Monday, October 8, 2007
Eighth and Ninth Grades in Naples, Italy
I was becoming a "Scugnizzo". I rode on the back of the trolley without paying. One morning I jumped off at Luna Park downtown by the port. It was a brown, dry patch of dirt with a few old trees surrounding it. No video games in 1960 but a lot of action at the thirty or so "foosball" tables. Here kids like me and much older men sweated playing their national pastime on old gaming tables with shining metal rods and handles made to spin their stiff soccer soldiers. I was curious. They were yelling, screaming but laughing and grim at the same time. Pick a partner, put your 100 lira coin on the corner of the table and wait your turn. Goallll! 6-5; good, our turn has come. Jees! They were fast. Their wrists snapped the handles so quickly I couldn't see what was happening. Goal! How can I defend this show of brute strength and speed? "Stroons" I said. The cuss word came easier than the defense Giovanni was showing me.
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3 comments:
You choose a great moment to write about--it's a moment of change and watching the transformation is thrilling. I like the visual details of the park, the sensory details of the sweating boys/men and the sounds of the game.
I'd love to hear about how the narrator is/or isn't fitting into the culture at this point. Do people at the park know he's American (and if so, how and why)?
Or do the gamers not care, do they just want to play?
It's a great moment to pick and I like the way the narrator is becoming and assuming a new identity.
Kevin: I like this piece and how you use a continuous flow of action. The trolley, the game tables, the soccer soldiers, the voices, snapping wrists, ... are nice dynamic transitions. And from this will emerge an equally dynamic character. I can tell. -Frank
Ciao Kevin. What a great piece with such vivid memories. I love the "scugnizzo" and not paying on the tram and playing "biliardino" in the luna parks. It sounds a little like my childhood too. I am very curious to know what happens now that you said "stroons"...with Giovanni. And do you win the partita? In what other ways were you becoming a scugnizzo? I am looking forward to reading more.
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