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35th out of 38 books
—
8 voters
The Road to Los Angeles (The Saga of Arthur Bandini #2)
by
John Fante
I had a lot of jobs in Los Angeles Harbor because our family was poor and my father was dead. My first job was ditchdigging a short time after I graduated from high school. Every night I couldn't sleep from the pain in my back. We were digging an excavation in an empty lot, there wasn't any shade, the sun came straight from a cloudless sky, and I was down in that hole digg...more
Paperback, 168 pages
Published
May 31st 2002
by Harper Perennial
(first published 1985)
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'Camino de Los Ángeles' es la primera novela de John Fante, la primera aparición de Arturo Bandini. Fue escrita entre 1933 y 1936, pero fue rechazada y no se publicó hasta después de la muerte de Fante. Se nota que es una novela escrita por un joven lleno de rabia que utilitza la literatura para escupir su rabia en todas y cada una de las páginas que escribe, y en todas y cada una de las páginas que escribe se nota también que quiere ser un "escritor polémico", pero a la vez se nota que quiere s...more
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Lo primero que leí de John Fante fue Pregúntale al polvo, tercera novela de la saga Bandini (segunda en editarse), donde encontré al protagonista malviviendo en Los Angeles mientras intenta vender algún cuento. Recuerdo que me pareció un personaje ridículo, estúpido y desquiciado. Terminé el libro casi enfadado y sin ningún deseo de volver a leer a Fante.
No estaba seguro de por qué me había exasperado tanto aquel personaje llamado Arturo Bandini.
Unos años después, caí en la tentación de acercarm...more
No estaba seguro de por qué me había exasperado tanto aquel personaje llamado Arturo Bandini.
Unos años después, caí en la tentación de acercarm...more
I really enjoyed certain sections of this book, and I guess I should cut Fante some slack; this is his first book, they told me to start with "Ask the Dust" because they said it was more accomplished writing, etc; there are just some excesses of the pen here that are a bit too masturbatory and self-indulgent to turn a blind eye to; they would have been much better cut out of the book and thrown on the Bandinis' living room floor or torn up with all those pictures of Arturo's women and meandered...more
Feb 02, 2009
Jan
added it
I loved this book. Being John Fante's first novel it's the story of a precocious, rude, wannabe-writer, would-be intellectual who uses fancy words and quotes from Nietzsche he half the time doesn't get himself to separate himself from the riff raff, such as the possee working in the fisheries. It is a very blunt book for its time, and I would say there is no literature today that is any more extreme, nasty, subversive than this book written over half a century ago.
And while the great Arturo Ban...more
And while the great Arturo Ban...more
Still reading. But I get it. Arturo is a reader. And likes to be verbose. Ostentatiously so. And he can't hold a job. But writing pages and pages of it doesn't make it any better. I get the point now let's move on. Oh, but of course a famous writer writes pages and pages of the same thing and it's a great book. I guess people can stand that. I can't. This is drivel compared to wait until spring. For a short book its still too long. The crab killing might thrill some people and probably make them...more
the war against the crab section was unbelievable. the rest was mainly annoying.
My favorite novel of The Saga of Arturo Bandini so far. Published much later than "Ask the Dust" and "Wait Until Spring, Bandini," but written before both, "The Road to Los Angeles" is precocious and virile but vacillates between chauvinistic braggadocio and mawkish sentimentality. In short, it's juvenile, but not in the negative sense of the word. It's also, at least in my opinion, the most Bukowski-like of Fante's books. Bukowski did write that "Ask the Dust" is his favorite Fante work in his...more
This is the first Fante I've ever read. I've always avoided him because of the Bukowski relation. Not that I hate Bukowski, but I haven't been in a "drinking book" type phase for a long time. But I was wrong. This wasn't a drinking book. The main character, narrator, Bandini, was intriguing. I enjoyed the fact that I couldn't tell if I liked him or hated him. Did I think he was mad or just some sort of creative oddball trapped inside his own warped thoughts and dreams and ambitions. This was the...more
The Road to Los Angles by John Fante introduces one of the most bizarre, disturbed, and likeable alter egos in literature, Arturo Bandini. The book takes place in 1930’s Los Angles, primarily the rough neighborhoods around the harbor docks. We are put in the mind of a young man suffering from the world’s worst grandiosity complex. Bandini is convinced he will go down in history as the world’s greatest man. Unfortunately, he’s from a dirt poor family and works a fish cannery. His megalomania is s...more
I'm glad that is over. There were bright spots - little ones. I'm glad I read 'Wait Until Spring, Bandini' first. That is a great book.
