Thursday, February 9, 2012

ME AND YOU by Niccolo Ammaniti



Me and You by Niccolo Ammaniti is a short novel about fourteen-year-old Leonardo and his much older half-sister Olivia.  The story takes place in the basement storage area of his parent’s home, his hideout while his parents think he’s skiing with school friends for the week.  Olivia appears half way through the story, and this story captures their strange relationship.  It’s a short novel written in a spare style from the perspective of a loner fourteen-year-old boy, so it’s a good story for people like me who like teen angst.  I can’t say much more about the book because it’s such a short piece with such a small set of characters in such a narrow, circumscribed space. 

I chose this book in my quest to try out new authors from other countries.  I’ve read that Ammaniti’s previous works described as creepy (I’m Not Scared), and he’s written the crime novel As God Commands, which seemed like indications that this book would fit right with my fictional interests.  While this book is definitely creepy (Leonardo is a bit of an anti-social oddball at fourteen, but so are lots of fourteen-year-olds), it’s not overly so.  It was an enjoyable, well-written story, though.  I’m interested in reading his longer works.



ME & YOU  by Niccolo Ammaniti
Black Cat
Publication date:  February 1, 2012
Source:  Publisher via NetGalley

4 comments:

  1. Interesting!! I'm going to look for this one -- another blogger I read reviewed it but I can't recall if they liked/disliked this one. (I'm pretty sure it was a like.) It sounds weird and odd and creepy, which is exactly what I want now and then! Nice review!

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  2. I hope you like it, Audra. I'm going to read I'm Not Scared soon.

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  3. I've just read this. I loved it. I'm Not Scared is on my tbr list, too!

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    1. I just saw the audio for I'm Not Scared at the library, so I might get to it soon!

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