Forethoughts: Fists by Pietro Grossi

And so my reading journey through this year’s Independent Foreign Fiction Prize shortlist brings me to smallest of the offerings in the final six, Fists by Pietro Grossi (Pushkin Press). And if my expectations were soaring ahead of the last shortlist title that I read (Brodeck’s Report by Philippe Claudel (MacLehose Press)) , then my expectations for this one may be even higher, given that Fists is presented in one of my most favourite of all literary forms, the short story; in this case, three in total. Join me then fellow reader as I offer up my forethoughts on Fists, and speak a little bit about book and author, and contemplate the reading journey that lies ahead of me.

So as is usually the case with a forethoughts post, I’ll begin proceedings with a rundown on the synopsis, this time taken directly from the publisher’s page for the book:

Three stories, three portraits of young men learning the realities of adult life.

Boxing takes us into the world of gyms, a world of bodies, of nerves stretched to the limit, of sacrifice and challenge. Two young men confront each other in the fight of their lives. One of them is well-to-do, a model student whose skills have never been put to the test. The other, although poor and deaf, is stubborn and determined . Now they face the ultimate test, the encounter on which not only their present, but their future depends.

Horses takes into the wide open spaces of the countryside. Here, two brothers, both given horses by their father, confront each other sensing that two different destinies are opening up for them.

The Monkey, is about the fragility of identity, the desire to escape it and disappear. When Nico discovers that his boyhood friend Pietro has made the sudden, shocking decision to become a monkey, he is led to question the basis on which he has lived his own life.

In Fists, Pietro Grossi has written three epics of the everyday, in which his characters, bound together by fate, struggle to find a meaning in human existence.

Now, the first word that springs into my mind when I read this synopsis for Fists is MASCULINE, because quite frankly all of this talk of boxing, father’s gifting horses to sons, and boys desiring to turn into monkeys (well maybe not so much this last one ) is filling the air around me with the sickly, sweet smell of male testosterone (if testosterone had a sickly sweet smell, that is). This is a good thing I think because I definitely consider myself a testosterone-oozing sort of guy, with a real attraction towards testosterone-oozing stories; provided those stories have something of a literary slant to them. And a literary slant is what Fists definitely does seem to have, so the reading prospect is a promising one.

For the sake of thoroughness (because I’m that kind of guy ) I should mention that although Fists is the only work of Grossi’s to be published so far in English, it’s not the the first of his literary creations to have graced reader’s bookshelves. His debut novel Touché (or perhaps more accurately his debut novella as the publication only amounts to 168 pages) was published in 2000 by Mauro Pagliai. Since 2006, when Fists was first published in Italian (under the title Pugni, published by Sellerio editore), a second Grossi novel – L’acchito, has also been published by Sellerio. At the time of writing however, both titles have yet to be published in English (that is, if they ever will be).

So as I said in my intro, Fists comes with three stories in total. But are they linked directly, together as one? Well there appears to be no indication that they are. If anything it looks like the stories definitely aren’t directly linked. That said all seem to carry a common ‘coming of age’ theme, and more interestingly perhaps (according to the sublime ‘summing up’ sentence in the above blurb), each story comes with characters who are ‘bound by fate, in a struggle to find a meaning in human existence’. So the stories might well share a closer link than I think they do, and they are after all, encapsulated in the same volume.

Regardless, I find the premise of a story centering on the theme of ‘reason for being’ to be utterly intriguing. But now I’m wondering whether Fists is going to be one of these deep and dense philosophical expeditions into the psychology of man, or if its going to be something more akin to a gentle meander around the theme. Ultimately, I’ll only know this for sure when I’ve travelled through the book of course, but it would be nice to know, to some extent at least, what I may be letting myself in for ahead of time. And the best way of doing this perhaps – short of reading through a bunch of reviews (which I never do ahead of reading a book, should I spoil it for myself) – is to have a look at the author himself. So let’s go and do just that!

