Customer Reviews

I'm Not Scared

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Told through the thoughts and views of a young boy, I'm Not Scared is a searing look at the struggles and truths of childhood morality, the formidable situations many children's parents force them to face, and the untimely death of childhood trust and safety. Jonathan Hunt has translated Niccolo Ammaniti's disturbing story beautifully, capturing the hard realities of desperate and self-righteous people along with the sinister and surreal atmosphere that slowly descends around Michele and his family. A difficult book to discuss without revealing plot lines and endings, Ammaniti has, in an unusual sense, written a compelling psychological thriller and has created a story that does not end with the printed page but within the reader's own imagination.

I, too, read the novel in Italian and have not seen the English translation. In Italian, at least, it's an intelligent, well crafted, exciting story with beautiful language and some real edge-of-your-seat scenes. The immature perspective of the unsophisticated, underinformed boy Michele (remembered by his adult self, who narrates) is very believable. I liked how the concept of not being afraid is inserted in several different aspects, among more than one character. The contrast between the seemingly pristine surface world of endless golden wheat and the filthy conditions inside the dark hole in the ground creates a perfect metaphor for a story that, in the end, is about not being afraid to grow up, for that is what Michele does, voluntarily leaving behind the innocence of childhood to enter the shadowier moral world of "i grandi," the grownups. The novel has been made into a movie in Italy that I saw recently on DVD. Like most movies, it simplifies the plot and alters the ending somewhat, but it follows the novel fairly closely. The all-important role of Michele was well cast, and the vast dreamy landscape was made a virtual character in the story.

Loose ends? Where? Obviously I read the novel in Italian--being Italian myself--and loved the book. Now I'm glad English-reading people may read it and posslibly love it too. The novel is tight and has a perfectly wrought plot mechanism. Ammaniti does not explain everything, but on a second reading all that was not explained becomes clear. But what is important is the atmosphere of those years, when all those of us (Italians) who lived in rural areas felt that living there meant being imprisoned in a medieval world, and that everything good was to be found in big cities. That feeling is wonderfully rendered in the novel and that's what I like most. As for kidnapping yeah, it was a major industry for some regions of the Deep South (namely Calabria) and yeah, sometime whole smalltowns or villages were involved. And then the vipers, well, what's the problem? We don't have rattlesnakes and copperheads in Italy (luckily!), so everybody knows the only dangerous snake is the viper--and that's the snake everybody knows and is afraid of. Anyway, enjoy this novel... it is much better than Benigni's stale comedy, or musty stereotypes of mandolin-playing captains...

The publication of Niccolo Ammaniti's work in English is long overdue. "I'm Not Scared" lacks the black comedy and outrageous situations of his earlier work but, in this novel, one of Italy's most important young writers attains something close to perfection. Like "The Great Gatsby", this is a novel with zero padding. Every word has its place and contributes to the whole. The style, the sensitive descriptions of the hero's world and attitudes and the construction of the story are first class. The whole book unfolds like a movie (the first few pages brought back vivid images of Terrence Malick's "Days of Heaven" with the undulating fields of grain) in vibrant, striking images. And that's all that I'll say because any more about the plot could ruin the pleasure of discovering a great modern novel.

I'm Not Scared is a brilliant novel. The plot involves a group of young friends who go out exploring the Italian countryside around the village they live in. One of the friends, Michele, discovers a boy he believes to be dead in an abandoned outbuilding. The novel follows the story of what happens when Michele returns to the boy and finds out that he is not dead, but is chained up in the hole. When Michele discovers the reason why the boy is imprisoned, his whole world starts to crack and every last drop of his courage and bravery is tested.

