Ti prendo e ti porto via (English: I take you and steal you away) is a 1999 Italian novel by Niccolò Ammaniti.
It takes place in the fictional Italian town Ischiano Scalo and narrates the troubled lives of two different characters, Pietro, a shy and bullied boy, and Graziano, a Jaded Washout adult. The two don't even know each other for most of the book, but their stories are still connected. The book also features the point of views of many secondary characters, especially Pietro's teacher Flora Palmieri, who has a pivotal role in both Pietro's story and Graziano's story.
Vasco Rossi's 2001 song of the same title is inspired by this book.
Tropes:
- Abusive Parents:
- Pietro's father is a physically abusive alcoholic who blames Pietro for everything. On top of that, he doesn't even try to defend him when Pietro gets in trouble at school because of the Gang of Bullies, and actually hopes Pietro gets Held Back in School because he doesn't want him to continue his studies. At the end, Pietro is actually happy to go to the juvenile detention center, so he can stay away from his family.
- It's briefly mentioned that school bully Pierini gets beaten up by his father, but Pierini doesn't really care.
- Adults Are Useless: Pietro's parents, the school staff (except Flora, at least for a while), and the police are all portrayed as terrible and incompetent people. Even Flora becomes utterly useless after her Sanity Slippage. Briefly averted with Graziano in the scene where he rescues Pietro from the bullies.
- Age-Gap Romance: Graziano is 44 and his girlfriend Erica is 21. Downplayed with him and Flora, who is 32.
- Authority in Name Only. The principal at Pietro's school. He's a meek man, so he lets the vice-principal (a strict, strong-willed woman) make all the decisions.
- Awful Wedded Life: Italo the janitor seems to despise his wife and cheats on her with sex workers.
- Betty and Veronica: Graziano has to choose between his on-again-off-again girlfriend Erica and his new Love Interest Flora. Erica is a mean and stupid Alpha Bitch who has emotionally abused him many times, Flora is a smart and well-meaning Misunderstood Loner with a Heart of Gold.
- Big Bad: Pierini is the main antagonist of Pietro's story arc, while Erica is the main antagonist of Graziano's story arc. Both characters also end up ruining the life of the Tritagonist, Flora (intentionally in Pierini's case, unintentionally in Erica's case). That said, Pierini is easily the more villainous character of the two, especially since the book's biggest conflict (the school vandalism) was caused by him, and acts as the Arch-Enemy to both Pietro and Flora.
- Big Damn Heroes: Graziano successfully defends Pietro when he was being beaten up by the bullies in the street. It's the only time Pietro and Graziano meet in the entire book.
- Bully Magnet: Pietro is the favorite target of his class's Gang of Bullies.
- But Liquor Is Quicker: Graziano gets Flora very drunk in order to hook up with her, and he also slips a pill similar to ecstasy in her drink
- Butter Face: Mimmo's girlfriend Patrizia has a hot body and an ugly face, although Mimmo sees her as beautiful and loves her the way she is. Her ex-boyfriend Bruno was ashamed of her and forced to wear a mask during their sexual encounters.
- Casting Couch: Graziano thinks that Erica got a television role by sleeping with the producer, and she later confirms it.
- Childhood Friend Romance: Pietro and Gloria, as there is a clear attraction between them. Their Maybe Ever After at the end of the book is the only thing that is not completely tragic Downer Ending.
- Cool Kid-and-Loser Friendship: Bullied and unpopular Pietro's only friend is the beautiful and popular Gloria. An entire chapter explains that they are so close because they are Childhood Friends.
- Cool Teacher: Flora is very sweet to Pietro, at least before her Sanity Slippage.
- Crapsack World: Most people living in Ischiano Scalo are messed-up, pathetic losers at best and cruel assholes at worst. Very few characters are sympathetic, but they suffer the Trauma Conga Line anyway, and nobody gets a happy ending.
- Creepy Uncle: Flora's uncle attempted to sexually assault her when she was a teenager living with him and her already sick mother
- The Dreaded: Pierini, the sadistic bully and ruthless thug, is feared by all the students and also by the school staff, especially Flora. The only one who is not scared of him is Gloria, and it's one of the reasons why even Pierini has a crush on her, like most boys at school.
- Dysfunctional Family: Pietro has an abusive, alcoholic father, an apathetic, depressed mother, and an idiotic metalhead brother.
- Extreme Doormat:
- For most of the book, Pietro is treated horribly by almost everyone (except Gloria and Flora), until he finally Grew a Spine at the end.
- Flora is regularly pranked and disrespected by her student Pierini, but she's too scared to do anything.
- The principal is completely dominated by his assistant and lets her take all the decisions.
- Pietro's mother is so apathetic that she doesn't care if her alcoholic husband abuses their children.
- Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: Pietro is smart, reasonable, and the Only Sane Man of his family, while his older brother Mimmo is an immature idiot. Despite that, they are surprisingly close for the most part.
- Hidden Buxom: Flora has ample breasts but dresses very conservatively to hide them
- Hooker with a Heart of Gold: The sex worker who is with Italo when the bullies vandalize the school calls the police when he's in trouble, even if that means risking deportation as she's an illegal immigrant. She's shown to be a sweet, empathetic person all around.