This became so tedious as Arturo would drone on and on about his fantasies and how great he was, and he was a writer, beyond all others in intellect and wit.
I know the book is about a kid, who has a way to go to maturity, but my God, there were passages that made my head almost explode.
Internally I was yelling at Arturo, "get on with it, please your killing me"....more
This became so tedious as Arturo would drone on and on about his fantasies and how great he was, and he was a writer, beyond all others in intellect and wit.
I know the book is about a kid, who has a way to go to maturity, but my God, there were passages that made my head almost explode.
Internally I was yelling at Arturo, "get on with it, please your killing me"....more
¡Allá vamos! Este Arturo Bandini me ha parecido: pedante, cruel, prepotente, fantasma, listillo, guarro, idiota, impertinente, estúpido, vago, vicioso, chiflado... Y sin embargo, tiene un algo de gracioso. Esto es lo único bueno de la novela, que te hace reír con sus chifladuras y locuras. En el prólogo ya te avisan de que no vas a encontrarte con los mismos personajes que en el resto de novelas protagonizadas por Bandini. Es cierto, pero sólo en parte, porque lo único que he echado de menos es...more
The first three chapters are well-paced and have pulled me in. Although it's Fante's first novel (which wasn't published until after his death), this takes place after Wait Until Spring, Bandini
UPDATE: The protagonist is ostentatiously verbose in his conversations with others, using colorfully large words like bobdingnagian. He's especially vigorous when excoriating his sister. He postures as a writer for quite a while before he actually writes anything.
There is a lot of gratuitous destruction i...more
UPDATE: The protagonist is ostentatiously verbose in his conversations with others, using colorfully large words like bobdingnagian. He's especially vigorous when excoriating his sister. He postures as a writer for quite a while before he actually writes anything.
There is a lot of gratuitous destruction i...more
Bandini is less sympathetic here than in Ask the Dust. We don't always have to fall in love with the narrators of stories, I hope. In my review of that book, I nominated it as a Catcher in the Rye for people in their 20s; this book would probably resonate more with a typically teenage Catcher audience.
Two brilliant sections worth mentioning: the putting down of the crab insurrection (Chapter 4), and a description of the euphoria following a inspired moment of artistic creation (Chapter 19). "Com...more
Two brilliant sections worth mentioning: the putting down of the crab insurrection (Chapter 4), and a description of the euphoria following a inspired moment of artistic creation (Chapter 19). "Com...more
Bandini è da prendere a schiaffi, ma è irresistibile. Un superuomo comunista. In realtà ne conosco parecchi.
"Deve essere stato amore, ma poteva anche essere il suo costume da bagno bianco."
"Un matto, uno svitato. Fuori di testa, le dico, fuori di testa. Eh già: troppe donne, e della specie sbagliata. Avrebbe dovuto sentire che discorsi. Da pazzo. Il più fottuto bugiardo della contea di Los Angeles. Aveva le allucinazioni. Sogni di gloria delusi. Minacce contro la società."
