Reseña del libro "El vino de la juventud"
El vino de la juventud recoge los trece relatos que Fante publico en 1940 con el titulo de Dago red, mas otros siete aparecidos posteriormente en distintos medios. Exceptuando los dos ultimos, todos giran alrededor de una familia de inmigrantes italianos afincada en Colorado. El que cuenta es el hijo mayor, un adolescente al que vemos crecer, observar a sus padres, quiza intentar comprenderlos, o juzgarlos. Y el conjunto, una cronica de la vida en America en los anos veinte del siglo pasado, tiene una coherencia y una unidad novelescas. Y asi, somos testigos del momento en que se conocen los padres del protagonista, de cuando el pequeno heroe se confiesa con un cura y cuando descubre que no tiene camisa para ir a la iglesia; seguimos sus aventuras en el colegio de monjas y despues vemos como el padre envejece y el hijo mayor lo celebra liandose a punetazos con el. / The Wine of Youth brings together the thirteen stories which Fante published in 1940 under the title Dago Red, as well as another seven that appeared later by different means. Apart from the last two, they all revolve around a family of Italian immigrants who have settled in Colorado. The narrator is the oldest son, an adolescent whom we see grow, observe his parents, perhaps try to understand them, or judge them. In its entirety, it is an account of life in America in the twenties, with fictional unity and coherence. We witness the moment that the protagonists parents meet, the small hero confessing to a priest, and his realisation that he has no shirt to go to church in; we follow his adventures in a convent school and later we see the father getting old and his oldest son celebrating by throwing punches at him.
