THE JAVELIN THROWER

As a boy growing up in rural Italy in the 1930s, Damìn is experiencing the first stirrings of adolescence when he accidentally sees his mother having sex with the local Fascist commandant. His pain, anger, and confusion are uncomfortably intertwined with a compulsion to watch them, which becomes an obsession.

Isolating himself from anyone who might help him understand what he's feeling, he channels his fury into his javelin, getting better and better until he is a local champion. But his success is fleeting, as wholly confused and caught up in his own anger, he ends up betraying and humiliating his friends. The Javelin Thrower is the story of an erotic education turned tragic, poisoned by the darkness running through Mussolini's Italy.

About the author

Paolo Volponi (1924-94) was one of Italy's leading novelists and poets during the second half of the twentieth century. He is the first author to have twice won Italy's most prestigious literary award, the Strega Prize, including one for The World Machine.

Summary

The story of an adolescent boy's erotic and sentimental education in 1930s Fascist Italy.

Product details

• Authors: Paolo Volponi
• Assisted by: Richard Dixon (Translation)
• Publisher: Seagull Books London Ltd
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 31.01.2019
• EAN: 9780857425393
• ISBN: 978-0-85742-539-3
• No. of pages: 288
• Dimensions: 223 mm x 145 mm x 23 mm
• Weight: 444 g
• Series: Italian List; Italian List
• Subject: Fiction > Narrative literature