Me, You: A Novel - Softcover

De Luca, Erri

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1590514793 ISBN 13: 9781590514795

Publisher: Other Press, 2011

Synopsis

The unnamed narrator of this slim, alluring novel recalls a summer spent at age sixteen on an idyllic Italian island off the coast of Naples in the 1950s, where he spends his days with Nicola, a local fisherman. The narrator falls in love with Caia, who shares with him that she’s Jewish, saved by Italian soldiers from the Nazis, who killed the rest of her Yugoslav family. The boy demands answers about the war from the adults around him, but is rebuffed by everyone but Nicola, who tells him of Italy’s complicity with the Nazis. His passion for Caia and his ardent patriotism lead him to a flamboyant, cataclysmic act of destruction that brings his tale to an end.

About this title

About the Author:

Erri De Luca was born in Naples in 1950 and today lives in the countryside near Rome. He is the author of several novels, including God's Mountain and Three Horses (Other Press). He taught himself ancient Hebrew, Yiddish and translated several books of the Bible into Italian. His work has being translated and published in more than 30 languages. He is the most widely read Italian author alive today as well as an international best seller.
 
Beth Archer Brombert's most recent translations from Italian are Italo Svevo's masterpiece, Senilità (in English, Emilio's Carnival) and Cheese, Pears and History in a Proverb by Massimo Montanari. She is the author of two widely acclaimed biographies: Cristina, Portraits of a Princess and Edouard Manet, Rebel in a Frock Coat (a New York Times Notable Book of the Year).

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.:

A fish is a catch once it’s in the boat. It’s a mistake to shout that you’ve hooked it when it has only snapped at the bait and you feel its weight bouncing in the hand that holds the line. A fish is a catch only when it’s on board. You have to pull it up swiftly from the depths with a gentle, even movement, and without jerking. Otherwise you’ll lose it. You mustn’t get excited when you feel it thrashing below and it seems heaven only knows how big, judging by the force it exerts to extricate the hook and bait from its body.
   Nicola taught me how to fish. The boat wasn’t his, it was Uncle’s, my uncle. Nicolas used it year-round, but when the weather was mild he was my uncle’s sailor on Sundays and during summer holidays. At night he went out with a lantern and fished for cuttlefish, a kind of squid, to make bait for the tip of the hook.

About this edition

• Publisher: Other Press
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 1590514793
• ISBN 13: 9781590514795
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 143