An Osteria in Chianti
920592
Bravo! Dario.  I must admit I didn't know what a fiction book by Dario would be like.  I can honestly say that I loved it.  What a compelling story  -and well written!  I also felt as if I were walking the hills and valleys of Tuscany with Dario and Ultimo. I would love to travel that path.  The characters in the book are so real and the history in the story made so real.  I have read and treasured each of Dario's books and feel that this is a book worthy of reading for anyone especially anyone hooked on Tuscany as I seem to be.
1674437
When I was a kid, growing up in Queens, New York, I would walk into a pizza place and ask for a slice of pizza.  The response was invariably "plain or Sicilian?"  A plain slice (or a Neapolitan) is the traditional triangular slice of pizza with a thin crust and thin layer of dough as the base.  A Sicilian pizza on the other hand was square and much larger than a regular pie.  It had a bigger crust and a much thicker layer of dough on the base.  Basically, it was an earthier, more basic piece of pizza.  It is simple food that fills the belly.  Leonardo Sciascia's "Sicilian Uncles, Four Novellas" consists of four earthy slices of Sicilian life. Although these stories represent some of Sciascia's earliest writing they are very satisfying.  By the time you are done reading them you will have developed a real (if narrow) feel for the world Sciascia grew up in.

The first story, "The American Aunt" is set in a village in Sicily at the conclusion of World War II.  It looks at the dislocation of life in Sicily through the eyes of a young man and his family.  Former partisans vie with former supporters of Mussolini as Italy and Sicily seek ways to adapt to the post war world.  The heart of the story involves the arrival of the boy's American aunt, spreading $5.00 bills and food packages to family members while pushing them back into the arms of the Church and away from the `dreaded Communists".  "The Death of Stalin" takes us up to 1953, the year Stalin dies.  It looks back at Stalin's life through the eyes of a local Communist supporter. We see rationalization at the Hitler/Stalin Pact and the party purges, then on through the war years and the subsequent denunciation of Stalin at the 20th Party Congress.  "Forty-Eight" describes the historical alliance among the landed gentry, the church and the military as the political unrest of 1848 (including calls for reform and liberation by Garibaldi) plays itself out in a small village far from Rome, Berlin, Vienna, or Paris.  Finally, "Antimony" involves a Sicilian peasant who joins the Italian army to fight with Franco's army during the Spanish Civil War.

Leonardo Sciascia's stories about his native place, Sicily, are filled with despair and fatalism.  He writes of a place where strong notions of family, corruption as usual, and an acceptance of organized crime as a fourth branch of government sets the stage for his stories. These stories take `big-picture" events, wars, civil wars, and revolutions, and place them in small village.  Sciascia's protagonists are not princes and potentates who set these events in motion but, rather, the peasants who are buffeted by each and every political and social wave that washes through their village.  That may sound grim but Sciascia's writing makes the experience pleasurable.  He has a keen eye and doesn't waste words.  Each story is well written and easy to read.

"Sicilian Uncles" is out of print.  I spotted this volume at my local library and checked it out.  If you are hungry for a good set of stories, for some Sicilian slices, you won't go wrong looking for this book the next time you get to your library.  Failing that, his later novels including&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/The-Day-of-the-Owl-New-York-Review-Books-Classics/dp/159017061X/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">The Day of the Owl (New York Review Books Classics)</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/To-Each-His-Own-New-York-Review-Books-Classics/dp/0940322528/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">To Each His Own (New York Review Books Classics)</a>are terrific examples of his writing.
L. Fleisig
648509
This was a good price on an expensive book that is somewhat difficult to find as it's original origin is in Italy.
4144067
If you want more, come to 60-12 Piazza de Castagna 1, Rome, Italy, 81053.

Arcadia Jones, Harvard professor and curator of the Metropolitan Museum in New York, receives a scrap of paper.  She has it carbon dated, confirming that it is from the 1500s, and her subsequent research (informed by a hunch), suggests that this scrap of manuscript is from one of Leonardo da Vincis books.  One of the books, now lost, which was stolen from da Vincis protg after his death.

