglio vivamente questa opera (incompiuta!) a chi già conosca l'autore e voglia approfondire sulla sua vita e i suoi sentimenti tanto contrastati.
Fu scritto nel 1953, quando l'autore si trovava ricoverato in una clinica romana (i primi tre episodi) e in parte dopo il suo ritorno a Trieste. Vergato in gran parte in dialetto triestino (fate conto anche di questo aspetto, se siete interessati alla lettura, visto che in alcuni passaggi potrebbe essere complicato da tradurre in italiano), è rimasto incompiuto. Fu pubblicato postumo da Einaudi nel 1975 a cura della figlia Linuccia (Saba ordinò prima di morire che fosse bruciata l'opera).
La storia è ambientata nella Trieste del 1898 e racconta la vita di Ernesto (giovane personaggio che ripercorre evidentemente la travagliata biografia di Umberto Saba), i suoi traumi familiari, la sua omosessualità, la sua profondissima necessità di affetto.
Potrebbe essere un riuscitissimo romanzo di formazione questo, attento com’è ai riti di passaggio, al crescere del protagonista. Ma la scelta di abbandonarlo ne ha sacrificato lo sviluppo. Ernesto rimane dunque ancora un ragazzo, una proiezione di Saba al passato.
Umilmente penso che l'unico romanzo che Saba scrisse rimase incompiuto per la sua carica di verità e scandalo che lo gonfiava. Il poeta dell'inconscio, tra quelle pagine, era semplicemente Umberto. Era l'uomo-bambino che non aveva mai detto, o meglio, non aveva mai saputo dire così nemmeno nella migliore poesia.
Trovo per questo che l'opera sia un gioiellino autentico, un modo per abbracciare e accogliere il cuore di Umberto Saba tra le proprie braccia, potendo volergli soltanto un gran bene.
Fu scritto nel 1953, quando l'autore si trovava ricoverato in una clinica romana (i primi tre episodi) e in parte dopo il suo ritorno a Trieste. Vergato in gran parte in dialetto triestino (fate conto anche di questo aspetto, se siete interessati alla lettura, visto che in alcuni passaggi potrebbe essere complicato da tradurre in italiano), è rimasto incompiuto. Fu pubblicato postumo da Einaudi nel 1975 a cura della figlia Linuccia (Saba ordinò prima di morire che fosse bruciata l'opera).
La storia è ambientata nella Trieste del 1898 e racconta la vita di Ernesto (giovane personaggio che ripercorre evidentemente la travagliata biografia di Umberto Saba), i suoi traumi familiari, la sua omosessualità, la sua profondissima necessità di affetto.
Potrebbe essere un riuscitissimo romanzo di formazione questo, attento com’è ai riti di passaggio, al crescere del protagonista. Ma la scelta di abbandonarlo ne ha sacrificato lo sviluppo. Ernesto rimane dunque ancora un ragazzo, una proiezione di Saba al passato.
Umilmente penso che l'unico romanzo che Saba scrisse rimase incompiuto per la sua carica di verità e scandalo che lo gonfiava. Il poeta dell'inconscio, tra quelle pagine, era semplicemente Umberto. Era l'uomo-bambino che non aveva mai detto, o meglio, non aveva mai saputo dire così nemmeno nella migliore poesia.
Trovo per questo che l'opera sia un gioiellino autentico, un modo per abbracciare e accogliere il cuore di Umberto Saba tra le proprie braccia, potendo volergli soltanto un gran bene.
March 9, 2013
Compiuto incompiuto
Ernesto è romanzo incompiuto, ma forse proprio qui sta la sua forza.
Quei primi tre capitoli spiegano tutto: la grazia di Ernesto, il suo “voler provare” la vita, senza infingimenti, la sua brama di essere e di sapere. Non ha alcuna importanza non sapere cosa sarà della vita futura di Ernesto, cosa gli succederà dopo l'iniziazione raccontata da Saba. Sappiamo che non sarà un grande concertista, che non lavorerà più come impiegato, ma ciò che conta sono quei primi tre capitoli, quella è la sua vita. Anche l'incontro con Ilio, che chiude il romanzo, è perfetto in sé: probabilmente Saba abbandona il romanzo perché è conscio che qualunque cosa avesse scritto ancora avrebbe diluito il concentrato di leggerezza e spessore delle prime cento pagine.
