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A review by joannaautumn
Wait Until Spring, Bandini by John Fante
5.0
This was such a delight to read.
I honestly think that I need the full list of Bukowski’s book recommendations because most of them are a hit for me. I read [b:The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter|37380|The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter|Carson McCullers|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1385265834l/37380._SY75_.jpg|860196] and [b:Journey to the End of the Night|12395|Journey to the End of the Night|Louis-Ferdinand Céline|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1462934409l/12395._SY75_.jpg|1551463] because he said those were great – and they were. He praised Hamsun as one of his favorite writers and now that I read 7 books of Hamsun he is one of my favorite writers as well. Found this book at a 50% discount at one of the near bookstores and bought it.
Fante is underrated because this is one of the better psychological realistic novels I have read. The complex inner life of every character is showcased on 200 pages, some lengthy books can’t do this well, but Fante did it.
The book was published in 1938, the plot of the novel is the struggles of an American-Italian poor Bandini family. Most of the focus is on the father of the family, the bricklayer Svevo and his eldest son Arturo. Svevo struggles with finding work in the winter and hopes that his luck will turn, he escapes from his life by doing some work for the richest widow in town. Arturo is hopelessly in love with a girl in his class, Rosa, His love for her causes him to be emotionally torn between god and his sinful love towards Rosa and women in general. The book ends in Svevo’s return to his wife and kids after abandoning the widow who had insulted his son.
The book has some autobiographical elements, being that Fante was of the same descent as his characters. The depiction of poverty is very well described, along with the feeling of shame and pride -I think it has to do with the time in which Fante wrote the book, the 1930s were tough because of The Great Depression. I will continue reading the Bandini quartet because I am pleasantly surprised by the depth this book managed to convey in such a little amount of pages. 5/5.
I honestly think that I need the full list of Bukowski’s book recommendations because most of them are a hit for me. I read [b:The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter|37380|The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter|Carson McCullers|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1385265834l/37380._SY75_.jpg|860196] and [b:Journey to the End of the Night|12395|Journey to the End of the Night|Louis-Ferdinand Céline|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1462934409l/12395._SY75_.jpg|1551463] because he said those were great – and they were. He praised Hamsun as one of his favorite writers and now that I read 7 books of Hamsun he is one of my favorite writers as well. Found this book at a 50% discount at one of the near bookstores and bought it.
Fante is underrated because this is one of the better psychological realistic novels I have read. The complex inner life of every character is showcased on 200 pages, some lengthy books can’t do this well, but Fante did it.
The book was published in 1938, the plot of the novel is the struggles of an American-Italian poor Bandini family. Most of the focus is on the father of the family, the bricklayer Svevo and his eldest son Arturo. Svevo struggles with finding work in the winter and hopes that his luck will turn, he escapes from his life by doing some work for the richest widow in town. Arturo is hopelessly in love with a girl in his class, Rosa,
Spoiler
who later on dies.The book has some autobiographical elements, being that Fante was of the same descent as his characters. The depiction of poverty is very well described, along with the feeling of shame and pride -I think it has to do with the time in which Fante wrote the book, the 1930s were tough because of The Great Depression. I will continue reading the Bandini quartet because I am pleasantly surprised by the depth this book managed to convey in such a little amount of pages. 5/5.