Obviously, Arcadia drops everything to travel to Rome and make contact with the sender.  The sender advises Arcadia that eighty of da Vincis books, full of notes and diagrams had been discovered, but they have been stolen from him  all except for one page.  Theres a clue, which leads Arcadia first to Geneva, where other events lead her to Panama.  Can Arcadia track down the manuscripts and solve the case?

Okay, well this is the first episode in this particular story about Arcadia Jones (there are stories) and youd need to read the next episode (at least) to see how the story progresses.  On the plus side, there are some interesting twists in the tale, but on the minus side theres not a lot of analysis, character development and scene setting.  At thirty-six pages, this is a short work, and was not detailed enough to hold my interest.  The other issue I have is that the character of Arcadia irritated me enormously.  She takes risks without thinking of possible (negative) consequences, is nave and demonstrates poor judgement.  A perfect hero for the modern world?  Perhaps, but not for me.

My thanks to Mr James for offering me a copy of this book to read, I wish Id enjoyed it.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith
1259034
Loose ends? Where? Obviously I read the novel in Italian--being Italian myself--and loved the book. Now I'm glad English-reading people may read it and posslibly love it too. The novel is tight and has a perfectly wrought plot mechanism. Ammaniti does not explain everything, but on a second reading all that was not explained becomes clear. But what is important is the atmosphere of those years, when all those of us (Italians) who lived in rural areas felt that living there meant being imprisoned in a medieval world, and that everything good was to be found in big cities. That feeling is wonderfully rendered in the novel and that's what I like most. As for kidnapping yeah, it was a major industry for some regions of the Deep South (namely Calabria) and yeah, sometime whole smalltowns or villages were involved. And then the vipers, well, what's the problem? We don't have rattlesnakes and copperheads in Italy (luckily!), so everybody knows the only dangerous snake is the viper--and that's the snake everybody knows and is afraid of. Anyway, enjoy this novel... it is much better than Benigni's stale comedy, or musty stereotypes of mandolin-playing captains...
2164356
This is a beautifully produced book on the gardens of the Italian Lakes -- more specifically, Lakes Como, Maggiore and Garda.  The author provides a short description and history of individual estates and their gardens, along with ravishing photos.  Several of these estates are now foundations and conference centers - would that I would be lucky enough to go to them!
The map is generally useful but doesn't include all of the places mentioned.  However, it does give a detailed enough sense that you can follow where the estates and garden are.
This is a great escapist read.
4652622
This is a different type of story and all aspects of it are hard to describe.  It takes place in Venice, Italy, and the story has the same kind of mystery and questionable realism as the founders' idea of a large city built on stilts and floating on a lagoon.  This novel takes place in the present day, but it is the time of Carnival and Carnival Time in Venice adds all kinds of fantasy and mystery.  Attendees at Carnival walk around the streets in costume during the days and nights.

Teresa Lupo is the Chief Medical Examiner for the City of Rome.  However, she and her mother, Chiara Bianchi, have traveled to Venice in response to a note from Teresa's aunt and Chiara's sister, Sofia.  Sofia is only ten years older than Teresa, and she has lived a varied and troubled life.  She has been married twice and has tried several different careers.  However, her lack of staying power causes her to drop things and try something new without warning.  Teresa and Chiara are dropped off at a street dock by a man in the costume known as "Il Medico Della Peste" (The Plague Doctor).  This is the costume which imitates 17th Century Venetian dress along with a mask which looks like a huge bird's head.  It was thought to protect the doctors from the vapors which caused the plague and made it impossible to see the face of the wearer.  Teresa and Chiara gain entry to Sophia's apartment.  Sophia is not there, and Sophia's lack of organization and neatness, makes it hard to tell whether this is its usual state or if it has been overturned by thieves.  Chiara must return home to Rome and Teresa's father, but Teresa calls her office and tells them she is taking a leave of absence.  She then begins to trace her aunt's steps prior to Sophia leaving a note which said she was having trouble with her new home in Venice and needed help.  Unfortunately all of the leads which Teresa finds go nowhere.  Finally, she finds useable information involving a series of paintings of saints by Carpaccio which include a small white terrier.  What seems to be the same breed of dog appears in modern Venice and is an omen of change when he appears.  The story gets more confusing when a man dressed as Il Medico Della Peste shoots at a young woman performing at the "Flight of the Angel" celebration which is the official start of Carnival each year.  The woman survives, but the man jumps to his death from the City Hall tower.

