O Belo Verão

by Cesare Pavese, José Lima (Tradução)

Vive-se um verão quente, festivo, leve, e Ginia, de dezasseis anos, anseia por aventura. Conhece então Amelia, jovem sofisticada que se move pelo meio cultural boémio, e com ela descobrirá um mundo novo de liberdade intoxicante, repleto de prazeres reservados apenas àquela estação – andar pelos campos para lá das colinas, abrir as janelas e sentir o perfume da noite, descobrir o que há por detrás de um cortinado vermelho. O Belo Verão é uma história intensa e delicada sobre a perda da inocência e o primeiro amor, narrada por um dos mais talentosos autores italianos do século xx. Escrito na primavera de 1940, mas publicado apenas em 1949, O Belo Verão foi distinguido em 1950 com o Prémio Strega.

Genres: Fiction, Classics, Summer, Italy, Italian Literature, Summer Reads, Coming Of Age

112 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1949

About the author

Cesare Pavese was born in a small town in which his father, an official, owned property. He attended school and later, university, in Turin. Denied an outlet for his creative powers by Fascist control of literature, Pavese translated many 20th-century American writers in the 1930s and '40s: Sherwood Anderson, Gertrude Stein, John Steinbeck, John Dos Passos, Ernest Hemingway, and William Faulkner; a 19th-century writer who influenced him profoundly, Herman Melville (one of his first translations was of Moby Dick); and the Irish novelist James Joyce. He also published criticism, posthumously collected in La letteratura americana e altri saggi (1951; American Literature, Essays and Opinions, 1970).
A founder and, until his death, an editor of the publishing house of Einaudi, Pavese also edited the anti-Fascist review La Cultura. His work led to his arrest and imprisonment by the government in 1935, an experience later recalled in “Il carcere” (published in Prima che il gallo canti, 1949; in The Political Prisoner, 1955) and the novella Il compagno (1947; The Comrade, 1959). His first volume of lyric poetry, Lavorare stanca (1936; Hard Labour, 1976), followed his release from prison. An initial novella, Paesi tuoi (1941; The Harvesters, 1961), recalled, as many of his works do, the sacred places of childhood. Between 1943 and 1945 he lived with partisans of the anti-Fascist Resistance in the hills of Piedmont.
The bulk of Pavese's work, mostly short stories and novellas, appeared between the end of the war and his death. Partly through the influence of Melville, Pavese became preoccupied with myth, symbol, and archetype. One of his most striking books is Dialoghi con Leucò (1947; Dialogues with Leucò, 1965), poetically written conversations about the human condition. The novel considered his best, La luna e i falò (1950; The Moon and the Bonfires, 1950), is a bleak, yet compassionate story of a hero who tries to find himself by visiting the place in which he grew up. Several other works are notable, especially La bella estate (1949; in The Political Prisoner, 1955).
Shortly after receiving the Strega Prize for it, Pavese took his own life in his hotel room by taking an overdose of pills.

Reviews

[Violet wells · Rating 4 out of 5]

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 excitingly when she becomes friends with Amelia, a sophisticated older woman who works as an artist's model. Artists begin to fascinate her. Art is an escape from the mundane, an enchanted door in the wall of the everyday to enter which offers the possibility of transformation. But her only option is to become the object of art. Naturally, she tries to imagine herself doing what Amelia does, allowing her naked body to be measured and scrutinised by a poetic but exacting male gaze. Soon she is introduced into the world of Guido and Rodrigues, two artists who share a studio. There's a mysterious curtain in the studio that marks a threshold.

Not as inspired as The Moon and the Bonfire but tremendously readable all the same.

[benedicta · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5⭐️ some parts of the writing was definitely lost in translation

the story felt half-baked 😭 I really loved the ambience of summer and portrayal of the innocence of friendship between two teen girls and the young girl's obsession with a 'not-so-successful' artist. It captures languid European summer vibes well. The atmosphere was perfect depicted in the translation. But the actual words to express whatever was going on, wasn't there.

