A Summary

A SUMMER'S READING (Summary in Points)

George (almost 20):

·          was a neighborhood boy

·          quit high school when he was 16 on an impulse   he felt ashamed

·          didn't have a job

·          thought of going to a summer school (but kids would be too young there)

·          considered registering to a night school (but felt that the teachers didn't respect him)

·          He stayed off the street and in his room.

 Family:

·          father was poor, weak. Worked in a fish market.

·          Mother died.

·          Sophie, his sister, older than George. Worked in a coffee shop.

She kept the money for herself. She took care of the house.

In his room George:

·          Cleaned the house, mopped the floors (when he is bored)

·          Sat in his room

·          Listened to ball games on the radio in the afternoon

·          Read magazines that Sophie brought home (mostly picture magazines)

First lie to Sophie:

She asked him what he was doing in his room and his answer was that he was reading (actually he didn't).

In the evening:

·          George left the house and wandered in the neighborhood. Then he left the neighborhood to the little park with benches and trees and iron railing.

It gave him a feeling of privacy.

·          He thought about a better life for himself:

-        a job

-        a girl to go out with

-        money

-        a house with a porch on a street with trees

-        respect

The neighborhood:

·          Shopkeepers sat outside because it was very hot.

·          Thick, broken sidewalk

PART II

Mr.Cattanzara:

·          drank once in a while

·          a stocky

·          bald headed man

·          worked in a change booth on the IRT station

·          lived next block after George

·          read the New York Times from the first page to the last = He was different from the people in the neighborhood.

When he was drunk, it was a quiet drunk. He walked stiffly up the street and his eyes were wet.        (cried, felt sorry about his life)         Mr.Cattanzara escaped the reality by drinking.

 Mr. Cattanzara was different:

1)     He asked different questions = was interested in George's life.

2)     He gave him money to buy lemon ice.

3)     He seemed to know what went on in all the newspapers.

First meeting: Mr.Cattanzara – George

                Mr.Cattanzara asked George what he was doing during the summer. George felt embarrassed and told Mr.Cattanzara that he was waiting for a job.

                He also said that he was reading in order to pick up his education. (George was passive – he didn't do anything in order to get a job but he felt

                uncomfortable telling Mr.Cattanzara that he was not working.)

                George lied to Mr.Cattanzara and told him that he got a list of 100 books from the library to read during the summer.  He wanted Mr.Cattanzara to   respect   him.

                Mr.Cattanzara, the change maker (=a clue), nodded and told George that he would like "to shoot the breeze about them".

1.     Change maker = It is Mr.Cattanzara's job to give change.

2.     The writer wants us to know that Mr.Cattanzara knew that George was lying because he nodded his head and told George

         that it was a big load for one summer. Mr.Cattanzara decided to use George's lie and to help him change.

After the meeting:

George did everything like he used to but one day people started treating him differently.

1)     The shoemaker told George that he was a good boy,

2)     The shoemaker told other people in the neighborhood about George's reading.

3)     A couple of people smiled kindly at him.

George felt a little better and liked it more. He blamed the neighborhood for the way he felt.

4)     His father and sister learned about his reading. His sister was proud of him.

During the summer:

Change -    George felt in a good mood.

-        cleaned the house

-        enjoyed more the ball games

-        got money from his sister

-        bought a paperback book

-        skipped the park

-        wandered in the neighborhood

-        He tried to avoid Mr.Cattanzara and the change maker didn't say anything about the books.

-        George was scared to talk to Mr.Cattanzara because he didn't know what to tell him.

 ·          to stay away from Mr.Cattanzara until he read some books.

·          For a few weeks, he had talked only once with Mr.Cattanzara. Mr.Cattanzara didn't say anything about the books and asked no questions. George felt uncomfortable.

·          One night, George forgot himself and approached Mr.Cattanzara's house. Mr.Cattanzara was reading the newspaper and George was scared of then idea of talking to him.          George crossed the street. (to stay away from Mt.Cattanzara)

·          George tried to read books but he lost interest, he also stopped reading Sophie's magazines.

