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A Gentleman In Verona
| Article
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20247 |
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Section : |
BOOK WORLD
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| Issue
Date : |
7 / 1992 |
3,452 Words |
| Author
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Roberto Severino
Roberto Severino was born in Catania, Sicily, and is
professor of Italian Literature and chair of the Italian
Department at Georgetown University. |
ITALIAN NEIGHBORS
Or, A Lapsed Anglo-Saxon in Verona
Tim Parks
New York: Grove Weidenfeld, 1992
328 pp., $19.95
When it seemed that everything that could be said about Italy and the Italians had already been said in the writings of classical authors such as Stendhal or John Addington Symonds, historians and social observers such as D. Mack Smith or Luigi Barzini, anthropologists and political scientists such as Ann Cornelisen and John Fraser, here comes a delightful and insightful new book that even the most occasional reader will find truly amusing, genuinely informative, and indeed, absolutely fascinating.
Undoubtedly, its author, Tim Parks, the "lapsed Anglo-Saxon in Verona," having spent many years in Italy and having acquired an Italian wife, can be considered an old hand. In addition, he is an award-winning and critically acclaimed writer of six novels, including the upcoming Juggling the Stars, a thriller most appropriately set in northern Italy. And indeed, his sparkling style and his keen sense of observation and understanding of the ever-varied cultural facets of his adopted country readily become apparent. From the first few lines, they are woven in a lively tapestry that will continue to haunt you long after you have finished this witty and stimulating book.
A Sense Of Place
Dashing through Italy armed with a finely meshed will-o'-the-wisp net--as Parks muses in his introductory note--the author may be surprised if asked just what he is after: "He stops, out of breath, surprised at our interest. Well, some of the most common, he pants: national character, a sense of place, the feeling people, place and weather generate." And if his inquirer presses him further by asking how he is doing,
he shrugs, pouts, as if to say, this is a mug's game if ever there was one. Will-o'-the-wisps--you know--the things is, even when you do catch one for a moment you have a terrible job recognizing them, and then when you pin them on the pages of your book they immediately lose all color and shape. Anyway, he is spending most of his time picking truisms, clichés and caricatures out of his net.
And so he has done, succeeding in his task in a most
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