***

I want to try out this vibe. It's so intimidating omg 😵‍💫😵‍💫

[Carlo Mascellani · Rating 5 out of 5]

Resto sempre piacevolmente colpito dal talento narrativo di Pavese. Situazioni ed eventi in apparenza comuni, se indagati con occhio più attento rivelano, invece, una grande mole di significati. Qui, adottando una prospettiva al femminile, Pavese sembra tracciar un quadro esaustivo, sebbene impietoso, del passaggio dall'adolescenza all'età matura. Sogni, speranze, disillusioni, batticuori, delusioni, aspirazioni, tutto viene ricompreso in quel magma tormentato e ribollente che contraddistingue l'affacciarsi all'amarezza dell'età adulta. Che taluni personaggi pazientemente condividono e tollerano. Altri ne vengono schiacciati. Altri imparano, a loro volta, a tollerare i morsi. Bellissimo.

[Carolyn Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

An artistic coming-of-age story exploring a young woman’s first love and loss of innocence.
It all begins when the main character, Ginia, befriends a bohemian artist’s model, Amelia. The worldly Amelia takes shy Ginia under her wing and introduces her to a new lifestyle and new people (most of them being artists).

As an artist myself, who has drawn countless models over the years, I could relate to this story in a lovely and unique way. Naturally, I’m fascinated by stories that explore the lives of artists, and I thoroughly enjoyed the conversations about drawing and painting.

Ginia was a very honest and realistic main character. She made me remember how it felt when I was sixteen. Her conflicting feelings in regard to love, jealousy, and a want of freedom were very relatable.

Although I enjoyed this book very much, I wish it was a bit longer. I felt like I couldn’t completely lose myself in the story. I would have loved to have seen the setting be described in more detail and to have learned more about Ginia’s (and the other character’s) childhoods.
I was also surprised that this book wasn’t as “summery” as I was expecting (which is why I always try to go into books with few expectations). This isn’t a fault of the author’s writing; this was just an observation. From the title, I assumed that the story’s summer heat would be beaming off of the pages. It was, but only because I read this on a 90 degree day at the end of July.

Overall, I thought this book was relatable, well written, and artistically interesting.

[Steven Godin · Rating 3 out of 5]

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, and should have taken my foot of the gas for a while. As he generally deals with the same kind of themes throughout all of his work, this one just became a little bit stale. Had I read this as my first Pavese, then things would have obviously been more positive.

Originally published in 1949, Pavese's short novel/novella won the Strega Prize in 1950. It’s the story of a young girl’s first love and coming of age. But to me it didn't feel like a coming-of-age story in the traditional sense. Set during a hot summer in 1930s Italy, the tale is an intimate character study of the loss of innocence under the guide and influence of someone you look up to. The young Ginia, gets drawn to Amelia who is a model for artists and who represents a different world from which Ginia is used to. She starts to experience a life she had never before allowed herself to experience. Amelia initiates Ginia to the world of artists where Ginia meets Guido, an enigmatic young artist, and the signs of love start to appear.

Pavese’s alluring lyrical prose keeps the rather simple set-up flowing beautifully, all with a tone that draws the reader towards that end of summer feeling of melancholy, and he pulls it off really well. I will certainly take a break from Pavese for now, and thinking back to all that time spent in the company of his writing makes me feel so pleased to have discovered him through my passion for Italian literature.

[Algernon · Rating 4 out of 5]

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 short novel illustrating 'dolce far niente' , that musical Italian phrase that is so descriptive of the long summer days and nights of easy companionship, boredom, sudden enthusiasms followed by bouts of loneliness. Pavese really strikes the heart chords here, for who among us hasn't had such a summer that endures in memory to our old age in such vivid details, despite little of consequence having occured ... except falling in love. Turgheniev (First Love), Dostoyevsky (White Nights), Hartley (The Go-Between), Raucher (Summer of '42), Carr (A Month in the Country) – the list could go on and on of such bittersweet stories of lost youth. What makes Cesare Pavese stand out among his peers?