·          (Another lie to Sophie):Sophie asked him about it and  George answered that he had no time to read them because of his other reading. 

Second meeting: Mr.Cattanzara – George

Mr.Cattanzara was coming down the street toward him. George couldn't run away. George knew that Mr.Cattanzara was drunk from his walk.

Mr.Cattanzara passed him without a word but then he heard his name called. Mr.Cattanzara took a nickel ang told George to go and buy himself a lemon ice. George said that he was a big guy now but Mr.Cattanzara said he wasn't, and asked George about the books. Mr.Cattanzara asked George to name him one book the he had read. Then Mr.Cattanzara went away but George could hear him say: "Don't do what I did."

After the meeting:

George was afraid to leave his room. Sophie argued with him and understood that he wasn't reading.   She stopped giving him money.

·          He stayed in his room for almost a week, except to sneak into the kitchen.

·          One night, unable to stand the heat, he burst into the street. He discovered the people were still friendly to him.  He felt his confidence come back to him.

·          When asked if it was true that he had finished reading so many books, George admitted he had. The man said it was wonderful.  George felt relieved.

·          He met (accidentally) Mr.Cattanzara who didn't ask him about the books.

One evening in the fall (autumn) George ran out of his house to the library. He counted off a hundred and sat down at a table to read.

SUMMARY AND ANALYSIS 

George was a twenty-year-old neighborhood boy who had quit school at sixteen on an impulse. He didn't like school because the teachers didn't respect him and because he could not cope with the material. It seems that George needed special tuition, but as he could not get it, he felt bored and left eveything behind.

     He was ashamed of not having a formal education, but his character was not strong enough to handle a situation that involved sitting and studying with younger kids. He had a further difficulty: he could not get a job because he had not graduated from high school. So, he had no money to spend except for a few bucks that were given to him by his older sister, Sophie, every now and then.

     George lived in a flat above a butcher. It was a neighborhood of ordinary people, some of whom were immigrants, coming from different countries. George used to hang around in the house, listen to the ball games on the radio and sometimes read magazines or newspapers that Sophie had brought home from the cafeteria. He would like to have a hobby or do something worthwhile, but he could never pull himself together to do anything.

     George felt very depressed and miserable. He could not stand his miserable way of life. He was ashamed to walk in the street, and he did not talk to any of his acquaintances, so he stayed in his room during the day time. It seems that George had an inferiority complex.

     When it got dark, he went out to a park that was isolated from the rest of the world by an iron railing. That park was his refuge. It was green and blooming in contrast to his neighborhood that was crowded, stony and gray. He felt elated there, as he used to meditate and dream about the life he would like to have. He imagined himself living in an exclusive neighborhood, with houses far from one another. He saw himself as a person with money, a job, a girl and, above all, respect. At midnight, he went back home, to his sad reality.

     Once, George met Mr. Cattanzara, who asked him what he was doing during the summer. George respected Mr. Cattanzara though he was nothing but a change maker. Nevertheless, he was different from the other people in the neighborhood. In George's eyes he was very educated and broad-minded although he had no formal education. He used to sit in the street and read the newspaper from the first page to the last, while his wife was watching him, looking out of the window. As Mr. Cattanzara asked George what he was doing, George was ashamed to admit that he wasn't doing anything, so he spontaneously answered that he was reading a lot to pick up his education. This lie was going to cause George very much trouble in the future.

     Mr. Cattanzara spread the rumour that George was reading, and George felt approval wherever he went. People smiled at him and whispered that he was a good boy. His sister Sophieeven gave him an allowance of a dollar a week. George felt elated. He felt that people respected him. He stopped hiding in his room all day; instead he wandered in the streets. He even skipped the park, as he didn't need it any more. Everything changed. The people didn't seem as awful as they had been before, and even the neighborhood seemed nicer. (It was a reflection of his inner feelings).

     Nevertheless, this good time couldn't last for ever. George had to justify his reputation. He was afraid to encounter Mr. Cattanzara for he feared that the change maker might ask him questions about the books he was supposed to be reading. So, he began to avoid him. He began to feel obsessed and he was helpless as he didn't know how to solve the embarrassing problem.

