1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wow, even Bella the cat made it into the book!, November 21, 2010
This review is from: Dino's Story: A Novel of 1960s Tuscany (Paperback)
On our recent vacation I had a chance to read the whole trilogy. I was amazed by the depth of character development Salsini shows in his characters. On the one hand, they maintain some of the same characteristics throughout the trilogy. Paul must have developed a biographical chronology of each of them at least in his head, if not on paper. On the other hand, they show growth and maturity. This is most clearly demonstrated in Dino who goes from an embryo in the first volume to a maturing artist in this third volume. Having met Paul and Bella his cat, it was interesting to see that a cat named Bella even made it into this volume. I'd recommend the whole trilogy to anyone interested in good character development.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The concluding volume to Wisconsin author Paul Salsini's superb Tuscan trilogy, May 13, 2010
This review is from: Dino's Story: A Novel of 1960s Tuscany (Paperback)
The concluding volume to Wisconsin author Paul Salsini's superb Tuscan trilogy, "Dino's Story: A Novel of 1960s Tuscany" continues to present fascinating and engaging perspectives on 20th Century Florence through his carefully detailed characters and attention riveting story lines. Now focusing on a generation just being born in his first novel of this series, the setting is the turbulent 60s where changes are rapidly transforming the city's culture, and the city itself is devastatingly impacted by a ruinous flood. The central character is Dino Sporenza, a young man newly arrived in Florence to study art, and finds himself caught up in studying the lives of an impoverished citizenry as well. In "Dino's Story", with its memorable cast of characters, Paul Salsini continues to document himself as a gifted and imaginative storyteller of the first order. Readers appreciating well-crafted fiction, and Wisconsin's community libraries, will want to read all three titles in this simply outstanding series: "The Cielo: A Novel of Wartime Tuscany"; "Sparrow's Revenge: A Novel of Postwar Tuscany"; and now "Dino's Story: A Novel of 1960s Tuscany".
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Beautiful Book About Coming of Age, May 8, 2010
This review is from: Dino's Story: A Novel of 1960s Tuscany (Paperback)
Eric Jones, [...]
Don't be fooled by the subtitle on the cover of Paul Salsini's "Dino's Story" that calls is the "powerful conclusion of "A Tuscan Trilogy". While this is part of a larger, broader view of the Tuscany twentieth century time line, it is very much it's own tale. You'd be flawed in thinking that you had to go back and read the other two prior to this one. But if "Dino's Story" is any indication of the larger trilogy, you'll certainly want to.
Let's forgo Salsini's picturesque detail of beautiful Tuscany for a moment. Let's forget about the lively imagery of the small town of Sant'Antonio or the sweeping detailed streets and alleys in Florence, which are alone enough to make the novel worth reading, and instead look at the characters. Dino Sporenza is a believably complicated young man, beset on all sides with conflict as he grows into manhood. He can't stop thinking about girls, he's spiritually confused, and unsure of what he is to become. He likes art, and has grown bored of the stale village life of his hometown. In need of adventure, he moves to Florence to attend art school.
Dino Sporenza is pulled in different directions by other complicated individuals. His estranged uncles, girls vying for his attention, and family and friends in both places. As he struggles with difficult choices, the heavy rains of Florence begin to fall. Salsini's characters leap off of the page with a vivid realism that makes you see deep into them. It is only after you've put the book down that you are able to reflect on the places you've been as you inhabit these character's lives.
As Dino's story unfolds Salsini lays out a subtle pattern of symbolism in the coming rains, beginning with the spilling of holy water on the statue of Saint Anthony's head. Later in the novel, as Dino is torn between two women who seem to represent both sides of his conflict between staying in Florence and returning home, Dino discusses the movie, "The Bible" with a friend, making particular note of the flood scene. Salsini goes beyond foreshadowing in order to present the constant looming threat of the coming flood, and what that will mean for Dino. In this way, the flood becomes a resounding metaphor for life, as it doesn't happen all at once, but in constant waves of tumultuous weather.
"Dino's Story" is a beautiful book about coming of age, and what that means in a city that is both filled with beautiful art and under the constant threat of losing the identity that art provides. Paul Salsini is a master at presenting us with a living breathing countryside that we can inhabit as we read, and understand its turmoil so that when you are finished you can set the book aside, look out your window, and think, "so that's Tuscany".
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