This is my first read from him, so I may not be in the best position to judge his style, especially as my own memories are colouring the lecture with personal shades of sunshine and moonlight and half-forgotten conversations. But I do love his delicate touch in describing the emotional journey of a sixteen year old girl in a small Italian town in the 1930s. Ginia is a poor working girl living with her older brother, rather shy and self-conscious around her friends, easily moved to tears, yet so willing to start experiencing life at its fullest. Her chance comes when she meets Amelia, a more sophisticated girl-about-town, who hangs around cafes and dance-halls and professes to be an artist model.

'We'll have a drink, though. Come along! People who are bored have only themselves to blame.'

Ginia is fascinated by this emancipated Amelia, yet horrified at the same time by the libertine morals of her painter friends. Her natural shyness and a healthy streak of common sense keep Ginia from plunging whole-heartedly into the night life of this artist group, but the summer nights are hard to bear on her own. She keeps coming back to the painter studio of Guido, wearing her heart on her sleeve, asking for love and then running away with her whole body burning with shame and desire.

'I am a little idiot,' she concluded, 'why do I always run away? I still have to learn to be alone. If they want me, they can come and fetch me.'

I don't know how much Pavese tapped into his own memories for writing this short novel, but who cares? We all have our own stories of youth and summer and the ones that got away. From the short notes I have been able to read on the author, the most personal phrase could be a declaration by Guido that he feels alienated in town, that he longs for the countryside of his childhood:

'But I am only really happy on the top of a hill.'

For Ginia, the summer ends in bitter winter days, hard truths about venereal diseases and the shallowness of casual, selfish friends.

She found distraction in the thought that the summer she had hoped for would now never come, because she was alone and would never speak to anyone again.

For me, the novel ended too quickly, and a bit ambiguously, but I am sure its echoes will continue to reverberate in future lectures. I wish a movie was made of it by the likes of Fellini or Visconti, as I'm sure I would have loved the result.

Je me souviens
Des jours anciens
Et je pleure;
Et je m'en vais
Au vent mauvais
Qui m'emporte
Deçà, delà,
Pareil à la
Feuille morte.

[Dannii Elle · Rating 4 out of 5]

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 fulfilling my no.1 bucket list dream of visiting beautiful Venice but found this an enjoyable read of its own accord, rich in brooding characters, lyrical prose, and emotional complexity.

[Emilia · Rating 4 out of 5]

e una sera, trottando dietro gli altri, si era fermata e si era messa a piangere perché dormire era una stupidaggine e rubava tempo all'allegria

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

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 penguin edition dates from 1955 and now feels a little out of date.
It is a sort of coming of age novel and the main protagonist Ginia is sixteen and living with her brother Severino. As her brother works nights, she is very much left to her own devices. The novella focuses on Ginia’s friendship with Amelia who is an artist’s model. There is plenty of bohemianism and a focus on loss of innocence. There is also a sense of the freedom and vibrancy of youth:
“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.”
Her friend Amelia is a little older, more experienced and more carefree and this creates tensions for Ginia who is a little more cautious. Amelia poses nude and tries to persuade Ginia to do so as well:
“They argued as far as the tram and Amelia asked her what she thought she had under her clothes to preserve like a holy of holies.”
Ginia falls in love with Guido, one of the artists, and has her first love affair. Amelia is bisexual and has affairs with women as well. There is certainly sexual tension between Amelia and Ginia and they do kiss at one point. I did also wonder about the relationship between Guido and Rodrigues. On the surface this is a simple coming of age and loss of innocence tale, but there is always an undercurrent which occasionally breaks the surface, a sense that life is not so simple and hidden dangers lurk.
Pavese has many fans and Italo Calvino in particular was one of them:
“Pavese’s nine short novels make up the most dense, dramatic and homogeneous narrative cycle of modern Italy, and are also...the richest in representing social ambiances, the human comedy, the chronicle of a society. But above all they are works of an extraordinary depth where one never stops finding new levels, new meanings...Each one of Pavese’s novels revolves around a hidden theme, something unsaid which is the real thing he wants to say.”
Very brief, but there is more to this than meets the eye and at some point I will read more.

