- Hardcover: 144 pages
- Publisher: Canongate International (13 Jan 2003)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1841952974
- ISBN-13: 978-1841952970
- Product Dimensions: 20.8 x 14.5 x 2.3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (37 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 705,595 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
I'm Not Scared
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Product Description
Review
The Italian countryside in the summer of 1978. The hottest for nearly a century, when adults migrated indoors behind shutters to wait for the relatively cooler evenings before emerging. Children, free of parental restraint, make the most of this and spend their days playing in the countryside, enjoying their new-found freedom. In the tiny hamlet of Acqua Traverse, Michele and his friends cycle the surrounding area, gradually going further and further away from home. Playing games involving forfeits for the loser, it is this that causes Michele to make a momentous discovery, one that will change his life forever. With a child's naivete, he is unable to comprehend the implications of his find and treats the situation as just another childhood adventure. But even at his young age, he realises he must treat it with trepidation, fear and secrecy. Author Niccolo Ammaniti spins a magical yet eery tale of a childhood summer spoilt by an adult crime, slowly building up the tension until the final shocking conclusion. Capturing a child's mind with uncanny accuracy, he takes the reader back to their adolescence and the fears and inquisitiveness that goes with it. This is a stunning, startling read admirably translated by Jonathan Hunt. - Lucy Watson
The Observer
Sucks you in like The Blair Witch Project.
--This text refers to the
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
39 of 39 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Draws you in a like a witch to it's gingerbread house,
By
This review is from: I'm Not Scared (Paperback)
Michele Amitrano is living the life of a normal nine year old boy, in his tiny village of four houses, until one day, whilst completing a bet, he stumbles on something so secret and so unbelievable, he has no choice but to keep it all to himself. A discovery that challenges his view of his family, his friends, and ultimately sends him riding his bike down a dusty trail of blackmail, hatred and murder.
I picked up this book in a special edition copy for 99p, making it the cheapest book ever that kept me awake until the following morning. Ammaniti's nostalgic and painfully accurate portrayal of childhood is set against a devastating and heart rendering story of the bitterness and corruption of the real world, and of a society willing to do anything for a better way of life. The portrayal of this world seen through a child's eyes, a child so real he lives on in the reader's mind long after the book is put down, adds a chilling aspect of innocence to an otherwise dark story. Ammaniti leads the reader seamlessly from an idealistic world and in one moment buries them in confusion and terror. An excellent read! Buy it, read it, and let it live in your memory, and your bookcase reading to beautifully chill you again and again.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Don't be fooled by the sparse writing style: this is a powerful book!,
By
This review is from: I'm Not Scared (Paperback)
Brilliant and thought provoking, this book belies its appearance as a short, simply written novel. I loved its spare prose style as it made the events that happen even more stark and powerful. And it conjures up the nature of children's friendships really well, while drawing a vivid picture of Italian rural life. The intensity of the summer is reflected in the intensity of the book's events. On the surface it's a simply told tale, but also speaks of the betrayal of childhood and the nature of the parent-child relationship. The book turns on its head all notion of what is normal, with the essence of good and evil explored subtly and with devastating effect.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
An antidote to Chiantishire,
By JC (Oxford) - See all my reviews
This review is from: I'm Not Scared (Paperback)
The cover of this particular edition may be charmingly rustic, but the rural Italy of this short novel is entirely devoid of charm. It is flat, largely featureless, impoverished and peopled by people on the edge of criminality. Criminal or not, all its inhabitants dream of escaping to the tower blocks and diversions of the big city.
The story is narrated by a young boy who makes an alarming discovery outside an old abandoned house. Being very young, he does not immediately comprehend the meaning of his discovery, but as the days and weeks go by he is forced to confront a series of disturbing truths about all those around him. This is short, a pacy read. The boy's voice is authentic and the setting believable. A bundled-up ending spoils what is otherwise a very good book. Reportedly, the Italian film version (2003) was not bad either.
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