Group Read, January 2018: The Moon and the Bonfires

Happy New Year! Our first group read for 2018 will be The Moon and the Bonfires by Cesare Pavese. Please join the read and post any comments on this thread.

I'm really looking forward to this one, but haven't received a copy from the library yet.

I read this some years ago and remember I liked it but not so much else, I guess it was an ambience-driven book instead of plot then...

My copy was sent in a package along with a book for my daughter, and now she is in Nepal and I don't know what she did with my book! Hope to start reading with the group when she returns in a few days...

In the library loan queue for this one, won't be getting my hands on a copy until mid-month.

Never heard of this one and just blindly downloaded it. I'm already overbooked for the month, but maybe I can squeeze it in.

I also had to request a copy from interlibrary loan. I'm still working on reading the last two group reads too, so I'm not sure I'll get to this one in January in any event.

Have started this one and am enjoying it a lot! The evocation of the Italian countryside reminds me a bit of I'm not Scared, another Italian 1001-er that I enjoyed. I warn everybody who does not like spoilers that you should NOT read the introduction, which gives away a major plot twist. I'm trying to forget it....

>8 annamorphic: I liked I'm not Scared a lot so this sounds promising.

This is a tough one to write about for a group read. I'm half way in and there is no real plotline. All the many characters still feel minor. The place, and memory, are the main players. History is working its way in around the edges. Because I (foolishly) read the introduction, I know that there is a plot lurking here, and I know who the main characters ought to be, but that's not really how the book works. Normally a book like this might really frustrate me, like Time of Silence did (at least it had characters!), but in fact I am enjoying this one a lot. The questions about place, history, and memory are so delicate and evocative. I don't mind reading it really slowly, because it's so short, and that helps.
Some of the political history is a bit confusing because the author totally assumes that you understand the different sides and what they stood for in 1940s Italy.

Am I the only person who read this one? It was so good! Shall I start a thread for Feb/March nominations? I don't know how to do a poll so I'm hesitant.

>11 annamorphic: I’m just back from an overseas family holiday and will set up the poll shortly. Spent two weeks with the wonderful escapism of George R.R. Martin’s A Dance With Dragons but back to work on the list this week and will be reading this book next.

I'm halfway through and really enjoying it. I hope to finish it tonight.

I've started the book and there is much in the early chapters that resonates with me. I left home at 25 to move to the other side of the world and have returned to the town of my childhood from time to time to see what has changed (or not) in the place and me, and what I can still relate to. Looking forward to the rest of this.

I finished the book tonight and enjoyed it. The evolution of the story from musings about an exile returning to his old home, through tales of his childhood in the farms, and finally the impact of the war on the lives of his friends was interesting. Pavese evokes the Italian countryside and its cycles very nicely. A short story that packs quite a bit in to it.

I finished Sunday but haven't have had time to comment here until now. Overall I enjoyed the book which seems to be all about moods and showing Italian society between change and continuity.

Still, I think the book could have used a bit more of a plot.

I have just finished this, I'd describe it as a quiet novel. So much is happening under the surface, but it is calmly told. Sometimes it takes leaving a place and returning to see the true changes in a place. I enjoyed the writing. The Italian writers included on the list have never let me down!

>17 soffitta1: "The Italian writers included on the list have never let me down!" Just what I was going to say.

I started a thread here some time ago about more atmospheric and less in-your-face 1001 books, and this one fits right in there. There are a couple of chapters during which you might not hear a pin drop.

I started reading the Italian version, but this might take up all February. Thank you for leading me to a book I might otherwise have overlooked!