[Tahani Shihab · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 stars

[Katie Lumsden · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maybe 4.5. I really enjoyed this in many ways. It had such a great tone and atmosphere.

[Claire Fuller · Rating 2 out of 5]

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 something an English man would have said in the '50s, and not an Italian girl in the 1930s. And then there are just sentences which are confusing: 'They did not go and sit in a cafe because Amelia was already fed up with standing all day.' I don't even understand what that means.
Still, it was very short, and quick.

[Anastasja Kostic · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jako lepo napisana pričica o odrastanju. Ne znam zašto , ali ovo me je podestilo na onaj naslov Moja genjalna prijateljica, jer sam ovako nešto očekivala u toj knjizi, ali verovatno ta knjiga samo tako izgleda u mojoj glavi. Možda otud jer su obe smeštene u Italiji. Tako da ako vam se nije svideo onaj bestseler (ništa ne pordaje knjigu tako dobro nego da vam kažu da je najprodavanija ) vi onda pročitajte ovo , jer po meni ova knjiga je skroz mogla prepisati taj naslov i ništa se ne bi izgubilo, sa obzirom na to da se radi o nekoj vrsti ženskog prijateljstva, o jednom letu i o nekoliko slikara i raznim ljubavima. Još jedan razlog da je pročitate je to što je kratka lagana i samim tim savršeno letnje štivo za plažu ( isprobano na štrandu, al samo par strana,).

[Giorgia Monni · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Quell’anno faceva tanto caldo che bisognava uscire ogni sera, e a Ginia pareva di non avere mai capito prima che cosa fosse l’estate, tanto era bello uscire ogni notte per passeggiare sotto i viali. Qualche volta pensava che quell’estate non sarebbe finita più, e insieme che bisognava far presto a godersela perché, cambiando la stagione, qualcosa doveva succedere”

[Argos · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hayal kırıklığı yaşadım, adı büyük Pavese’yi daha farklı beklemiştim. Basit hatta sıradan bir ikili-üçlü gençlik aşkı öyküsü okuyunca ya C. Pavese için yanlış kitaptan başladığımı ya da benim beğeni yelpazemde Pavese’nin yerinin olmayacağını düşünüyorum.

[Richard · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reads as though it was translated via babelfish circa 2001.

[Albus Eugene Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore · Rating 4 out of 5]

Il blu è un colore caldo
Torino. 1938. Ginia ha sedici anni e lavora in un atelier, Amelia ha diciannove anni e fa la modella per alcuni pittori. Guido e Rodriguez, pittori, hanno lo spessore di... Romolo e Salvatore...
La storia d’amore, nonostante il gran tempo trascorso e i diversissimi contesti, mi ha ricordato La vita di Adele.
Presto, Laura Luchetti (1974) avvierà le riprese di un film che, nelle intenzioni, dovrebbe riprendere fedelmente la narrazione del libro.
Una narrazione delicata e profonda. Anche se nel 1950, lo stesso Pavese aveva liquidato la sua opera definendola semplicemente (ma un po' ingenerosamente) una «storia di una verginità che si difende.».

[Dora Silva · Rating 4 out of 5]

Um livro sobre a perda da inocência durante a adolescência.
Gostei muito. Adoro a escrita deste autor.
Aconselho e em breve a minha opinião em vídeo em Livros à Lareira com chá!

[Beth Bonini · Rating 2 out of 5]

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 fact that she works in a dressmaker’s shop instead of a factory (like her friend Rosa) and she enjoys being domestically in charge of the home she shares with her brother. A friendship with an older, more worldly woman called Amelia introduces Ginia to the world of local artists and the women who model for them. It’s not suggested that the modelling is prostitution, but there is definitely something louche and shady about the artists’ circle and Amelia is a dubious influence. Friend or rival? (Most of us have had one of these friendships in our tender years.) Ginia’s pride and innocence are inevitably bruised as she gets drawn into this world. Very little is overtly stated, but the reader can easily draw conclusions. There is not much to charm Ginia, but she succumbs nevertheless . . . maybe out of boredom more than anything else. I was bored, too.