Oltre ad Ernesto la grande protagonista del romanzo è Trieste, con il suo dialetto e la sua anima multiculturale. Si ha la netta impressione che Saba vagheggi una Trieste ormai scomparsa all'epoca in cui scrisse - ormai vecchio - il romanzo, la Trieste austroungarica dove italiani, slavi e austriaci convivevano in un melting pot contraddittorio ma fecondo.
Molti dei commenti all'opera da parte di lettori classificano il libro come “di iniziazione omosessuale”. Io non credo sia così: Ernesto accetta l'esperienza omosessuale (peraltro descritta con grande precisione “tecnica”) esattamente per lo stesso motivo per cui decide di recarsi da una prostituta o di iniziare a studiare il violino, cioè per conoscere. Quando ha conosciuto, smette con la stessa leggerezza con cui aveva cominciato.
Un unico appunto allo stile di Saba: l'eccessivo uso di parentesi esplicative, a volte superflue e che spezzano un ritmo narrativo che altrimenti fluisce leggero come la corsa di Ernesto verso la vita.
Ernesto è romanzo incompiuto, ma forse proprio qui sta la sua forza.
Quei primi tre capitoli spiegano tutto: la grazia di Ernesto, il suo “voler provare” la vita, senza infingimenti, la sua brama di essere e di sapere. Non ha alcuna importanza non sapere cosa sarà della vita futura di Ernesto, cosa gli succederà dopo l'iniziazione raccontata da Saba. Sappiamo che non sarà un grande concertista, che non lavorerà più come impiegato, ma ciò che conta sono quei primi tre capitoli, quella è la sua vita. Anche l'incontro con Ilio, che chiude il romanzo, è perfetto in sé: probabilmente Saba abbandona il romanzo perché è conscio che qualunque cosa avesse scritto ancora avrebbe diluito il concentrato di leggerezza e spessore delle prime cento pagine.
Oltre ad Ernesto la grande protagonista del romanzo è Trieste, con il suo dialetto e la sua anima multiculturale. Si ha la netta impressione che Saba vagheggi una Trieste ormai scomparsa all'epoca in cui scrisse - ormai vecchio - il romanzo, la Trieste austroungarica dove italiani, slavi e austriaci convivevano in un melting pot contraddittorio ma fecondo.
Molti dei commenti all'opera da parte di lettori classificano il libro come “di iniziazione omosessuale”. Io non credo sia così: Ernesto accetta l'esperienza omosessuale (peraltro descritta con grande precisione “tecnica”) esattamente per lo stesso motivo per cui decide di recarsi da una prostituta o di iniziare a studiare il violino, cioè per conoscere. Quando ha conosciuto, smette con la stessa leggerezza con cui aveva cominciato.
Un unico appunto allo stile di Saba: l'eccessivo uso di parentesi esplicative, a volte superflue e che spezzano un ritmo narrativo che altrimenti fluisce leggero come la corsa di Ernesto verso la vita.
March 12, 2018
3.5, rounded down. While not quite the 'classic of gay literature' the publisher would lead you to believe, this short, quick autobiographical book is nevertheless an interesting view of adolescent sexuality at the turn of the 19th Century. Although the author abandoned plans for a lengthier work, it doesn't really matter that it is 'unfinished', as it DOES more or less come to a satisfying conclusion. The translation reads a bit stilted at times, but a note from the translator indicates that no one can really reproduce in English the Triestino dialect in which much of the book is written.
November 22, 2008
Very well written and translated from the Italian. It is full of chapter to chapter quantum parallels! it's very moving, very humourous, very sexual, very apathetic, very moralistic, very considerate of people, very optimistic and very short. it's just a wonderful attempt...and it strikes gold--this book. go read it...it'll be hard to find, but easy to love.