Jun 05, 2011
Jennie
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Fans of Fante
Recommended to Jennie by:
Brian
I'm glad I read Ask the Dust before reading this book... The first few chapters were promising until the book took a nosedive into something very annoying and difficult to enjoy. I can't tell if it was because Arturo is such a hatable anti-hero, or if was the writing itself that bothered me. But anyway, there were still a lot of small gems that popped up throughout the course of the novel, so if you enjoy John Fante, I definitely wouldn't pass this up.
a beautifully vulgar account of growing up catholic in a repressive household. much more true to the actual events of early adulthood than Catcher in the Rye, and i say that begrudgingly. This read like a gorgeous but filthy version of raplh ellison's 'invisible man'. i would have preferred john fante to never have written books as these because it makes my own writing seem as if it is nothing more than a copycat, and a poor one at that.
Lo leí en dos tiradas, una noche y una mañana. Excelente relato, al gran estilo de John Kennedy Toole en su Conjura de los necios. Arturo Bandini evidencia aquella sórdida realidad de los 30-40 norteamericanos, desde su propia ridiculez. Es un punto en medio de algo que no entiende, en torno a una sociedad que exige algo de el, en especial, su madre y su hermana. No paré de reírme nunca con esto, de lejos, una obra maestra...
'Ero l��, e mi ritrovai col pollice in bocca. Fui stupito di trovarcelo. Figurarsi. Io, a diciott'anni, e ancora mi succhiavo il pollice! Allora mi dissi: Se sei tanto coraggioso e impavido, perch�� non ti morsichi il pollice? Ti sfido a morsicarlo! Se non lo fai sei un vigliacco. E allora risposi: Cos��, eh? Bene, non sono un vigliacco. E te lo provo!
Mi morsicai il pollice finch�� non seppe di sangue.'
Mi morsicai il pollice finch�� non seppe di sangue.'
The main character is a maniac, totally depraved but hilarious too. It kind of felt more like several short stories than one narrative, which I liked. The scenes of the crab massacre and the bathtub nudie pic drownings were fantastic, and I loved how he was compelled to put everything in his mouth. Sometimes I feel like tasting weird things too. Awesome that this was written in the early 30's and easy to see why it wasn't published at that time.
Pretty gruesome at times but a good book. Reminds me of The Stranger by Camus a bit. Bandini is very judgmental and hypocritical which i think is the ironic theme throughout the book. Like he hates his bosses cause they don't keep inventory or are dishonest and yet he's stealing from them. He hates his sister cause she wants to be a nun and yet he is speaking to God or trying to play God himself, he hated being referred to as a Dago and yet he goes out and is horribly racist to his coworkers. It...more
I like john fante because he nails the human experience, at first i didn't even like this book because i didn't like the main character, and then you realize that the main character is a stuck up little 18 year old boy and i wouldn't like him in the real world, and he nails it, its a real human experience and thus its awesome
I bought this book and one other in the Bandini series - Ask The Dust - prior to a week vacation in Los Angeles. I had heard about John Fante from reading Bukowski who spoke highly of him. Personally, I found the narrator/protagonist Arturo Bandini to be too unlikeable to enjoy this book. Maybe his character improves in the other book, but I'm not in a big hurry to get started on it.
Saprebbe fare tutto, sarebbe il migliore in assoluto se solo ci si mettesse,potrebbe risolvere ogni conflitto mondiale,emergenza umanitaria,disastro ecologico...Ma perchè scomodarsi? I libri di Fante come quelli di Bukowski sono solo da leggere non da raccontare.
there is portions in this book which mirror the absolute brilliance of wait until spring bandini
the crab section, "destroying the woman", and the segment which has the protagonist wondering aimlessly after a stranger, a woman of whom he falls in love with from a mere glance
however portions of the dialogue at times, particularly in relation to his relationship with his sister and the colourful language used by the main character, such as "quixotic" and "Brobdingnagian" which are repeated often ju...more
the crab section, "destroying the woman", and the segment which has the protagonist wondering aimlessly after a stranger, a woman of whom he falls in love with from a mere glance
however portions of the dialogue at times, particularly in relation to his relationship with his sister and the colourful language used by the main character, such as "quixotic" and "Brobdingnagian" which are repeated often ju...more
I enjoyed this book, the tone is evocative of Steinbeck and the setting -- Depression-era Los Angeles -- is painted with colorful, sometimes delusional characters. There are undertones of desperation without ever quite saying so.