[غيث الحوسني · Rating 3 out of 5]

"لم تنم جينيا تلك الليلة، وكانت تثقلها الأغطية، لكنها فكرت بأشياء كثيرة، وكلما تقدم الليل، تأخذها الأفكار إلى منحى غريب. تخيلت أنها وحيدة في ذلك السرير المبعثر في زاوية استوديو غويدو، وأنها تسمعه من وراء الستارة، وأن تعيش معه تقبّله، وتطبخ له. من يدري من أين يأكل غويدو قبل أن يصبح جندياً. ثم صارت تفكر أنها ما كانت تظن بأن ترتبط بجندي، ولكن غويدو قد يبدو جميلاً بالملابس المدنية، وهو الأشقر القوي، ثم جُعلتُ تستذكر صوته الذي كانت قد نسيته، في حين تذكر بقوة صوت رودريغوس. لا بد أن تراه ولو فقط للاستماع لصوته، وكلنا فكرت أكثر، زاد استغرابها، كيف أن أميليا ارتبطت برودريغوسبدلاً من غويدو. كانت مغتبطة؛ لأن أميليا وغويدو لم يمارسا الحب في تلك الأيام حينما كانوا يحطمون الأقداح. كانت لا تزال يقظة عندما رن المنبه، وهي تفكر بأشياء كثيرة في سريرها الدافىء. وعند أول خيط ذلك الصباح، انتاب جينيا الحزن لقدوم الشتاء،ولأنها لن ترى ألوان الشمس الجميلة. من يدري فيما إذا كان غويدو يفكر بذلك أيضاً، وهو الذي تعني له الألوان كل شيء. يا للروعة، قالت جينيا، وهي تنهض من سريرها"

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lo rileggo dopo due anni, in un viaggio in macchina, alla fine della mia "bella estate". Ho fatto bene. Questo libro - magico, amaro, sospeso - è un libro che va sentito, fin dentro alle viscere. E chi non ha vissuto quell'atmosfera carica di promesse tipica dell'estate e della giovinezza e il successivo senso della disillusione, non lo potrà mai capire. In questo libro c'è la paura adrenalina per la novità, la voglia di fare festa, la magia delle notti passate attorno a un tavolo e un calice di vino, la fine della giovinezza e la scoperta di non essere all'altezza, l'amaro in bocca, la solitudine, la vergogna, la riconquista. Tutto in una settantina di pagine. Bellissimo.

«Quell'anno faceva tanto caldo che bisognava uscire ogni sera, e a Ginia parla di non avere mai capito prima che cosa fosse l'estate, tanto era bello uscire ogni notte per passeggiare sotto i viali. Qualche volta pensava che quell'estate non sarebbe finita più, e insieme che bisognava far presto a godersela perché, cambiando la stagione, qualcosa doveva succedere».

[Iris ☾ (iriis.dreamer) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cesare Pavese, uno de los escritores italianos más influyentes del siglo XX, marcado por varios traumas infantiles, se convirtió en un mito en Italia por su inesperado suicidio. Tras de sí dejó un legado plagado de traducciones, poemas y novelas, entre ellas, “El bello verano” que fue publicada en 1949. En esta exquisita edición de Cátedra contamos con mucha información esencial del autor y de su leyenda que estimula la comprensión de la obra.

En esta historia conoceremos a Ginia, una chica que se halla en el momento de transición entre la adolescencia y la madurez, aquella época llena de descubrimientos y de poca estabilidad emocional. A través de sus ojos conoceremos a diferentes personajes relacionados con el arte como son pintores y modelos. Toda la trama bañada bajo un ambiente artístico variopinto característico del neorrealismo italiano, resulta embriagador.

Uno de los puntos fuertes de la novela, ya que la trama en sí no resulta profunda ni especialmente original, radica en toda la carga simbólica que hay detrás de la atmósfera triste, nostálgica y en ciertos aspectos lúgubre. Tenemos varios escenarios en contraposición, paralelismos tales como el verano y el invierno (que simbolizan el paso hacia la edad adulta) y la vida en el campo y la ciudad.

