a lovely little read by young Capote (published posthumously), it was very interesting to see what came before his more famous pieces :)

This is one of those books where the back-story itself is almost good enough. Years after he originally wrote this novella (at age 19) in 4 Composition Notebooks (remember those black and white ones that you did all your Important Writing in in middle school?), Capote hastily moved out of his brownstone and asked his Super to throw away anything that he'd left behind in the rush. The detritus included a box containing this manuscript. A neighbor found the box and decided that such a thing should be kept for posterity. Which he did--in his closet--until he died recently. Then his relatives came across the manuscript and sold it to Sotheby's which sold it to the NYPL to house in their Truman Capote collection. And after various arguments about the ethics of publishing that which was intended to be un-published, we now have Summer Crossing in all its colon-happy, run-on sentenced, uber-similied splendor.

It's a sweet story, in its way, although the brassy 17 year old precursor to Holly Golightly ends up getting hers in about every sense. In essence, what begins as a hedonistic summer of independence becomes a rather doomed coming of age, with very little hint of redemption.

I'm not entirely sure I agree with the choice to publish this manuscript (although I look forward to seeing it at the NYPL). On one hand, I'm glad we get a glimpse of What He Was before What He Became. However, there is something a bit sobering about the appropriation of an author's work after his/her death.

At any rate, reading Summer Crossing will definitely give one a chance to think "I could do [better than] that!" which is probably reason enough to make it available.

This first effort by a 19-year-old Capote is admirable; he reaches to address class distinction and sexual issues thereof. The first half is flat and flawed: rich girl Grady plays with her boy-toy Clyde. But Capote pulls the rug out from under us when he suddenly switches to Clyde's POV half-way through. Clyde is a war veteran, his family has suffered true heartaches. Things get messy, to say the least. Capote improves his writing skills with "Other Voices, Other Rooms", written and published several years later. Then, he transitions slowly with "The Grass Harp" to such very good works as "Breakfast at Tiffany's" And finally, 20 years after this rocky first start, he writes his masterpiece, "In Cold Blood". His 20 years of hard work, writing amid a battle waged against him personally and professionally, is simply a triumph.

i literally forgot that i had read this book.

I adored this book.
Beautifully written.
Sparkling, poetic, lyrical prose.
Grady is a witty heroine who I loved.
Wonderful setting of 1920's New York.
Although there was an underlying sense of dread as the book reached it's climax!
A little gem of a book which will become a favourite of mine!
So glad it was published.

Un roman ușor, frumos și numai bine de citit vara!

"Vara, care înseamnă umbră și mușchi verde, catifelat, pulsa prin venele frunzelor de violete și Grady și-a strivit de obraji răcoarea lor parfumată."

Amo il modo in cui Capote racconta la sua New York. Le immagini che crea accostando le parole finemente scelte sono bellissime, come un quadro. Ci sono alcune frasi che sono dei veri e propri gioielli che luccicano, trasmettendo quelle vibrazioni elettrizzanti della Manhattan dell'alta borghesia americana che fa da sfondo alla storia.

Questo romanzo ruota attorno a tre personaggi legati gli uni agli altri, eppure distanti, persi in una incomunicabilità inevitabile. Grady, una diciassettenne testarda e sfavillante, impulsiva e irrequieta, è la figlia di un pezzo grosso della città. Peter è l'amico di una vita, tanto simile a lei quanto dato per scontato. E poi c'è Clyde, così diverso e, per questo, estremamente affascinante agli occhi di lei. Lui viene da Brooklyn, ha origini umili e una grande famiglia moralmente a carico. Grady e Clyde fanno parte di due mondi diversi in perenne contrasto, due pianeti che si scontrano in un moto di ribellione giovanile destinato a terminare in un enorme boato vitale che rimane sospeso in una nube di indefinita incertezza e futuro ignoto.

Giudicato da molti un romanzo imperfetto (primo tentativo di scrittura di Capote che passò la vita nell'indecisione se pubblicarlo o meno; pubblicato solo dopo la sua morte), io non ho fatto caso ai difetti, non sono riuscita a dar loro peso e sostanza, sono rimasta immersa per un centinaio di pagine in un fluido piacevole e avvolgente.

Bello bello.

"You published that mess?! Oh darling no..." is probably what Capote said from his grave about Summer Crossing, a posthumously published early work. This sketch about a confused young girl's misguided love needs polish, a whole lotta polish. There are lines within a generally beautifully written Summer Crossing that stick out for their clunky dullness. Thus it reads like the first draft that it is, a first draft written by a master wordsmith, mind you! But as Hemingway said, "The first draft of anything is shit."

Very short story but packs a big punch! It’s a bit like reading an episode arc of Gossip Girl, except maybe “slightly” more intellectually stimulating. An interesting take on love and how the definition and requirements of love can differ depending on the person and their experiences and conception of the world.

average

This early Truman Capote novel is the only one I haven't cared for. (In this I am not alone, as the book was out of print for many years before its recent return.) It's not outright bad, but just too glossy, too magazine-ish. Capote wrote so many wonderful things, both fiction and non: IN COLD BLOOD, BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S, THE MUSES ARE HEARD, OTHER VOICES OTHER ROOMS, THE GRASS HARP -- the list is long. Best to go there first. "Summer Crossing," by the way, refers to a Transatlantic passage by ship in warmer, calmer weather.

Не е най-доброто от Капоти, но все пак е Капоти, което значи, че хубаво, дори само заради усещането от неговото писане. И пак Ню Йорк, обичам го и него, и Капоти завинаги!