     Once, George met Mr. Cattanzara while the latter was drunk. Not being sobber, Mr. Cattanzara didn't control himself and said whatever he felt like, namely the truth. He implied that he knew that George wasn't reading at all, which was very bad. He challenged him, treating him like a small child (he wanted to give him a nickel to buy a lemon-ice with), and he warned George not to make the same mistake he himself had made. It seems that Mr. Cattanzara referred to his not having completed his formal education.

     George felt down again. The neighborhood didn't seem as good as it had seemed before. He was afraid of the reaction of the public when they found out that he was not reading at all, so he locked himself in his room again. Now George felt trapped. He was embarrassed confused and frustrated. What could he do? He knew he would not be able to stand the mockery of the neighbors when they met him.

     The summer was hot and his room was stiffling. This atmosphere was again a reflection of his inner world. He felt hot, helpless and miserable as if confined in a prison from which he could not escape.

     One day, not being able to stand the heat, he left his room and went into the street. Surprisingly, a strange thing happened. The reaction of the public was astonishing. Instead of mocking him, they whispered that he had already finished reading the one hundred books. He immediately recovered from his depression, realizing that Mr. Cattanzara had spread that second rumour. Now George realized how much he needed respect, and he knew that he had to justify his reputation, otherwise he would not be able to enjoy life. So he pulled himself together and went to the library to read.

Why is the story called "A Summer's Reading"?

     The story is called A Summer's Reading although George did not read in summer at all. Nevertheless, the process of the realization of who he was, what he was looking for and what he had to do in order to achieve his goal took place during the summer. It was an inner reading. The summer was very hot, stifling and sterile, which reflected George's state of mind. George pulled himself together and went to the library to read in the autumn, which is the season of the beginning of the school year.

The role of Mr. Cattanzara in the story

     Mr. Cattanzara has a very important role in the story. He gives George the incentive to read. He is called the change maker because he makes the change in George. He starts the first rumour which enables George to feel what it is like to be respected. Having felt it, he knows what he may miss if he does not justify his reputation.

     Mr. Cattanzara also starts the second rumour because he knows that George must be encouraged to read; otherwise, he may withdraw his attempt to get an education. Mr. Cattanzara knows that the only way to make George fulfill his ambition is to give him the feeling that he is respected. It is no use punishing him for having told lies. Mr. Cattanzara cares about George and he uses psychology to make george read.

The park was for George what beer was for Mr. cattanzara

      The park was a refuge for George. George was dissatisfied with his life because his achievements did not meet his expectations. He did not graduate from high school  as he was not competent enough and he had no support from his family. Consequently, he could not get a decent job and he had to compromise with simple jobs, such as being a delivery boy, a runner or an unskilled worker. He quit all those jobs because he was looking for respect. George felt ashamed and embarrassed because he was neither studying nor working, so he used to hide at home all day. At night he used to sneak to the park which served as his refuge from the grim reality and frustration.

     The park was isolated from the outside world by an iron railing which lent it a feeling of privacy. Outside the park, everything was gray and stony, whereas inside it everything was green and blooming. George used to sit in the park and dream about a different reality in which he had money, lived in an expensive house and had a girlfriend. Sitting there, he forgot himself, and the daydreams he experienced relieved him temporarily.

     Mr. Cattanzara was very frustrated, too. We learn it from the piece of advice he gave to George- not to do what he had done. In other words, he did not want George to make the mistake he had made, not completing his education. The fact that he considered not having graduated from school as a mistake, and the fact that he used to read so much in order to widen his horizons, show very clearly his attitude to education and knowledge. It seems that Mr. Cattanzara would have liked to have a job for which a good formal education was needed. Nevertheless, he had to resign himself to a very simple and non-prestigious job as a change maker in the subway. The contrast between his wide reading and the boring job he had, must have caused him a lot of frustration, which manifested itself in his drinking. The drinking was his refuge. Only while drunk, could he forget his gloomy reality and get relief for a short while.