Ginia es uno de esos personajes que adoras irremediablemente, es encantadora y seduce desde su comienzo. Representa el final de la inocencia, el cambio de un ciclo donde debes afrontar la vergüenza, el nacimiento de la pasión irrefrenable, la desesperanza y lo maravilloso que es sentir todas esas sensaciones por vez primera.

En conclusión, esta es una obra que me ha gustado, que disfrutas si te gusta leer entre lineas, si no necesitas de una trama elaborada o de unos personajes con gran profundidad para conectar. La narración marcada por la frialdad refleja la distancia entre el autor y el retrato sórdido que está realizando.

[Malacorda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bello, ça va sans dire, Pavese è sempre Pavese, anche quando vince il Premio Strega, e certe profondità non tutti sono in grado di sondarle.
Oltre ai temi della verginità e dell‘innocenza, della festa e della morte di cui si può già leggere abbondantemente in giro, spicca il modo in cui vengono sviscerate - con delicatezza eppure con intensità - la stupidità e la presuntuosità tipiche dei sedici anni: il sentirsi immortali, il sentirsi come se l’estate non dovesse mai finire e tutto il contorno dei “io valgo di più”, “io sono meglio di”, “io sono più giovane di”, “io sono più matura di”, e quando poi l’estate giunge inevitabilmente al termine, certo non è detto che tutto questo debba portare a far finire le cose in tragedia, però spesso e volentieri si scopre che il finale non è proprio tutto rose e fiori.

[Jaroslav Zanon · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Qualche volta pensava che quell'estate non sarebbe finita più, e insieme che bisognava far presto s godermela perché, cambiando la stagione, qualcosa doveva succedere."

Bellissimo!

[Trishita (TrishReviews_ByTheBook) · Rating 3 out of 5]

So much of summer in literature is reserved for the young and their youthful indiscretions. As such, The Beautiful Summer marks that bittersweet passage of time between innocence lost and experience gained. The short novella is an intimate study of girlhood—of budding first love and coming of age primed with sexual and spiritual awakenings.

In a small Italian town in the 1930’s, a 16-year old Ginia befriends an older woman, Amelia and together they run up the hills or lounge in cafés, drinking and smoking, kissing and going ‘mad with laughter’. Ginia is besotted with Amelia’s bohemian lifestyle, she is as desperate for a peek into her friend’s affairs with artists she poses nude for and the men who keep her company, as she is for her friend to see her as a grown-up and include her in everything she does.

Once she gains entrance into that adult life, however, she is often only willing to be a shy witness and not a participant. She is always guarded, too hesitant, perhaps this is why the Pavese said this was ‘a story about virginity that defends itself’. Towards the end, Ginia falls for Amelia’s artist friend, Guido and that defence seems to have been lost as her transition to adulthood comes complete. A new world opens up for Ginia and as Elizabeth Strout says in the introduction, this one comes with the heartbreaking ‘cruelties of love’.

There is a lot going on in the shadows of Pavese’s sentences, they are light but not simple, ominous signs of the allure of adulthood lurking beneath the surface. Too subtle, perhaps even too tactful for my understanding many a time, but his insight into the female existence, specifically girlhood, strikes home. Without taking away from his artistry, I wasn’t quite drawn to this world he created. It remained elusive, so did its people, and not in any compelling way.
From enthusiastically declaring how ‘life was a perpetual holiday in those days’ at the beginning of the summer to lamenting that she feels like ‘an old woman’ and ‘all the good days are over’ at the end of the summer, Ginia learns as adults know, that sometimes getting the thing you want most can be the worst thing to happen. 2.5 stars!

