Into the War

by Italo Calvino Narrated by Edoardo Ballerini

Overview

"This book deals both with a transition from adolescence into youth and with a move from peace to war: as for very many other people, for the protagonist of this book 'entry into life' and 'entry into war' coincide." - from the Author's Note These three stories, set during the summer of 1940, draw on Italo Calvino's memories of his own adolescence during the Second World War, too young to be forced to fight in Mussolini's army but old enough to be conscripted into the Italian youth brigades. The callow narrator of these tales observes the mounting unease of a city girding itself for war, the looting of an occupied French town, and nighttime revels during a blackout. Appearing here in its first English translation, Into the War is one of Calvino's only works of autobiographical fiction. It offers both a glimpse of this writer's extraordinary life and a distilled dram of his wry, ingenious literary voice.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

07/28/2014
Sixty years after its original publication in Italy, Calvino’s trio of war stories has been translated for the first time into English. The line between fiction and autobiography is decidedly blurred in the character of the unnamed, first-person narrator. A lengthy translator’s note draws parallels to the author’s life. The book also includes a previously unpublished note by Calvino that provides further contextualization. The title story, set in 1940, about Italy’s entry into WWII, is both nostalgic and ominous. On vacation from school, the narrator and his friend Jerry want to visit the beach, where they hope to get lucky with a haughty blonde beauty. The city is flooded with refugees, and Fascist Party members are viewed as saviors. The story concludes with a random sighting of Mussolini. “The Avanguardisti in Menton” is set a few months later, and there’s a larger military presence: the small French town of Menton is now a new Italian border post, which is visited by the narrator and his Fascist friend Biancone. “UNPA Nights” describes the teenage narrator’s first night away from home, at his once-a-week night watchman post for the Italian Anti-Aircraft Corps. Calvino is a supreme storyteller, writing with ease and transparency that make the reader a confidante. (Sept.)

From the Publisher

"Calvino is a supreme storyteller, writing with ease and transparency that make the reader a confidante." --Publishers Weekly

Product Details

BN ID:	2940170502936
Publisher:	Recorded Books, LLC
Publication date:	02/15/2018
Edition description:	Unabridged

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