Agostino, Moravia
Week 5's reading is Agostino by Alberto Moravia, a very short yet interesting reading. I found this the easiest to read and get into so far, partly because it was only 57 pages and I could read it all in one sitting, but also because the plot and characters were pretty much immediately introduced. Readers are immediately wanting to know why Agostino is thinking the way he is. I did not find a single one of the characters likeable, yet I was still interested in the reading which I would not have expected. All of the younger boys were homophobic and just overall mean, and Saro was not a father figure, instead grooming at least one of the young boys. There is an overwhelming amount of description of characters bodies through the eyes of Agostino. He calls his mother large many times, focuses on Saro's mustache and six fingers on each hand, and goes into extreme detail about the boys bodies, especially when they strip naked to go swimming. The most interesting part of this readi...