[Avery Liz Holland · Rating 5 out of 5]

«Conducimi tu»

È il resoconto snello, breve, intensissimo, trascinante dell'estate di Ginia, che a sedici anni sogna la vita, divertimento, avventure, amori, esperienze nuove. In una parola: crescere. La vicenda è ambientata per lo più in estate, a Torino, tra la città delle sale da ballo, dei cinema, degli atelier dei pittori, e le colline su cui si scappa in cerca di refrigerio dal caldo. La vera estate, però, non è una stagione atmosferica, è la stagione della vita che Ginia sta vivendo. È la stagione di chi si affaccia appena sul mondo, la fase dell'entusiasmo e della follia, che brama l'amore e le passioni. È il tempo delle notti passate a parlare con gli amici, a camminare insieme per le strade affollate tenendosi a braccetto o a sognare qualcuno a cui non si può smettere di pensare. È il momento in cui ci si osserva nudi allo specchio per cercare di capirsi e si osservano gli altri per cercare di capirli, in cui ci si lascia trascinare da qualcuno come Amelia, la mentore di Ginia nell'estate della sua vita: più grande, più esperta, più cinica, diventa ben presto un modello che a volte si ama e a volte si odia, che si cerca disperatamente di seguire salvo poi, all'improvviso, distaccarsene e affermare se stessi. L'estate passa, portando l'innocenza via con sé, e lascia il posto alla maturità, al cambiamento, all'amarezza, alla perdita. Ginia non sarà mai più la ragazzina spensierata e affamata di quell'estate. Insieme ad Amelia, ancora una volta, adesso è pronta per affrontare la stagione successiva.
Uno dei più bei libri sull'adolescenza che abbia mai letto.

«Andiamo dove vuoi» disse Ginia. «Conducimi tu».

[Come Musica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pavese è sempre Pavese, ma anche in questo siamo lontani dalle vette raggiunte con Dialoghi con Leucò.

[Sofia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Terminata la lettura de "La luna e i falò", non ho potuto fare a meno di prendere "La bella estate" dallo scaffale della mia libreria per continuare a leggere questo poeta. La matita era sempre pronta tra le dita, perché quasi ad ogni pagina sentivo il bisogno di sottolineare, di rileggere mormorando tra me e me "Quanto è vero...". Continuavo a meravigliarmi e a chiedermi come fosse possibile che un insieme di parole potesse essere così potente, così magico; di come le piccole cose, i pensieri, le emozioni che sono custoditi dentro di me potessero ritrovarsi stampati, scritti da una persona così distante, eppure così vicina. (Ma continuo a sorprendermi, dopo tutti questi anni di letture? Ormai dovrei saperlo, che non esiste null'altro di paragonabile.)
Sono storie di ricordi, di nostalgia, di sofferenza, di persone che cercano di sopravvivere e di capire cosa diavolo possa significare questa vita, del perché ci sia tutto questo marcio; di come siamo tutti diversi, ma che in fondo, incomprensibilmente, vogliamo le stesse cose. Pavese mi entra nel cuore. Mi capisce, è possibile?

[trestitia ⵊⵊⵊ deamorski · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kendini, özendiği topluluğun, genel olarak itici ve rezil görmesine rağmen kendinden üstün, farklı, eşsiz sanmasını da engelleyemeyip arasına katılmak, yaptıklarını yapmak ve onlar gibi olmak için ödünler verip kendini rezil eden, öte yandan sahip olamadığı kişilik ve özendiği hayatı yaşayanları aşağılayıp kendini bi bok sanan ergen kızlarımızın evrensel öyküsü.

Ya da iki boya üç fırçası var ve üç beş bişi düşünüyorum diye kendini sanatçı kisvesinden sanan, sandığı için kibrinden ölen ve başkalarını eğlenmek ve kullanmaktan çekinmeyen dönemsel geçici çakma sanatçı tayfasının tabii öyküsü.

Ya da enteresan bir eşcinsel manifestosu barındıran kısır bir öykü.

O zamanlar ergenlik yaşı kaçtı bilmiyorum ama fransızların her yıl yaptığı ve yapmaktan usanmadığı müthiş sinematik filmler olan bir ergenin aşkı, cinselliği ve kimliğini keşfinin samimi öyküsü.

Kadın erkek çekişmesinin, o bitmek tükenmek bilmeyen mücadelenin ve sayısız olasılık, hissiyat ve kargaşanın daimi öyküsü.

Topluma, etiğine ve geleneklerine karşı duruşun klasik öyküsü.

