Product Description

Set in World War II Italy, this book tells the story of Pin, a cobbler's apprentice who lives with his sister, a prostitute, and spends as much time as he can at the local bar. When his friends dare him to steal a pistol from a Nazi soldier, he sets off on an adventure with a band of partisans.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #601703 in Books
• Published on: 1998-01-15
• Original language: Italian
• Binding: Hardcover
• 192 pages

Observer
‘An insight into the makings of an European master'

About the Author
Italo Calvino was born in Cuba in 1923. He grew up in Italy. He was an essayist and journalist and a member of the editorial staff of Einaudi in Turin. In 1973 he won the prestigious Premio Feltrinelli. He died in 1985.

Customer Reviews

Calvino's first novel
Quite short, and straight forward without much complexity. An orphaned boy, living with his prostitute sister in Liguria in wartime Italy occupied by Germans, is trying to find his place among adults, who themselves aren't alway sure whether they should be anti-facist partisans or black-shirt militia. Pin, the boy, steals a German sailor's pistol, and ultimately finds himself appended to a partisan detachment in the Ligurian hills.

A book about a child's sometimes quite perceptive view of adults around him, his desire to be included with the adults on an equal footing while still longing to remain a child when he is frightened. Touching at times, but slightly spoiled by a rather clumsy (though thankfully short) political/philosophical discussion between two partisan leaders about the difference between a fascist's and communist's motivations.

Interesting to see the start of Italo Calvino's writing career as a novelist.