Why did I read this book?
I was in Goa for a vacation last week and needed a casual book while soaking myself in the sun at Arambol beach. The only problem being: I wasn’t carrying a book/ Kindle/ Laptop with me for the trip. Luckily, the resort I was staying at housed a library (with 80% books being redundant because they were in Russian), but still offered 10/12 decent ones to choose from.
I could find myself a seemingly apt vacation novel – Portofino – set in a charming village along the Italian Riviera famous for its picturesque beaches. The book traced the footsteps of an American family’s annual ten-day vacation in Portofino. I was in Goa, and travelling to Italy soon, and hence was more than glad with this serendipitous coincidence and decided to read it.
Portofino Port – The town is clustered around its small harbour, and is known for the colourfully painted buildings that line the shore
The Plot Summary
The family comprised of father, mother and adolescent children: fifteen year old Janet, thirteen year-old Rachel and eleven-year old Calvin. How does the family deal with coming-of-age/ puberty-induced curiosity of the kids while on their annual family trip to Portofino? How does the devout religious Catholic mother shield their kids from awkward questions about Roman Catholic beliefs and liberal English families?
Narrated from the lens of the youngest member, Portofino is delightful in its context of awkward conversations.
What are my views on the book?
The highlight of the 78 pages I could manage to read were the hilarious accounts of conversations that parents initiate with their teenage children: about growing up and physical changes, intimacy with the opposite sex, crushes, alcohol etc. The mother of the family had devised euphemisms of various accounts: menstrual cycles were called as ‘Off the roof’ time and marital first night as a gift of Adam and Eve. The young boy too had his conflicted internal conversations with himself about the working mechanism of a sanitary napkin. Now that’s hilarious, because almost everyone goes through similar rituals this at this age.
However, the charm and amusement of the teenagers’ musings and picturesque beaches of Portofino wears off after the initial few pages. Post-which the book will read like a drag of the ten-day vacation. Characters become repetitive and also unrelatable to an average Indian reader (the mother discusses at length about Presbyterian Churches and Roman Catholic and also justifies the unruly temperament of the father by saying ‘he is cursed by God on certain nights’. I’m positive that’s not what you’d like to read in 1962)
I ditched the reading the book halfway. My disappointment at the regressive and repetitive plot was compensated only by the view of Arambol beach from the shack. Thank goodness for Goa
