Moravia’s novel Agostino honestly did not go in the direction I thought it was leading towards. From reading the very first few pages I thought it would be about family dynamics and his relationship with his mother. While even as I read some hints of whats to come with his strange perceptions of his mother, I thought that I was looking too much into his thoughts making crude assumptions. Then after he met Berto I thought ok perhaps this book is about stepping out of your comfort zone and exploring new horizons. I did not think this book would be about the transition from adolescence and coming to terms with feelings of unease related to brimming feelings. All things considered I did really enjoy this book and I appreciated how it brought about important themes, especially from a boys point of view, which is usually not written about as often as a girls. I really like the authors style of writing in describing Agostino’s feelings and could feel his explanations resonating with creating a picture of Agostino’s inner feelings. Such as “he cried softly so as to not disturb the painful workings of memory” and “it had been his fate to fall from the summit of an allusion and crash to the ground aching and bruised”. While Agostino’s character was often times very annoying, through him I also realised how ridiculous overthinking is, but that was more so in the start of the novel before it took a turn. I also wonder if anyone else was disappointed by Saro’s character. Perhaps I was naive but I thought he would have an interesting story and be a role model for the gang of boys, but instead he was vulgar and disgusting. Once his true character came out, Agostino’s description of Saro as a toad could not be more accurate. On top of that while I understand the mother may be dealing with her own grief as a widow, I didn’t like her character and how she treated Agostino. I was not impressed with her lack of care and thought she lacked that sense of paternal instinct to be attentive in changes of her child. I also think it was interesting on how the author highlighted that Agostino never really knew what he wanted. Did he want the man to ask her mother out or not? Did he want to be friends with the boys or not? And the list goes on, I think this uncertainty highlights that he is still figuring out growing out of adolescence and that his journey has just begun. My question for everyone is how did you feel about the shift in the story, were you surprised?
After reading your blog, you have made me think that the narrator of the novel expects the readers, us, to do two things that seem contradictory, but that are necessary for his game: to make crude assumptions and to be naive. Maybe that’s also where that feeling of disgust comes from, that we ourselves are entering into the discovery of a world that repulses us but about which we want to know more.
Hey Naz! I actually felt the same way at a lot of points throughout the novel – at times annoyed at Agustinos more immature tendencies at times grossed out at Sabos predatory behavior. But you actually bring up a good point- which is how the character of the mom was portrayed in this novel. In the beginning I actually disliked the mom as well; I found her to be distant and negligent towards Agostino. While that still is true, I think as the book goes on the idea further developes into how “innocent” and “childlike” Agostino really was in the beginning sort of props her up to be this more muted character, sort of exemplifying how in the beginning Agostino really didn’t understand what it meant to be an adult just yet- thus making his moms behavior appear more cold.
Hi Naz,
I liked reading your blog post about Agostino, and I think like many others, we share many of the same thoughts. Unlike the rest of the characters who have a sense of innocence or naiveness to them, Saro is widely disliked due to his age, predatory nature, and the fact that he knows what he’s doing. I don’t think the shift in the story was that surprising to me, as I felt like it was part of his journey as a kid in a sense, seeing as his circumstances were quite strange already.
I had a similar experience reading this book! I think the shift in Agostino’s feelings for his mother was a little jarring at first, but like you said, it gave us a window into his inner feelings and the confusing changes he’s going through at this point in his life. I think the mother’s attitude towards Agostino just comes from her seeing him as a little boy still – in her mind, he doesn’t have “real” issues to face yet, and she doesn’t really take his feelings or complaints seriously. Maybe that will change as he grows up.
Hi Naz,
I was really interested in your post and I actually related to what you said about doubting if you were looking too much into his thoughts making crude assumptions about how he viewed his mother.
And to answer your question I was a bit surprised to be honest but I thought it was kind of interesting.
– Ximena Avendano Castillo