ŞU MÜTHİŞ:

"Olur şey değil," dedi, "bu bakir profil, biçimi yokmuş gibi duruyor sanki..."

Bunu, model olan Amelia'yı görmeye pek hevesli, özellikle ilk belirttiğim o evrensel öykü ile samimi öykünün ve daimi öykünün ana karakteri diyebileceğim Gina'ya söylüyor ressam, bu ikisi ressamın evine gittiğinde. Gina da portresi gibi. Ne bok yediğini, ne yaptığını, aşkı, cinselliği, sanatçı tayfasını, erkekle birlikte olmayı, kendini, ve geleceğini zerre bilmeyen bir kız.
Bence MÜTHİŞ bişi.

Biz frengililer hiçbir şeyden korkmayız.

Eğer bana bu cümle hiçbir şey anlatmıyor, hiçbir şey ifade etmiyor, hiçbir anlam taşımıyor diyorsanız ikimizden birinin aklından zoru var.

Pavese'nin anlatımı biraz değişik, kopuklu kesikli. Bu sorun yaratmıyor aksine seviyorum. Ancak bu lafı uzatmadığı ve düz yazdığı için çoğu şeyi, anlatabilecekken kaçırmadığı anlamına gelmez. Biliyorum çünkü yaşama uğraşı'nı okudum, herife bi hazine var ama sanki her şeyi ona (ve bi kaç diğer öyküsüne (geceleri, sokaklarda'kilere)) harcamış gibi.

Gerçi bu düz anlatım da Pavese'nin imzası gibi ama kendimizi mi avutuyoruz bilmiyorum. Şey gibi biraz, ben size anlatayım, felsefe yapması, aforizma kasması, anlam çıkartması size kalmış der gibi hep. Yok değil bunlar, bayağı var hatta ama alıntılamaya üşeniyorum. Lakin sanırım rusların sikip attığı klasiklere o kadar alışmışım ki, modernist bir anlatıma sahip değilse biraz yavan geliyor gibi. Ama düşününce de gelmiyor. Aslında fazla dolu kitap. Ama Pavese üstüne düşmediği için sizin de düşesiniz gelmiyor sanki. Alıntıdaki örmek misali. Ben yaptım o çıkarımı. Kitap içinde baksanız gözünüz çarpmaz. Çünkü ne önemi var, melankoliden daha önemli ne var.

Çeviriden de olabilir çünkü Samih'e karşı bir nefret-sevgi hissim var çözemediğim. Bayat çevirisi bezdi beni her zamanki gibi. Konuşan İtalyan değil de Türk orta sınıf mensubu gibi. Bir sürü imla ve yazım hatası da cabası.

Her zerresinde hissedebilirsiniz Pavese'nin melankolisini, yine.

Kitap Can yay.dan Güzel Yaz diye çıkmıştı. Ben sahafta görünce atlayıverdim hangisi olduğunu bilmeden.

"Sevişmeyi bunun için yasak etmişler demek. Bunun için yasak etmişler."
xoxoxo
iko

[Dorotea · Rating 5 out of 5]

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 Italian countryside, the protagonist is Ginia: blond, young, virgin, working in an atelier, living only with her brother. One summer she befriends the older and more experienced Amelia who occasionally models for painters and introduces her into the art world. I’m mentioning sexual experiences because they are part of the characters – Amelia is more lascivious, Ginia is often clueless – and the story is a sexual awakening of sorts, but what really makes it brilliant is the complexity of the characters.

Bonus points for lgbt “undertones”, which really aren’t undertones because [SPOILERS AHEAD] canonically Ginia tells Amelia while walking side by side on the hills after dark that she wants to see her while modelling. They canonically kiss. Amelia canonically says she loves her (and in Italian there’s a distinction between ti amo and ti voglio bene). Amelia canonically has sex with a woman. Amelia is canonically bisexual and honestly Gina is too but she hasn’t realized yet.

I mean I’m obliviously way too taken with these characters and enthusiastic about this story than I should - don’t expect a masterpiece or anything like, but it’s definitely a nice summer read.