Mehreen Ahmed's reviewPatrizio in Italian means noble and in Latin, it means regal. Either way, David Tanager's second, evocative of his first, Old James, is also about transience and a yearning to transcend time. Here is a plot which upholds faces of both experience and youth simultaneously. Only, in this case, the old man, the Colonel's companion Patrizio is a discerning young man sipping wisdom as an insect takes to nectar. Both in style and in content, a marvelous show of Hemingway's hand, a [...]

Patrizio is a short story between an older man, very much at the brink of his will to make another day, and a child filled with hope and wonder for life. While the man fills his evening with one cynical observation after another, boy’s optimistic nature shrugs these remarks with never failing curiosity and admiration for the storyteller. During the short account the colonel assumes sardonic disposition, disparaging life itself it would seem, yet there’s subtlety in his inability to remain st [...]

I really can't recommend this story to anyone. Because it's just not worth it. It's not worth reading, that is. It's only worth two stars because at least it's well written. Other than that, it's a complete waste of the few pages it occupies. Thirty-one pages of an old man's drivel.This is the story of love and loss. Of death and sorrow. A story of an old man contemplating suicide, and a young boy who tries to stop him. It's set in a bar, apparently in Italy. But to me it obviously wasn't in Ita [...]

“Patrizio” is a book full of contrasts. It’s a book about the old and the new, experience and inexperience, optimism and pessimism, hope and desperation, regret and rejoice, love and hate, life and death… A man who describes himself as broken shares with young Patrizio his bitter thoughts about how hard life can be and how overvalued some feelings can be. “Time will grind down those youthful thoughts, boy” the old man says. Some might say this is a pessimistic read. In my opinion it� [...]

*free ebook version from author in exchange for an honest review*I would actually give this short story a 3 1/2 stars. It was well written and does provide a little more insight into the state of mind of one of his characters in the book Night Siren. I suppose my rating has more to do with my disagreement with some of the dark subject matter of the story. I cannot agree with the character's view on suicide, specifically that it is a courageous act. The only other failing in my mind is that the s [...]

Did not enjoy this book at all. It seemed like there was so much more to it and yet the Colonel only speaks in riddles and does not make much sense at all. I DNFd it at 60%. I simply couldn't continue to read it.