Non l'ho capito, non mi e' piaciuto, non sono riuscito a seguirlo, non ho trovato una trama ne' una storia. Mi ha ricordato molto "Il giovane Holden", una serie di cose scritte senza apparentemente nessun nesso logico.
Probabilmente non e' il mio genere.
Probabilmente non e' il mio genere.
I have to admit it was somewhat of a struggle to get through this book. I am thankful that this wasn't my first read by the otherwise amazing John Fante. The lack of continuity with the family threw me off and is never really explained. It's no "Ask the Dust" that is for sure. And I also enjoyed, "Wait until Spring, Bandini" very much as well. I am surely going to embark on the other member of the Bandini series, Dreams from Bunker Hill. Fante is a great writer, I can drink in his work for the m...more
Fante is so good. Damn he can write. He takes the normal and mundane and makes it excellent. That is genius. This book is funny. I can see how it was too controversial for its time.
Love the way Fante writes. Really liked the chapter about the first time he goes to the cannery. I enjoyed each capter more and more as I was getting to know Bandini. Fante got me hooked on the character. After I finished this book I picked up Ask the Dust. Another one about Bandini.
O scriitură care curge minunat, mare noroc că l-a descoprit Bukowski pe omul ăsta - izvorul inspirației și sursa belelelor. Tragedia și comedia, cot la cot, înainte marș!
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Fante's early years were spent in relative poverty. The son of an Italian born father, Nicola Fante, and an Italian-American mother, Mary Capolungo, Fante was educated in various Catholic schools in Boulder, Colorado and briefly attended the University of Colorado.
In 1929, he dropped out of college and moved to Southern California to concentrate on his writing. He lived and worked in Wilmington, L...more
More about John Fante...
In 1929, he dropped out of college and moved to Southern California to concentrate on his writing. He lived and worked in Wilmington, L...more
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“Dear Woman Who Gave Me Life:
The callous vexations and perturbations of this night have subsequently resolved
themselves to a state which precipitates me, Arturo Bandini, into a
brobdingnagian and gargantuan decision. I inform you of this in no uncertain
terms. Ergo, I now leave you and your ever charming daughter (my beloved sister
Mona) and seek the fabulous usufructs of my incipient career in profound
solitude. Which is to say, tonight I depart for the metropolis to the east — our
own Los Angeles, the city of angels. I entrust you to the benign generosity of your brother, Frank Scarpi, who is, as the phrase has it, a good family man
(sic!). I am penniless but I urge you in no uncertain terms to cease your
cerebral anxiety about my destiny, for truly it lies in the palm of the immortal gods. I have made the lamentable discovery over a period of years that living
with you and Mona is deleterious to the high and magnanimous purpose of Art, and I repeat to you in no uncertain terms that I am an artist, a creator beyond question. And, per se, the fumbling fulminations of cerebration and intellect find little fruition in the debauched, distorted hegemony that we poor mortals, for lack of a better and more concise terminology, call home. In no uncertain
terms I give you my love and blessing, and I swear to my sincerity, when I say
in no uncertain terms that I not only forgive you for what has ruefully
transpired this night, but for all other nights. Ergo, I assume in no uncertain terms that you will reciprocate in kindred fashion. May I say in conclusion that I have much to thank you for, O woman who breathed the breath of life into my
brain of destiny? Aye, it is, it is.
Signed.
Arturo Gabriel Bandini.
Suitcase in hand, I walked down to the depot. There was a ten-minute wait for
the midnight train for Los Angeles. I sat down and began to think about the new novel.”
