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Il Compagno Di Banco (2010)

by Simon Rich(Favorite Author)

3.38 of 5 Votes: 1

ISBN

8854129828 (ISBN13: 9788854129825)

languge

English

genre

Humor

publisher

Newton Compton

review 1: Elliot Allagash is one of literature’s unrepentant monsters like Jean-Baptiste Grenouille. Unlike Jean-Baptiste, Elliot’s machinations are fueled in equal parts by disinterest in human beings, complete and utter disdain for them and the malicious urge to crush them simply for refusing his slightest requests. This attitude of his is fed by an over-abundance of wealth, a competitive, unloving father and the illness that may be killing him.But Mr. Rich refuses to let us feel sorry for Elliot, just as Elliot doesn’t feel sorry for himself. The novelist wisely doesn’t waste pages trying to analyze his deficiencies. Instead, the main focus of the novel is on one Seymour Herson, a pathetic schlub who is made into Elliot’s hapless experiment.The novel does an excellent j... moreob of showing the corrosive and corrupting nature of power, how popularity isn’t what it’s cracked up to be and how people can have depths that aren’t easily figured out, even by someone as astute as Elliot purports to be. This YA novel thus gradually reveals itself to be an incisive deconstruction of human nature—and that high school IS life, both a preparation for it and an examination of it in miniature.It is warming and terrifying, triumphant and defeating. The reader may loathe Elliot’s behavior but we can’t deny its success, mainly because he knows how easily humans can be manipulated. Elliot may be despicable but no more so than anybody else secretly is. That’s what makes him and Seymour, whom Elliot doesn’t even realize could be a friend, such excellently conceived creations.
review 2: I fond this book to be intriguing. The concept was simple and classic high school drama but the execution was more complex. Seymour does what so many would do given the chance he did. Although, going the extra mile to perpetuate his lies without Elliot and having it last years is highly questionable. That being said, his "demise" of sorts saved him but wasn't in any way caused by his choices. From start to end, he was the whim of Elliot. I was disappointed that that was the only twist; Seymour being released. I'd hoped to learn a little more about Elliot. However, that might just be the point as neither we nor Seymour get to know why Ellliot is the way he is. I would recommend it as a light read. less

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