March 31, 2020
This is a very sweet, angst-free coming of age tale, with a likeable main character, and storytelling that is at one time both forthright and delicate. It's an unfinished five-chapter novella, but don't be put off by that, as the author himself was aware, while writing it, that he might not complete it, and wrote it in a way that makes the story self-contained and self-standing if you stop at either the end of ch 1 or the end of ch 3 (this much is apparent from the extracts from the author's letters included in the Italian edition of the work published by Einaudi). Not sure how well the novella reads in English -- part of its charm is the dialogue in Triestino dialect, and I can't think how one could translate that effectively. Recommended, particularly if you can handle the Italian edition.
August 10, 2023
Niedokończona i jedyna beletrystyka Umberto Saby. Sama posiadam wydanie przetłumaczone przez Jarosława Mikołajowskiego, który jak sam się przyznaje w notatce pod koniec książki "nie próbował uprościć pisarstwa wielkiego autora". To bardzo intymna opowieść wręcz autobiograficzna. Połączenie "Portret Doriana Graya" z "Tamte dni, tamte noce" (tłumacz przywołuje również "Panny z Wilka" Iwaszkiewicza) dziejące się w Trieście w 1898 roku.
Mi osobiście przerwanie historii w takim momencie nie przeszkadza wręcz przeciwnie. Czytelnik może sam zdecydować jak według niego relacja Ernesto z Iliem potoczy się dalej (od razu przestrzegam przed duża różnica wieku jeśli chodzi o relacje głównego bohatera).
Mi osobiście przerwanie historii w takim momencie nie przeszkadza wręcz przeciwnie. Czytelnik może sam zdecydować jak według niego relacja Ernesto z Iliem potoczy się dalej (od razu przestrzegam przed duża różnica wieku jeśli chodzi o relacje głównego bohatera).
August 7, 2024
(I have added a postscript at the end of this review - August 2024)
"Ernesto was a sixteen-year-old boy whose innocent sensuality and intense curiosity led him into an affair with an older man - the first step on a journey to self-realization and adulthood...Ernesto is a novel about adolescence ... it is a celebration of life, full of tenderness, humour and great warmth...(and) a boy's first experiences of sex - rather, of sexual love....(which) does not shun any detail, however difficult or secret..."
Extracted from the precis on the reverse of the 1987 Paladin edition (also quoted on Goodreads with this edition).
I have quoted the above because almost everyone who reads this novel today will probably read the NYT reprint which promotes this novel as a 'gay classic' which is to misrepresent the novel and also deceive potential readers. There is a relationship between a teenage boy and a young man in his twenties, the sex is frankly dealt with and the older man is certainly in love with the boy so in that sense the novel has 'gay' content but it is not a novel about either the boy or the man's coming to terms with or understanding their sexuality. It is a novel of adolescence and growing up and it is clearly draws deeply on Umberto Saba's own life, but it is much more about how he became a poet - that is why the 'Afterward' and extensive notes provided by the translator in this edition (I do not know if they are included in the NYT edition) are so important and so illuminating and why, except as marketing slogan, 'gay classic' seems both reductive, limiting and untrue.
It is also as much a novel about Trieste and the world of the Austro-Hungarian empire at the end of the 19th century. It is not a nostalgic look back, but an honest one, written by a half-Jewish Italian writing in the years following WWII. The words I quote at the start are honest and true to a novel which is incredibly beautiful and moving but also very rich in meaning and depth. I do not wish to diminish the 'gay' content because it is important but not in the way that it is being presented. Read this novel as a bildungsroman about the birth of poet, the discovery new ways of understanding the world through discovering sex and sexual love - it is a lovely story and I can assure you as a story of adolescence it is unrivalled in its portrayal of the shallowness and stupidities of youth as only someone looking back with knowledge and sadness can do.
A fabulous novel which is a far finer thing to be than a genre classic.
(added in August 2024)
I was rereading this review and became more excised by the 'Gay Classic' tag because I recently came across a definition of what a gay/novel story is:
'...a gay story (is) one that illuminates the experience of love between men, explores the nature of homosexual identity, or investigates the kinds of relationship gay men have with each other, with their friends, and with their families...'