The story winds around and around leading Teresa to many strange places.  There is even a writer who keeps sending her manuscripts which seem to explain Sophia's whereabouts.  This is a fascinating book, but it is a story which has to be read carefully.  However, it is well worth the effort and time.  I haven't read any other of David Hewson's books but this one seems to be along the same style as his past novels.  I have given it four stars, not because of the quality of the story, but because of the attention which is required in reading it.

I am going to read some of Mr. Hewson's other books, and I hope they will be as good as this one if a bit less labor intensive.
1272912
I felt as if I had been transported to Southern Italy as I read this unusual and well-written story. The characters were likeable and the story unusual and interesting. Anyone with experience of Italian culture will recognise the amusing incidents described in this book  and anyone who isn't familiar with Italy will laugh helplessly too. The book gives an excellent insight into life in Italy and I would highly recommend it.
1121873
Una piccola gemma di poesie e foto che l'autrice ha raccolto in due anni di vita a Berlino.  un viaggio surreale, commuovente, poetico e intenso. Un libro profondo e allo stesso tempo di una leggera disarmante semplice bellezza.
2594833
Three comments about this work, which I like. First, it is a cleanly written testament to the ability of ample resources (time, focus, commitment, money) to make significant contributions to the physical and social fabric of the cultural continuum. Second, it is just as much a romance as anything a Broadway composer ever saluted, save that the romance is not between boy and girl but between a high-energy American couple very much of our times (Sally and Carl Gable of Atlanta, Georgia) and a Palladian villa whose needs make it vulnerable and whose historic beauty makes it irresistible (Villa Cornaro in Piombino Dese, the Veneto). Third, the "voice" of the book does not succumb to the usual traps of attempting to be either too academic for the purpose or too sentimental for the intellectual comfort of the uninvolved.

Rather, this is a straightforward, clear-eyed account of the relationship between the Gables and the villa and what each has brought to the other in the almost two decades since Sally first read the fateful ad in the New York Times. One of the most appealing aspects of the book is the way in which it presents the citizenry of Piombino Dese, not as eccentrics with lovable or irritating idiosyncrasies (as is so often the approach in such works), but as real people attempting to retain connections and customs that matter to them even as they inevitably bridge old socioeconomic patterns and new.

This is, in short, not a book for those looking for a cozy account of "ooh, sweet couple buy really nifty house and live happily ever after (although they appear to have done so)." Nor will it appeal to those seeking a professionally comprehensive history of Palladio, Palladian houses, the Veneto, and modern-day Italian politics. For those, however, who see important architecture as the embodiment in concrete form of the spirit of civilization past and its preservation and adaptive use as a test of civilization present, this book is a fascinating read, as much for what it leaves between the lines as for what went upon the printed page.

I enjoyed the book. I think anyone who's really into Italy or architecture will find it worthwhile.
4496874
A  novel that commingles the beauty of Tuscany and the mystery of the Etruscan civilization with the mystery of human existence. The characters are believable and the story intriguing. If you want to read an extraordinarily-written mystery/literary novel this is it.
1700046
excellent job by author capturing Italian community in early 1900"s. It fit in many ways with my own family, who came from Abruzzi and landed in Ohio for only jobs available to Italians--coal miners and quarry workers. The every day family life including the Sunday family feast after mass are familiar too.
2534845
This oratorio by Bernardo Pasquini (1637-1710), recorded over two discs, tells of the very depressing martyrdom of St. Agnes of Rome. It is performed here by five singers to represent the characters in the drama, and the Italian-based period instrument ensemble Consortium Carissimi directed by Vittorio Zanon at the keyboard.