—
15 people liked it
The callous vexations and perturbations of this night have subsequently resolved
themselves to a state which precipitates me, Arturo Bandini, into a
brobdingnagian and gargantuan decision. I inform you of this in no uncertain
terms. Ergo, I now leave you and your ever charming daughter (my beloved sister
Mona) and seek the fabulous usufructs of my incipient career in profound
solitude. Which is to say, tonight I depart for the metropolis to the east — our
own Los Angeles, the city of angels. I entrust you to the benign generosity of your brother, Frank Scarpi, who is, as the phrase has it, a good family man
(sic!). I am penniless but I urge you in no uncertain terms to cease your
cerebral anxiety about my destiny, for truly it lies in the palm of the immortal gods. I have made the lamentable discovery over a period of years that living
with you and Mona is deleterious to the high and magnanimous purpose of Art, and I repeat to you in no uncertain terms that I am an artist, a creator beyond question. And, per se, the fumbling fulminations of cerebration and intellect find little fruition in the debauched, distorted hegemony that we poor mortals, for lack of a better and more concise terminology, call home. In no uncertain
terms I give you my love and blessing, and I swear to my sincerity, when I say
in no uncertain terms that I not only forgive you for what has ruefully
transpired this night, but for all other nights. Ergo, I assume in no uncertain terms that you will reciprocate in kindred fashion. May I say in conclusion that I have much to thank you for, O woman who breathed the breath of life into my
brain of destiny? Aye, it is, it is.
Signed.
Arturo Gabriel Bandini.
Suitcase in hand, I walked down to the depot. There was a ten-minute wait for
the midnight train for Los Angeles. I sat down and began to think about the new novel.”
“IT'S MORNING, TIME to get up, so get up, Arturo, and look for a job. Get out there and look for what you'll never find. You're a thief and you're a crab-killer and a lover of women in clothes closets. You'll never find a job!
Every morning I got up feeling like that. Now I've got to find a job, damn it to hell. I ate breakfast, put a book under my arm, pencils in my pocket, and started out. Down the stairs I went, down the street, sometimes hot and sometimes cold, sometimes foggy and sometimes clear. It never mattered, with a book under my arm, looking for a job.
What job, Arturo? Ho ho! A job for you? Think of what you are, my boy! A crab-killer. A thief. You look at naked women in clothes closets. And you expect to get a job! How funny! But there he goes, the idiot, with a big book. Where the devil are you going, Arturo? Why do you go up this street and not that? Why go east - why not go west? Answer me, you thief! Who'll give you a job, you swine - who? But there's a park across town, Arturo. It's called Banning Park. There are a lot of beautiful eucalyptus trees in it, and green lawns. What a place to read! Go there, Arturo. Read Nietzsche. Read Schopenhauer. Get into the company of the mighty. A job? fooey! Go sit under a eucalyptus tree reading a book looking for a job. ”
—
14 people liked it
More quotes…
Every morning I got up feeling like that. Now I've got to find a job, damn it to hell. I ate breakfast, put a book under my arm, pencils in my pocket, and started out. Down the stairs I went, down the street, sometimes hot and sometimes cold, sometimes foggy and sometimes clear. It never mattered, with a book under my arm, looking for a job.
What job, Arturo? Ho ho! A job for you? Think of what you are, my boy! A crab-killer. A thief. You look at naked women in clothes closets. And you expect to get a job! How funny! But there he goes, the idiot, with a big book. Where the devil are you going, Arturo? Why do you go up this street and not that? Why go east - why not go west? Answer me, you thief! Who'll give you a job, you swine - who? But there's a park across town, Arturo. It's called Banning Park. There are a lot of beautiful eucalyptus trees in it, and green lawns. What a place to read! Go there, Arturo. Read Nietzsche. Read Schopenhauer. Get into the company of the mighty. A job? fooey! Go sit under a eucalyptus tree reading a book looking for a job. ”