This definition comes from the gay author David Leavitt's introduction to the first edition of The Penguin Book of Gay Short Stories, and I think it is a good one. It does describe a great deal of writing by American/English gay writers post Stonewall through the 1990s and maybe even the early years of the 21st century. I don't think it describes gay writing now and don't see how that definition can be attached to Saba's Ernesto, and probably many other New York Times Gay Classics.
I would be fascinated to hear what others think.
"Ernesto was a sixteen-year-old boy whose innocent sensuality and intense curiosity led him into an affair with an older man - the first step on a journey to self-realization and adulthood...Ernesto is a novel about adolescence ... it is a celebration of life, full of tenderness, humour and great warmth...(and) a boy's first experiences of sex - rather, of sexual love....(which) does not shun any detail, however difficult or secret..."
Extracted from the precis on the reverse of the 1987 Paladin edition (also quoted on Goodreads with this edition).
I have quoted the above because almost everyone who reads this novel today will probably read the NYT reprint which promotes this novel as a 'gay classic' which is to misrepresent the novel and also deceive potential readers. There is a relationship between a teenage boy and a young man in his twenties, the sex is frankly dealt with and the older man is certainly in love with the boy so in that sense the novel has 'gay' content but it is not a novel about either the boy or the man's coming to terms with or understanding their sexuality. It is a novel of adolescence and growing up and it is clearly draws deeply on Umberto Saba's own life, but it is much more about how he became a poet - that is why the 'Afterward' and extensive notes provided by the translator in this edition (I do not know if they are included in the NYT edition) are so important and so illuminating and why, except as marketing slogan, 'gay classic' seems both reductive, limiting and untrue.
It is also as much a novel about Trieste and the world of the Austro-Hungarian empire at the end of the 19th century. It is not a nostalgic look back, but an honest one, written by a half-Jewish Italian writing in the years following WWII. The words I quote at the start are honest and true to a novel which is incredibly beautiful and moving but also very rich in meaning and depth. I do not wish to diminish the 'gay' content because it is important but not in the way that it is being presented. Read this novel as a bildungsroman about the birth of poet, the discovery new ways of understanding the world through discovering sex and sexual love - it is a lovely story and I can assure you as a story of adolescence it is unrivalled in its portrayal of the shallowness and stupidities of youth as only someone looking back with knowledge and sadness can do.
A fabulous novel which is a far finer thing to be than a genre classic.
(added in August 2024)
I was rereading this review and became more excised by the 'Gay Classic' tag because I recently came across a definition of what a gay/novel story is:
'...a gay story (is) one that illuminates the experience of love between men, explores the nature of homosexual identity, or investigates the kinds of relationship gay men have with each other, with their friends, and with their families...'
This definition comes from the gay author David Leavitt's introduction to the first edition of The Penguin Book of Gay Short Stories, and I think it is a good one. It does describe a great deal of writing by American/English gay writers post Stonewall through the 1990s and maybe even the early years of the 21st century. I don't think it describes gay writing now and don't see how that definition can be attached to Saba's Ernesto, and probably many other New York Times Gay Classics.
I would be fascinated to hear what others think.
December 28, 2021
Sapevo di cosa parlasse questo romanzo ma non lo immaginavo così esplicito per essere stato pubblicato negli anni 50
La scoperta dell’identità sessuale e omosessuale del giovane triestino Ernesto, deve essere stata una tematica che ha tolto il sonno a molti editori dell’epoca, combattuti fra la voglia di pubblicare un libro davvero interessante e ben fatto, e la paura della scure della censura.
Oggi che il tema è così dibattuto faccio fatica a scovare questo classico italiano fra le letture degli influencers della carta stampata, ed è un peccato perché Saba andrebbe riportato in auge, gli andrebbe restituito il merito di aver sdoganato un argomento tabù per quegli anni e di averne parlato senza fronzoli, senza edulcorare, senza limitarsi.
Scopro che molto è autobiografico, questa è un’ennesima nota di merito.