The performance is beautiful and stylish, with excellent playing and direction, all the voices being well up to the task and with especially lovely contributions from the two sopranos, Anna Simboli Elena Bartolozzi, in the roles of Saint Agnes and her mother. However I am not greatly taken with the music, which to my taste falls well short of the finest works in the Italian oratorio tradition by composers such as Luigi Rossi, Stradella, Alessandro Scarlatti and Caldara. Attractive musical highlights include the duets for the two sopranos.

The booklet notes are not at all good. The account of the plot is very sketchy, so it is hard to follow or to match with the libretto; and some of the characters are named in the libretto but not in the notes, so you have to work out whos who for yourself.  The essay is also poorly translated from Italian to English. Texts and translations (the latter again poor) are included. This is a rather average work, then, in a very creditable performance in visually attractive but careless presentation.
2961491
Bought this book to use in my HS archaeology class (yes, they do exist!)  because it's a good representation of a gorgeous area & in an English translation-  could only find the Italian in Campania- and for a much lower cost.
2061188
`A Day in a Medieval City` was first published in Italian in 1997 under a different title and translated into English in 2005. It is a touching tribute by a daughter to her father Arsenio Frugoni, an Italian Medieval scholar who died in a car accident in his early 50s. Before he died he wrote a short lively essay describing a typical day in an Italian medieval city between the 11th and 15th centuries. This forms the Introduction of the book. Chiara picks up from there relying mostly on pictures from the period to describe life in an Italian city - the big events such as birth, marriage, death - but also the mundane such as bathing, eating, reading, sleeping, etc..which in some ways are the most fascinating aspects since they are so familiar to us. The writing is a little encyclopedic but never boring, even though its a short book (177 pages of main text) it it not a fast read. The interpretation of medieval paintings is always fascinating since they are so loaded with iconography and the way stories flow through them, it's a visual story and this book provides the key to understanding some well known Gothic paintings. Only once did I see a mistake, regarding a rag held on a book to protect it from greasy fingers (pg. 150) - this is actually something called a "Girdle book" (Wikipedia has more). There are pictures on almost every page. For this type of book, it is very good quality and has long often rewarding footnotes. I'd recommend it for anyone wanting to learn more about Medieval history at the ground level.
2212393
Although the plot seems to have been done before, I thoroughly enjoyed this Italian romance. Verona, Venice and a generous suitor are given loads of fresh views by the author. What a plucky, optimistic attitude everyone has in this book.
2520805
It seams to me Frances Mayes made her fortune on the desire that is in all of us to go back to a time when things were simpler, life was slower, food was more natural, and the environment around us more healthy overall. Well, she found that place in Tuscany (go figure!), on of the most beautiful and historically rich regions of Italy. She also wanted to buy a house there - just like most people in the Western world. She did this again, banking on the idea of Tuscany as her marketing focus, with her next books being more or less similar to Under the Tuscan Sun.

I am from Firenze (Florence), Tuscany and lead small groups there every year to give them "my" version of Tuscany - the more familiar, less touristic view of this wonderful region, and every time I go people don't fail to mention Mayes' book. Consequently, they also bring up moving to Tuscany and what that would entail. The truth of the matter is that living in a place is different than just reading a book about a rich woman who didn't need to worry about finding a job and had all the time in the world to do whatever she wanted. Living in Italy is very expensive and very stressful, but if you have money and an extreme amount of patience - you can do it too.

For more of an "insider's" perspective, read "TOO MUCH TUSCAN SUN", by a Tuscan Tour Guide, very funny and light-hearted.