Summer Crossing (Penguin Modern Classics)

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I don't mean that; and what's more, I don't like it: you sound as though you were talking to a whore.' His prose here and there is glorious, and the seventeen-year-old central character of Grady McNeil feels like a lighter drawn version of Holly Golightly: dazzling in the eyes of those around her, but spiraling into a mode of self-destruction. Berendt, John. "Introduction" in Truman Capote, Other Voices, Other Rooms (2004/1948) Random House. ISBN 0-679-64322-2 p. xi.

Con lui Grady trascorre l’estate, anche se "era sempre stata consapevole che lui non poteva essere cucito nella trama concreta del suo futuro. Anzi, forse era proprio per questo che aveva scelto di innamorarsi di lui: quella storia doveva essere il fuoco dell’anno prima, destinato a riflettersi sulla neve che presto sarebbe caduta". What a beautifully imperfect book. This is Capote's first novel written sometime in the 1940s and not published until 2004. Why the big gap? He left his apartment and told his landlord to throw it away. Ford, Rebecca (May 16, 2013). "Cannes: Scarlett Johansson to Make Directorial Debut With 'Summer Crossing' ". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved May 23, 2013. A number of writings including the manuscript to Summer Crossing had been rescued from the trash by the house sitter of an apartment in Brooklyn Heights, where Capote lived around 1950. Upon the death of the house sitter, his nephew discovered Capote's papers and sent them to Sotheby's for auction in 2004. The papers failed to sell at auction because of the high price and because the physical papers did not confer publication rights to the work, which were held by the Truman Capote Literary Trust. Subsequently, the New York Public Library reached an agreement to buy the papers and archived them in its permanent Truman Capote Collection. After a consultation with Capote's lawyer, Summer Crossing was published in 2005. The first edition was set from Capote's original manuscript, which was written in four school notebooks and 62 supplemental notes, with an afterword by Alan U. Schwartz, Capote's executor. [6] The ending is confusing, and not quite in keeping with the rest of the novel, but maybe this could be because Mr. Capote had no idea where to take it, and so he just allowed it to reach a rather literal dead end.Truman Capote was an American writer whose non-fiction, stories, novels and plays are recognised literary classics, including the novella Breakfast at Tiffany's (1958) and In Cold Blood (1965), which he labeled a "non-fiction novel." At least 20 films and TV dramas have been produced from Capote novels, stories and screenplays. Summer Crossing is the first novel written by American author Truman Capote. He started the novel in about 1943 and worked on it intermittently for several years before putting it aside. For over 50 years Summer Crossing was thought to be lost but it was eventually rediscovered among Capote's papers and was published in 2005. Apple suggests they call a doctor to fix things. However, Grady reminds her of a friend they lost who bled to death on a public toilet. You cold or something?' he said. She strained against him; she wanted to pass clear through him: 'It's a chill, it's nothing'; and then, pushing a little away: 'Say you love me.' What infinite energies are wasted steeling oneself against crisis that seldom comes: the strength to move mountains; and yet it is perhaps this very waste, this torturous wait for things that never happen, which prepares the way and allows one to accept with sinister sincerity the beast at last in view..."

Grady McNeil is something a bit different by way of a heroine, and she seems to have very little knowledge of what she wants and what she needs, but she is enticing enough for the reader to be completely absorbed in her world. However, I still prefer Breakfast over this one because this has a thinner plot, less interesting conflicts and fewer memorable characters. Capote did not want this to be published because he thought that this was "thin, clever, unfelt" (Source: Wiki). After all, this was his first written novel. His first published work that made him known was his Other Voices, Other Rooms. Summer Crossing" refers to two distinct crossings during a long hot summer in New York. Lucy and Lamont McNeil are making an Atlantic crossing to see what the Germans have left of their European holdings.As the summer heats up, so does Grady's and Clyde's romance. The couple is soon wed in Red Bank, New Jersey. Once married, Grady meets Clyde's middle-class family in Brooklyn, and only then is the couple truly faced with the stark reality of the cultural divide between her family and his. Grady then realizes at her sister Apple's home that she is six weeks pregnant. You may consider my review a bit flippant. I suppose it is. Grady's naivete can be grating. But this book is worth the read. Hmmm, this might be considered the first Truman Capote Summer Beach Read!