Quello però che ho amato di più in questa lettura è stata la parte finale, non perché l’inizio e lo svolgimento centrale non meritino, ma nel finale si scopre la tenerezza comprensiva di una madre, la giusta conclusione per un romanzo che affronti queste tematiche
C’è, se vogliamo, un’unica pecca o impedimento alla lettura che dir si voglia: i dialoghi sono quasi tutti in dialetto triestino. Io avendo vissuto in Veneto non ho fatto fatica alcuna a starci dietro, ma per chi non proviene dal nord est potrebbe essere un problema, seppure non sia di impossibile comprensione
La scoperta dell’identità sessuale e omosessuale del giovane triestino Ernesto, deve essere stata una tematica che ha tolto il sonno a molti editori dell’epoca, combattuti fra la voglia di pubblicare un libro davvero interessante e ben fatto, e la paura della scure della censura.
Oggi che il tema è così dibattuto faccio fatica a scovare questo classico italiano fra le letture degli influencers della carta stampata, ed è un peccato perché Saba andrebbe riportato in auge, gli andrebbe restituito il merito di aver sdoganato un argomento tabù per quegli anni e di averne parlato senza fronzoli, senza edulcorare, senza limitarsi.
Scopro che molto è autobiografico, questa è un’ennesima nota di merito.
Quello però che ho amato di più in questa lettura è stata la parte finale, non perché l’inizio e lo svolgimento centrale non meritino, ma nel finale si scopre la tenerezza comprensiva di una madre, la giusta conclusione per un romanzo che affronti queste tematiche
C’è, se vogliamo, un’unica pecca o impedimento alla lettura che dir si voglia: i dialoghi sono quasi tutti in dialetto triestino. Io avendo vissuto in Veneto non ho fatto fatica alcuna a starci dietro, ma per chi non proviene dal nord est potrebbe essere un problema, seppure non sia di impossibile comprensione
March 4, 2023
A short novel full of life — Ernesto is like a little earthquake; it’s difficult to know exactly where the disruption is coming from but it’s everywhere all at once.
July 31, 2023
Pura intimità
August 3, 2023
i was going to give this four stars until the last line (so good made me tear up)
July 25, 2022
Ein unvollendetes Werk Sabas, worin die Lebensgeschichte Ernestos gezeichnet wird. Seine anfängliche homosexuelle Neugierde mit einem Arbeitskollegen, mündet in eine erste sexuelle Erfahrung mit einer Frau. Das Aufsuchen der Prostituierten markiert das Ende der sexuellen Treffen mit dem Kollegen und seiner jugendlichen Phase. Man liest somit die ersten Kapitel des Fragments wie einen Bildungsroman, wobei dafür die Kürze des Büchleins einige entscheidende Faktoren für den Bildungsweg nicht zulässt. Das vierte und fünfte Kapitel eröffnen die neue Freundschaft mit Ilio, die allerdings nicht zu einem Ende geführt werden könnte.
March 26, 2021
یه قولی به خودم دادم موقع خوندن این کتاب- این ریویو باشه به یادگار و جهت یاداوری کار نکرده
April 4, 2024
I was pleasantly surprised by this. A coming-of-age story based on Saba’s own experiences. It mixes an ideal of romantic friendship with some emotive critiques of sexual culture in fin de siècle Trieste. Naturally, the whole dialect element present in the original Italian is not brought across here in translation. I suppose one could write these parts in Scots or something, but it may stretch believability to have any English dialect represent Triestine at the end of the nineteenth century.
November 5, 2025
Letto poco dopo aver visto il film. Carino. Non mi aspettavo un libro del genere da Saba, perché è molto diverso dall'immagine dell'autore che si ha studiando le sue poesie a scuola. Interessante la scelta di utilizzare il dialetto e ben riuscita la voce del protagonista. È stato facile vedere il mondo attraverso gli occhi di Ernesto, e seguirlo mentre vive quella fase peculiare dell’adolescenza, di scoperta di sé e del mondo degli adulti.
