The Old Man by the Sea

 Yesterday I pushed a book to the front of my queue, one that I purchased several months ago, but which seemed oddly timely at this moment. Previously, I've championed the New York Review of Books series, which features so many books that have somehow slipped under the radar, and which the editors there feel should get more love. They have almost universally proved to be great choices. I picked up Domenico Starnone's The Old Man by the Sea, before I even realized the almost cinematic joke I was playing on myself.

I recently read Starnone's The Trick, which I liked quite a bit, and I'm looking forward to delving into this latest, The Old Man by the Sea.  I am considering, and here I'm mainly kidding, that I'm going to bring every Italian novel I own on this first trip over, so that I can sit at cafes and attempt to pass as an Italian (that is, until I open my mouth and the illusion coming crashing down). I do want to get Italian versions of the some of the shorter ones that I've already read, hoping that this helps with my Italian lessons.

Of course, it seems particularly appropriate for this moment as we plan for our upcoming move. The process has been challenging, and doesn't seem like it's going to be any less challenging in the near future, but we do have a place to live lined up (not the apartment we wanted) in a sea side town (not the town we wanted), but it's still a seaside town in Italy, which makes my statements above the very definition of #FirstWorld Problems. 

I am an old man and I will be living (and doubtless soon dying) by the sea.