The story of Calvin Becker and his families summer vacation in Portofino, Italy. Seeing the world through his eyes is interesting. A lot happens in and around Calvin. ( )

This novel is set over the summers of 1962 and 1965 when Calvin Becker vacations with his family at the Italian beach town of Portofino. They are Americans, but have been living in Switzerland where his missionary parents are attempting to convert heathen Roman Catholics to their one true Christian sect. Calvin is 10 yrs old in the first section, and starting to have serious questions about big life questions, but his two older pious sisters, his fundamentalist mother, and his moody self-absorbed father are not giving him the answers he needs. So he forges new friendships with the Italian locals and Jennifer from England.

Portofino is wonderfully evocative of holiday life at a magical Italian beach resort and the sort of adventures a 10 and 14 year old boy might get himself into when he’s trying to have a fun time despite his dysfunctional family. The scenes where he attempts to distance himself from his embarrassing family, especially when he’s mortified by his mother’s attempts to evangelize, are hilarious in a cringe-worthy way. ( )

This book appears to be either loved or hated by the majority. I read it out of curiosity; and I found myself right in the middle of the extremes of opinion. The descriptions of an Italian seaside resort are realistic and evocative, and some of the narrator's thought-processes humorously logical. Yet there's violence and sordidity which mean I'm unlikely to want to read the sequels.

Evidently at least part autobiographical, I found this novel at times amusing - sometimes against my better judgement - and at times disturbing. I hope that the horrors of the protagonist's Calvinist upbringing are exaggerated; the hypocrisy is bad enough, the verbal abuse upsetting, and the violent 'punishments' described unbelievable in their viciousness.

And yet, there's a lot of clever irony as the 11-year-old protagonist - whose name (Calvin) is itself an irony - quotes his parents' fundamentalist beliefs, and wonders about the logic of a theory of 'election of saints' which doesn't guarantee anyone salvation, and makes something of a mockery of the whole idea of evangelism.

It was an interesting read - and by the last few chapters I found it quite hard to put down. Yet it left something of an unpleasant taste in my mouth. If even half of the violence is honestly true, why fictionalise it? If it's not true, why exaggerate, and paint Calvinist missionaries in such a poor light?
( )

Selected this book, in part, b/c it made me think of Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter, which I really enjoyed. Picked this book up at a used Book Store in Asheville, NC for a pittance also because its setting was in Italy, 1960's, whose main character is a 12 year old boy in a coming of age type of story. Thats hitting alot of my buttons, so it was a no brainer that I would at least give it a try.
The story is of an American family who are missionaries to the "lost Catholics in Sweeden" and is narrated by the 12 year old and youngest child of the family. He is "home-schooled" (a conventient term for a child of that era who was not able to participate in local education due to language barriers), as his parents are unable or unwilling to make arrangements for him to be enrolled in a boarding school of some sort for Americans in Europe, or, more likely, because the parents are too concerned with themselves to care too much about the future of their children, other than that they have the same religious beliefs that the parents do. As a result, the boy, though street smart and as it turns our, a pretty sharp kid, is severely behind in academic studies. His reading and writing skills are so poor that his sister must write a letter for him, his mother reads to him, etc.
The father is a very self-centered and emotionally unbalanced preacher who is strongly opinionated, intolerant, and doesnt seem to be able to think for himself much, as his doctrine, made to sound even more ridiculous through the undersanding and narrative of his children.
In spite of being surrounded by religious robots whose doctrine is sadly sagging, the young boy is finding his way through life.
The novel takes place while the family is on their yearly vacation in Italy, and stretches through 2 yearly visits.
The author goes to lengths to outline and explain the family (not just the fathers) doctrine as seen through common sense point of view and this really makes the familys foundation appear to be crumbling at best. A few secrets are uncovered that threaten the fabric of this family, which is easily anticipated from the start. The quest of the novel is how will the family and its individuals respond and will they survive.
I enjoyed the book very much as its characters were believeable and fairly easy to get to know. The descriptions of the settings were wonderful and for those who love to relive parts of childhood, and who doesnt, the book is a fast and fun read.
As a bonus, as I was about half-way through the book, I discovered that this is part one of a trilogy!
On to the next without much delay!! ( )

I selected this book, in part, b/c it made me think of Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter, which I really enjoyed. Picked this book up at a used Book Store in Asheville, NC for a pittance also because its setting was in Italy, 1960's, whose main character is a 12 year old boy in a coming of age type of story. Thats hitting alot of my buttons, so it was a no brainer that I would at least give it a try.
The story is of an American family who are missionaries to the "lost Catholics in Sweeden" and is narrated by the 12 year old and youngest child of the family. He is "home-schooled" (a conventient term for a child of that era who was not able to participate in local education due to language barriers), as his parents are unable or unwilling to make arrangements for him to be enrolled in a boarding school of some sort for Americans in Europe, or, more likely, because the parents are too concerned with themselves to care too much about the future of their children, other than that they have the same religious beliefs that the parents do. As a result, the boy, though street smart and as it turns our, a pretty sharp kid, is severely behind in academic studies. His reading and writing skills are so poor that his sister must write a letter for him, his mother reads to him, etc.
The father is a very self-centered and emotionally unbalanced preacher who is strongly opinionated, intolerant, and doesnt seem to be able to think for himself much, as his doctrine, made to sound even more ridiculous through the undersanding and narrative of his children.
In spite of being surrounded by religious robots whose doctrine is sadly sagging, the young boy is finding his way through life.
The novel takes place while the family is on their yearly vacation in Italy, and stretches through 2 yearly visits.
The author goes to lengths to outline and explain the family (not just the fathers) doctrine as seen through common sense point of view and this really makes the familys foundation appear to be crumbling at best. A few secrets are uncovered that threaten the fabric of this family, which is easily anticipated from the start. The quest of the novel is how will the family and its individuals respond and will they survive.
I enjoyed the book very much as its characters were believeable and fairly easy to get to know. The descriptions of the settings were wonderful and for those who love to relive parts of childhood, and who doesnt, the book is a fast and fun read.
As a bonus, as I was about half-way through the book, I discovered that this is part one of a trilogy!
On to the next without much delay!!( ( )