April 23, 2021
Η έκδοση και η μετάφραση δεν είναι κι ό,τι καλύτερο μα πώς αλλιώς μπορεί κανείς να πλησιάσει μια μισοξεχασμένη μεταθανάτια νουβέλλα ενός άγνωστου στην Ελλάδα Ιταλού προπολεμικού συγγραφέα / ποιητή με ομοφυλοφιλικό - υποτίθεται αυτοβιογραφικό - περιεχόμενο;
Λάτρεψα την αρχή με την πολύ ρεαλιστική περιγραφή της ερωτικής επαφής και το απρόσμενα αισιόδοξο τέλος. Περίμενα πως θα τελείωνε ηθικοπλαστικά, με τον έφηβο να βρίσκει τον «σωστό δρόμο». Τον νεαρό ήρωα δεν τον συμπάθησα, μας χωρίζει κι ένας αιώνας: εκείνος είναι έφηβος στα 1898. Λάτρεψα όμως την όλη ατμόσφαιρα μιας βόρειας παραθαλάσσιας Τεργέστης, ακόμα κομμάτι της Αυστρο-ουγγρικής Αυτοκρατορίας στα τέλη του 19ου αιώνα, την οποία είχα ξανασυναντήσει έτσι και στο Γέρασμα του Svevo.
Δεν ξέρω γιατί αγαπώ μυθιστορήματα με αυτή την παλαιά ατμόσ��αιρα, τα ιππήλατα τραμς, την στέρνα που πήγαιναν οι νοικοκυρές για νερό, τις κοινωνικές συμβάσεις, εφήβους που μιλούν στον πληθυντικό ο ένας στον άλλον, περνούν Καλοκαίρια ολόκληρα διαβάζοντας τις Χίλιες και μία νύχτες μόνοι στο κρεββάτι και ποθούν να πηγαίνουν σε ρεσιτάλ κλασικού βιολιού. Escapism λέγεται νομίζω ή ανεξήγητη μελαχγολία για πράγματα που δεν έζησα - εμείς πηγαίναμε στο βιντεοκλάμπ της γειτονιάς για κασέττες, αγοράζαμε πύραυλο σοκολάτα magnum κι ακούγαμε Σαββιδάκη.
Θέλω να διαβάσω την ποίηση του Σάμπα τώρα γιατί η γραφή του είναι πολύ αξιόλογη.
Λάτρεψα την αρχή με την πολύ ρεαλιστική περιγραφή της ερωτικής επαφής και το απρόσμενα αισιόδοξο τέλος. Περίμενα πως θα τελείωνε ηθικοπλαστικά, με τον έφηβο να βρίσκει τον «σωστό δρόμο». Τον νεαρό ήρωα δεν τον συμπάθησα, μας χωρίζει κι ένας αιώνας: εκείνος είναι έφηβος στα 1898. Λάτρεψα όμως την όλη ατμόσφαιρα μιας βόρειας παραθαλάσσιας Τεργέστης, ακόμα κομμάτι της Αυστρο-ουγγρικής Αυτοκρατορίας στα τέλη του 19ου αιώνα, την οποία είχα ξανασυναντήσει έτσι και στο Γέρασμα του Svevo.
Δεν ξέρω γιατί αγαπώ μυθιστορήματα με αυτή την παλαιά ατμόσ��αιρα, τα ιππήλατα τραμς, την στέρνα που πήγαιναν οι νοικοκυρές για νερό, τις κοινωνικές συμβάσεις, εφήβους που μιλούν στον πληθυντικό ο ένας στον άλλον, περνούν Καλοκαίρια ολόκληρα διαβάζοντας τις Χίλιες και μία νύχτες μόνοι στο κρεββάτι και ποθούν να πηγαίνουν σε ρεσιτάλ κλασικού βιολιού. Escapism λέγεται νομίζω ή ανεξήγητη μελαχγολία για πράγματα που δεν έζησα - εμείς πηγαίναμε στο βιντεοκλάμπ της γειτονιάς για κασέττες, αγοράζαμε πύραυλο σοκολάτα magnum κι ακούγαμε Σαββιδάκη.
Θέλω να διαβάσω την ποίηση του Σάμπα τώρα γιατί η γραφή του είναι πολύ αξιόλογη.
