The Crossroads by Niccolo Ammaniti

 

Niccol Ammaniti's 'The Crossroads' is a darkly humorous thriller that won the Premio Strega - the Italian equivalent of the Man Booker Prize - in 2007. Unsatisfied with their lives, Rino Zena and his low-life buddies Danilo Aprea and Quattro Formaggi plan a bank raid and the ostensibly perfect crime. But events quickly take them in unexpected directions.

This story ranges from the ridiculous to the extremely violent - I should warn you that the contents of this book are not for the faint of heart. Although the father-son relationship between Christiano and Rino was intriguing, it was the supporting characters who stood out for me - how could you forget a lunatic with the moniker Quattro Formaggi? 'The Crossroads' is unlike anything else I've read recently, and I appreciated the gritty depiction of 'real' Italy, as it is uncommon to find a completely unromanticized view of the country in modern literature. The story is told in very short segments.


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On the one hand, the brevity of the scenes lends the story an almost cinematic quality and aids in maintaining the pace. On the other hand, because there was so much flitting between different perspectives, I thought the narrative could appear inconsistent and undeveloped at times.

Even though it has been a long time since I read 'I'm Not Scared,' I don't think I was as engrossed by 'The Crossroads' as I was by the more subtly written 'I'm Not Scared.' However, it is still a good read, especially if you are looking for something a little different, as modern Italian fiction in English translation is difficult to come by.







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