Into the War

Written by Italo Calvino

Narrated by Edoardo Ballerini

"This book deals both with a transition from adolescence into youth and with a move from peace to war: as for very many other people, for the protagonist of this book 'entry into life' and 'entry into war' coincide." - from the Author's Note These three stories, set during the summer of 1940, draw on Italo Calvino's memories of his own adolescence during the Second World War, too young to be forced to fight in Mussolini's army but old enough to be conscripted into the Italian youth brigades. The callow narrator of these tales observes the mounting unease of a city girding itself for war, the looting of an occupied French town, and nighttime revels during a blackout. Appearing here in its first English translation, Into the War is one of Calvino's only works of autobiographical fiction. It offers both a glimpse of this writer's extraordinary life and a distilled dram of his wry, ingenious literary voice.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Feb 15, 2018
• ISBN: 9781501963674

Italo Calvino

ITALO CALVINO (1923–1985) attained worldwide renown as one of the twentieth century’s greatest storytellers. Born in Cuba, he was raised in San Remo, Italy, and later lived in Turin, Paris, Rome, and elsewhere. Among his many works are Invisible Cities, If on a winter’s night a traveler, The Baron in the Trees, and other novels, as well as numerous collections of fiction, folktales, criticism, and essays. His works have been translated into dozens of languages.

Reviews for Into the War

[smichaelwilson · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A collection of three atypically autobiographical short stories by Italo Cavino about a young man growing up in a country gradually going to war. While these stories are mainly taken as a tale of an adolescent evolving into manhood as his surroundings shift from peace to war, I personally felt that much of this collection is meant to reflect the immaturity or juvenile component of war that defies morality or logic, and how dedicating one's self to wartime activities can potentially stunt emotional/intellectual growth. Just my interpretation.