October 27, 2017
This is a curious little book. First of all, Saba never finished it and it was unpublished in his lifetime. Secondly, NYRB is billing it as a "classic of gay literature" but I'm not convinced it deserves that title. Although Ernesto engages in homosexual acts, he doesn't seem to self-identify as gay, and the queer content is merely a short-lived subplot. Perhaps that would have changed if Saba had a chance to complete the novel, since there are some hints of homoeroticism in the friendship he strikes up with a younger boy later near the end of the narrative. However, Saba is gifted at characterization and Ernesto emerges as a three-dimensional, sympathetic and occasionally infuriating character.
January 4, 2017
A beautiful but unfinished novel. Extreme pain at the thought of what "might have been" had Saba been able to finish. That said, what is here is gorgeous enough. The translation is near flawless, resulting in a captivating and charming--and quintessentially Italian--coming of age tale. Strongly recommend.
December 24, 2025
En verdad se entiende por qué hay más revuelo por la historia in-conclusa o lo que hubiera sido de continuar, que por la historia en sí que, ciertamente, es bastante "bonita" y buena.
Me gustó más lo primero, muy funable quizá, pero siempre hablo de Heartstopper y cómo prefiero historias más realistas o verdaderas, y qué hay más real que una persona que empieza el mundo romántico o sexual con tropiezos y sí, sufriento o siendo aprovechado/usado por otros.
Por lo demás Ernesto como personaje es bastante bueno, tanto en la estructura como su propia forma de ser. Y lo divertido es divertido, como el grito del cono. Me recuerda a mi mejor amigo en la época de secundaria y cómo yo lo veía cuando me enamoré de él al tener la misma edad.
Lamentablemente la historia se acorta, e igual quisiera haberla visto "terminada".
Y que también recuerda a la edad de la amistad (o "las amistades particulares") y las tribulaciones de Torless. Pero me gustó.
Me gustó más lo primero, muy funable quizá, pero siempre hablo de Heartstopper y cómo prefiero historias más realistas o verdaderas, y qué hay más real que una persona que empieza el mundo romántico o sexual con tropiezos y sí, sufriento o siendo aprovechado/usado por otros.
Por lo demás Ernesto como personaje es bastante bueno, tanto en la estructura como su propia forma de ser. Y lo divertido es divertido, como el grito del cono. Me recuerda a mi mejor amigo en la época de secundaria y cómo yo lo veía cuando me enamoré de él al tener la misma edad.
Lamentablemente la historia se acorta, e igual quisiera haberla visto "terminada".
Y que también recuerda a la edad de la amistad (o "las amistades particulares") y las tribulaciones de Torless. Pero me gustó.
January 23, 2024
This little book of just about 100 pages made me think about everything so much!! So complex, and yet, so simple; it was fantastic. I had never read Saba before, but I will definitely be reading more now. You can just tell from the writing that Ernesto has more to say - a larger story to be told. It’s really quite tragic that Saba was not able to finish the book. Ernesto is an adolescent who is smart and cunning in some ways, but also still such a youthful boy in others. The last paragraph left me a little teary-eyed for sure.
January 4, 2024
“two boys on the steps leading to their violin teacher’s home… would have seemed an ordinary occurrence to anyone who saw them. however, because of the particular constellation under which the scene unfolded, it was a rare event - the kind that can only occur once, if that, in any one century, in any one place.”
August 12, 2020
This is quite a beautiful short novel. It’s rich in cultural references but avoids the vapid pretension of eg Aciman. I think there is an important question which the book tries to explore: how do young queer people mature? Do they seek maturity in ways that others don’t?
August 15, 2025
Un libretto dalle tinte autobiografiche che narra un mese cruciale nella vita di Ernesto, nel passaggio tra l’essere ragazzo ad essere un adolescente. Malinconiche le tinte pasoliniane che parlano di un’innocenza rurale che non si perde nella scoperta della sessualità. Peccato gli errori da opera incompleta.
July 22, 2023
I really enjoyed the book until the point where the author mentioned that he’s too old and tired to finish it
February 24, 2025
3.5 o7
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