So what do we know about Pietro Grossi? Well to be honest there doesn’t appear to be all that much information on the author. He was born in 1978 in Florence – the birthplace of the Italian Renaissance – and to some extent Grossi appears to be something of a Renaissance man himself, showing an early passion for literature, and writing from around age 8. Although Grossi initially shunned the university lifestyle (according to the Festivaletteratura website he quit after only his first year studying Psychology at the University of Florence), Grossi got right back into academia by perhaps returning to his childhood love for storytelling, first attending the Baricco’s Holden School of Creative Writing in Turin, before moving to New York in order to study cinema. Now qualified, Grossi has returned to Italy where he now lives and works.

So has this little bio rundown on Grossi in any way revealed to us whether Fists is going to be a ‘deep dish’ philosophical rumination on man, or just a ‘thin and crispy’ appetiser? (only Rob would turn thoughts on literature around to food, Hey? ) No, it doesn’t exactly but perhaps it’s logical to surmise that the author has some kind of inner affection for psychology given that he chose to study it at university. True he flunked out after only one year, but apparently this had more to do with a hatred of academia rather than an abhorrence of the subject itself. So, bearing this in mind is Grossi perhaps using this collection of three stories as an avenue for exploring his inherent interest? I certainly hope so, because that would make reading so very interesting!

As always is the case when I deal with works-in-translation, I like to give brief mention of the translator, who in this instance is Howard Curtis; a translator I’ve yet to have had any experience with. I can only wonder at why I’ve never come across Howard Curtis before. Translating from French and Italian (I think that’s the only languages he works in. Anyone?), and having already worked with any number of top publishers including Picador, Europa Editions, Hesperus etc., Curtis is a real ‘trojan of translation’, with a myriad of translated titles under his belt. In 2004 he also won the Society of Authors’ John Florio Prize – awarded for Italian translation – for his work on Edoardo Albinati’s Coming Back (Hesperus Press). So Curtis is a translator who comes with very high credentials, and consequently I’m looking forward to this ‘first contact’ with his work.

So I’ve perhaps rambled on for a bit too long about Fists (nothing new there then ), but I want to close these forethoughts with a quick focus on the exquisite artwork that graces the cover of this edition. The cover shows a reproduction of a 2004 painting by Bavarian artist Alfons Alt called Quatre Temps (and yes the horse does extend to the back of the book), and I think it’s an ideal choice for the cover. Not only does the piece from this highly talented artist pay homage to one of the stories in the collection (quite obviously, Horses), but the muted chocolate and beige tones bring a real sense of elegance to this Pushkin Press publication; a sophistication which is synonymous with this London-based press. So to the powers that be at Pushkin – great choice! You hit the nail on the head with this one.

And so fellow reader I bring my forethoughts on Pietro Grossi’s Fists to a close, certain that I’ve convinced of the high level of excitement that’s within me; built up by the prospect of the reading journey that lies ahead. I’ve mentioned my passion for testosterone-oozing short stories that have a literary slant (and it looks like Fists comes with three). I’ve shown the level of curiosity that I have for a writer who looks like he may be using this book for a launchpad into a philosophising psychological study of “boy turning into man”. And I’ve projected a sense of delight at having the opportunity of reading a distinguished translator that I haven’t read before. All this, and the prospect that Fists may well turn out to be the one that triumphs as this year’s Independent Foreign Fiction Prize winner. It’s almost too much reading excitement for one Rob to take. Don’t worry I’ll bear it . Back soon with my afterthoughts.

So fellow reader, any thoughts, comments, opinions of your own? I’d love to hear them (provided they’re non-spoiler of course ).

Pushkin Press | 30th June 2009 | £10.00 | PAPERBACK | 190 PP | ISBN: 9781906548070

This novel is being read as part of a project to read all of the titles in the 2010 Independent Foreign Fiction shortlist before the overall winner is announced on Thursday 13th May.

A note about forethoughts
‘Forethoughts’ offer an insight into what my initial thoughts and impressions of a book are before I begin reading it. Informal, and largely written as a stream-of-consciousness exercise in a single sitting, my ‘forethoughts’ capture an important stage of the reading experience for me – the anticipatory period before the book is first opened, when my excitement is piqued for the reading experience which lies ahead.

Blissfully ignorant my ‘forethoughts’ may well be, but when combined with my eventual ‘afterthoughts’, the result is a unique and comprehensive record of a very personal literary ‘journey’ through a particular book; a literary journey which will hopefully be of some value to other readers.