The book wouldn't be brilliant if the characters weren't so strong and recognisable from our own childhoods. The book shows with great skill the various sides of being young and realising that the world isn't perfect and that our family and friends do not always behave as we would like. I felt like I knew Michele and his sister Maria and their little group of friends. Michele's character was so realistic, and all the elements of growing up were described with such clarity - the fear of the outside world coupled with reckless bravery, the love / hate relationship with his parents, and the struggle between right and wrong. I also thought that the characterisation of Michele's mother was spot on - a woman who is desperately tired and scared, whose personality is caring one minute and harsh the next. The use of language is light and beautiful. I read the book in a single sitting and am sitting at my computer in the early hours of the morning writing this review because I simply couldn't go to sleep without writing something down about it.

Overall this book is a literary treat. It is absorbing, shocking, suspenceful, terrifying, touching. The end doesn't tie everything up with a nice little bow on top, but it is realistic and frightening and hopeful. I loved it.

JoAnne

Michele is an average nine year old boy who lives in a tiny hamlet in southern Italy. On a very hot summer day in 1978 he and a few of his friends from the village climb a hill on top of which they find a deserted house. When Michele has to cross the house he finds a boy who is locked in chains in a well. He does not tell his friends, but later he goes back to find out what is happening. Slowly but surely it becomes apparent that the boy is kidnapped and that all the grown ups in the village are involved. Michele's father tells him not to get into the vicinity of the boy anymore, but in the end pity wins it from the vow to his father and the end of the story happens at night.

'I am not scared' is a book about a boy who discovers a secret that is not bearable at his age. First he seeks refuge into ideas from fairytales, but in the end reality wins. This book is beautifully written, with grand descriptions of the summer heat in southern Italy and real Italian fights. Absolutely a must read.

When I picked this book up I was unable to put it down...for seven hours! I literally read it overnight. While the mystery held some intrigue, I was most captivated by the overarching story of children coming of age during a scorching, corrupted summer.

The growing up part of the film is very reminiscent of "To Kill A Mockingbird" and the lessons the Finch children learn as the story of the trial unfolds. I absolutely enjoyed this book and recommend it to anyone looking for a captivating read.

"I'm not scared" slowly reveals the horrific cruelty adults can inflict on others through the eyes of its beguiling 9 year old hero Michele.

It's a thriller, so it gives away its story cautiously, keeping the reader hooked. It's brilliantly crafted: I couldn't stop reading it.

The relationships between the characters, full of shifts and betrayals and unexpected declarations of allegiance, lured me on from page to page. Like most very good thrillers, "I'm not scared" is character driven. One of the blurbs on my (Australian, Text) edition compares it to a Hitchcock thriller, and that's a good comparison - the master's thrillers are all about character.

Cruelty to children is one of its central themes, and there were some repugnant parts I felt like skimming over.

Ammaniti uses the 9 year old imaginations of the two boys at the centre of the story to great effect, interweaving their boyish fears and fantasies with the grim realities of the crime their parents are perpetrating.

The setting is a big part of the story. It's set in a dirt-poor rural hamlet in Southern Italy in 1978. The hamlet is in the grips of a sweltering drought. The heat adds even more pressure on an already high-pressure narrative.

There's a hanging ending, but I liked that: by the time I got to it, I was happy to get relief from the acute tension. I felt as though I'd forgotten to breath, and could now finally release a breath.

"I'm not scared" is a great book.

I have just finished reading this book, I couldn't put it down, it absorbed me from the very first page. The voice of the protaganist reminded me of "To Kill A Mockingbird" as did the relationship between Michele and his sister Maria. I thought this was a beautifully written book. I've never been to Italy, but I felt myself there with the characters - I could see and smell the surroundings - both beautiful (the hills and corn fields) and the suffocating (hole where Phillipo is held and the pig sty). The characters were beautifully crafted and very believable. I really loved this story. I have mixed feelings about the ending - part of me would have preferred Ammaniti to spoon feed us an end that tied up all the strings and told us exactly what became of the characters: the other part of me enjoys grappling with an ending that requires thought and imagination. We can at least be sure that Michele survives his final ordeal as the book is narrated by the adult Michele.

I highly recommend this book - please read it.

Too much information has already been given about the story, so i'll not give more.
I will just state that this is one of the most amazing, thrilling, beautiful novels that i have read in the past few years. Don't miss it.