
I finally found time to devote to a book by Paul Mastrocola: A boat in the woods, published by Bloomsbury Publishing.
The text is written in a simple way at least until near the end of the story, the narrator is in fact a teenager - Gaspar - who emigrated from South to Turin to attend the High School. In the new town will like a fish out of water - a boat in a forest, in fact. The first 3 / 4 of the book, focus on the integration efforts of Caspar, we have set realistic and surreal surreal ... or maybe just for us adults. Because they reflect a bit 'up, a teenager who has never felt out of place? Today, then, in today's society young people, the continuing search for membership in the herd seems to me that much stronger in my day. So I do not think it is right to define the absurd story of Gaspar, as done by many.
Or rather, it is far from absurd, ironic drama in the first part of the book.
Where the text collapses and loses the absurd instead of force, leaving the reader (in this case me) nonprofit, is the last part: change the language and the rhythm Narrative: too fast for the account of the first year of high school, presents us with an adult Gaspar, not at all realistic, perhaps too "fantastic", so that makes me wonder: Paola Mastrocola wanted to tell a story? So lack of consistency in the first part of the book, I read where there is no fairy tale.
bad.
If I may express my humble and personal opinion, why we wanted a good text editor that held the hand Mastrocola latter part of the book. For the rest, however, the work seemed extraordinary.
One last thing: if you read the comments here and there for us humble readers, you'll find many items that do not have loved this book ... but in the woods A boat won the Prix Campiello 2004. Some question arises ...