- Hot Teacher: Flora Palmieri is seen this way by Graziano. Even school bully Pierini has sexual fantasies about her, despite his hatred for his teacher.
- Indifferent Beauty: While Gloria is the biggest Dude Magnet in the school, she doesn't care. She dresses and acts like a tomboy, and basically rejects everyone, but this doesn't stop her admirers from trying.
- Interclass Friendship: Pietro's mom used to work as a cleaning lady for Gloria's rich family. That's how the two children became friends.
- Irrational Hatred: It's never explained why Italo hates Sardinians. We only know he blames "Sardinians" for all the crimes and thefts committed in town. While his house was robbed leading to his wife's Sanity Slippage, there is no evidence of any Sardinian person involved, however Italo still thinks "Sardinians" are guilty.
- Jerkass: Pretty much everyone except Pietro, Flora, and Gloria (along with some minor characters like Gloria's parents). The biggest jerks are Pierini and his Gang of Bullies, Erica (Graziano's ex girlfriend), Italo the janitor, Italo's cop son Bruno, and Pietro's father.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold:
- Gloria is a rude and aggressive Spoiled Brat (who used to be an Enfant Terrible), but she's nice to Pietro and the only one who treats him like a friend.
- It's implied that Graziano is not a bad person, despite his immaturity and womanizing past. Too bad he always makes bad decisions and is definitely an Anti-Hero.
- Karma Houdini: Pierini, Bacci, and Ronca get away with all their delinquent acts, including bullying Pietro and the school vandalism. Instead, Pietro gets blamed for their vandalism and also gets Held Back in School, despite being a good student.
- Karma Houdini Warranty: Ronca finally gets beaten up by Pietro, after the former mocks him for flunking school.
- Ladykiller in Love: Womanizer Graziano ends up falling in love with Erica, and then with Flora. Both relationships are toxic and nothing good comes out of it.
- Meal Ticket: Erica sees Graziano as this, even though he isn't really rich.
- Misunderstood Loner with a Heart of Gold: Flora, the mysterious teacher who never had any friends, relationships, and spends all her time taking care of her ill mother. She's often believed to be a witch or a bad luck magnet by the other citizens.
- Opposites Attract: Both main couples.
- We have charismatic and outgoing Graziano and introverted loner Flora.
- Gender-inverted with introverted loner Pietro and charismatic/outgoing Gloria.
- Parental Substitute: Flora is more of a caring parental figure to Pietro than his actual parents, but this is tragically subverted after her Sanity Slippage. Gloria's parents are also more caring towards Pietro than his real parents.
- Pet the Dog:
- Italo the Janitor is mostly a sleazy, unlikable asshole. When he recognizes Pietro among the boys who vandalized the school (Pietro was actually forced to do that by Pierini and his gang), he tells the principal that he still doesn't believe that a nice kid like Pietro would do anything like that. And when Pietro gets Held Back in School for that, he feels sorry for him.
- Pierini is the most monstrous character in the book. Towards the end, he tells Pietro that he didn't deserve to be held back in school, unlike his friend Ronca who keeps bullying Pietro even after that.
- Rabid Cop: During a routine traffic stop, Bruno Miele goes ballistic because two college kids committed the crime of being dressed like punkers and smoking marijuana in his favourite model of car.
- Really Gets Around: Graziano has slept with hundreds of women
- Satellite Love Interest:
- Gloria never gets a POV chapter until the very end, despite being Pietro's best friend and Love Interest, and we mostly only see Pietro's point of view.
- Averted with Graziano's Love Interest Flora, who is basically the Tritagonist with many POV chapters and the only character who has important interactions with both Pietro and Graziano.
- Savvy Guy, Energetic Girl: Mild-mannered Pietro and impulsive Gloria. They had this dynamic since they were little kids.
- Star-Crossed Lovers: Graziano and Flora. Although they genuinely fall in love during the brief time they hook up, their relationship ends in tragedy.
- Strong Girl, Smart Guy: Gloria is a physically aggressive tomboy, Pietro is a smart and studious nerd.
- Teens Are Monsters: In a book where almost all the adults are portrayed as jerks, the most evil character is Pierini, a teenager. This thug is so disturbingly cruel that even the school staff is scared of him.
- Terrible Trio: School bully Pierini and his two henchmen Bacci and Ronca. They all torment Pietro.
- Their First Time: Graziano and Flora have sex for the first time, as do Pietro and Gloria later in the book. For the latter three it was also their first time ever.
- Unexpected Virgin: Graziano is very surprised when Flora tells him that she's a virgin, since she's in her 30s and very attractive. The narrative notes that if he had known that beforehand, he would not have attempted to seduce her, but in the heat of the moment it only makes him more excited.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Graziano leaving town and abandoning Flora ends up causing all the tragic events at the end of the book: Flora has a Sanity Slippage and stops defending Pietro from the school staff, Pietro gets Held Back in School despite Flora's promises, Pietro confronts Flora who is now batshine insane and starts insulting Pietro and his family, Pietro kills Flora, Pietro is sent to a juvenile detention center. When Graziano realizes his mistakes and decided to come back to Flora, it's a bit too late.
- What Does She See in Him?: Pierini doesn't get why the cool and beautiful Gloria spends so much time with a doormat/loser like Pietro. As a result, he cruelly bullies Pietro, who has no idea why Pierini hates him so much.
