Tab Article

Ratings: ★★★★☆(4.4/5)
Genre: Literary Fiction / Short Stories / Autobiographical Fiction / Italian Literature

Book Review:
A Glimpse into the Youth of a Master
Italo Calvino is a writer who needs no introduction to lovers of literary fiction. His works are celebrated for their inventiveness, their philosophical depth, and their crystalline prose. ''Into the War'' offers a different side of Calvino: a more personal, autobiographical glimpse into his formative years during the Second World War.

This slim volume collects three interconnected stories set in the summer of 1940, as Italy enters the war. The narrator is a young man, not quite old enough to fight, and we see the conflict through his eyes—not as a grand historical drama, but as a series of small, often absurd, and deeply personal experiences. In the title story, he navigates the anxieties and strange freedoms of life on the home front. In ''The Avanguardisti in Menton,'' a long-awaited trip to the front lines ends in a profoundly anti-climactic encounter with the reality of occupation. And in ''UNPA Nights,'' the most memorable of the three, he spends his evenings patrolling the dark, blacked-out streets, his imagination running wild as he shirks his duties.

These stories are not about battles or heroism. They are about waiting, about the strange suspension of normal life, and about the way war seeps into the consciousness of the young. Calvino's prose, beautifully translated by Martin McLaughlin, is as precise and evocative as ever. He captures the boredom, the fear, the absurdity, and the fleeting moments of beauty with a light and masterful touch.

''Into the War'' is a valuable addition to the Calvino canon. It offers a fascinating insight into the development of a great writer and stands on its own as a touching, funny, and quietly profound work of art. A must for Calvino fans and a perfect introduction for those new to his work.