Thank you John Fante

I’s like to start by saying that I loved this book. Although it wasn’t very action filled like Red Harvest, I found myself thinking in a new way and understanding characters a little more. I also found myself getting almost excited when the death of the calf took place. Nothing gory is happening in this book and BAM! a baby cow is murdered and sitting in the back seat of a car with blood gushing out. It is a horrifying image, but it was interesting! I liked the way the Arturo put it when he said “It was plain murder.”(111) This was such a simple statement, but behind the words, you can see the fear and disgust that Arturo felt. And the words he used to describe death later on “Living was hard enough. Dying was a supreme task.” (120) I loved this line. I think this summarizes everything there is to know about dying. I think is reaches far beyond the book. I almost think this might be when Arturo begins to realize what he has to do in order to get Camilla. And although they are both now in love and living together, once she is lost in the desert, I almost feel that the book was more than the love of Camilla, because when he dedicated his book to her and throws it into the desert, he is throwing away his career almost. I think that when falling in love with Camilla, it was almost just another thing he wanted to do in order to get a good story. But once she is gone, he realizes that it meant nothing without her. When she left, the story left with it and he was again left with nothing, struggling to get back on his feet which is how we find him at the beginning of the story. I really like the way it almost makes a circle with how the book starts and ends. And although it doesn’t do this directly, in my mind I can see the way it does. I like how this book made me think in a new way. It made me start to think like Arturo Bandini and I liked becoming close to his character. I think this way of writing really helps when reading a story and it honestly has helped me to start to see things in readings that I never would have otherwise. So thank you John Fante for changing the way in which I read books.