Me and You

‘She looked like a zombie. A zombie that has just been shot’ – Lorenzo

Niccolò Ammaniti’s 2010  ‘Me and You’ novel stood out to me in the library but unfortunately the overall story did not.

Although, Ammaniti’s name is obviously Italian, I initially didn’t know that the novel was translated from Italian but as I began getting into the story there were moments in the book where information was presented very literally, out of tone with the rest of the book, which caused me to disengage with the novel at times.

Despite this, I was intrigued to begin with as a Lorenzo appeared like more than a child who just struggled to fit but someone who had deep issues that affected him, which was proved to be true. The time I started reading the novel coincided with the announcement of YouTuber Shane Dawson’s latest docu-series which investigates whether fellow YouTuber Jake Paul is a sociopath. Due to this, I have began playing the role of a psycologist and do somewhat question the diagnosis that Lorenzo received in the novel, granted my knowledge is very limited on the subject. Additionally, it seems that he is somewhat “cured” at the end as he becomes more open with other characters in the novel but once again if he had such a personality disorder, I highly doubt he would’ve been fixed so easily. What’s more, Lorenzo sees everyone including himself as insects in a much larger world which continues to make me disagree with his diagnosis in the novel and makes me more inclined to believe it was used by Ammaniti to emphasise the fact the Lorenzo doesn’t fit in and no one can define him.

Usually, I am a fan of books that are quite short and to the point, but I do feel more detail about Lorenzo’s family was necessary for me to empathise with him, though information was given when it became relevant, I felt no overwhelming care or concern for Lorenzo even at the end especially as everything seemed so matter of fact, presenting again the negative impact of the novel being translated. Also, I do have many cultural questions about the term ‘Silver monkey’ as it I did find it to be racist.

I was quite unimpressed with the ending, as I saw it coming, and would’ve preferred a plot twist. I do feel however that this can be used by Ammaniti in the future to create another story that develops Lorenzo’s character for either better or for worse, but I don't know how much I would want to read that.