Overall this was not a favorite of mine compared to what we have read so far. Agostino is a story of adolescence and growth centered in early 20th century Italy (I think not entirely sure if the location is specifically mentioned). We get a very select slice of Agostino’s life as he enters in to the early stages of puberty and fully grasps the concepts of sex and love. I thought that the narrative was an excellent slice of life and the overall atmosphere of the little Italian city on the coast was superb. Definitely not on the level of Paris Peasant with its surreal French arcades but still quite good. A lot of the imagery in this text and the overall prose of the novel felt very well aligned with the themes of liminality and transition that are so inherent to puberty and young adulthood as a whole. As far as the themes of this novel goes I thought that the transitional and almost blurred quality to the narrative was handled excellently. We never really have to go through any of the explanations as the gang of boys removes Agostino’s innocence yet we can understand through his reactions and emotions the difficulty of these times. What is frustrating with this novel is that the major conflict of Agostino’s existence is completely wrapped around Freudian notions of psychoanalysis and the Oedipus complex. I think that exploring sexuality and specifically sexuality as we are introduced to it through adolescence is an intricate and important topic that not a lot of literature explores. But at least for me all of the drama, emotion and connection to Agostino is completely undercut by the simple fact that a lot of his newfound sexual feelings are directed towards his mother. to me this distracted and really put me off to the narrative as a whole. That is not to say that our media and literature should challenge and make you uncomfortable. I think that some of the best moments from this book happen when Agostino is facing the awkward realities of growing up. Specifically the scenes when they go swimming on the far away beach is in my opinion the best of the book. We are confronting with an authentic awkward adolescent experience combined with the beautifully described scenery create an excellent atmosphere of beauty and embarrassment that i think represents adolescence so well. But then it is all cut off by Agostino’s weird Oedipal thoughts.