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Books : Trieste and the Meaning of Nowhere
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Rating: 
- Not Nowhere
I really enjoyed this book about a city I drove through many times but only recently stopped in to enjoy its atmosphere. When I came home I eagerly read this book and was so taken by Jan's writing on the city that I want to go back at the earliest opportunity. That for me is travel writing at its best.
Rating: - A proper piece of travel writing
God, it's so refreshing to read a proper piece of travel writing for a change. Forget the ridiculous faux-madcap adventures as our hero travels with a ridiculous companion or implement. And if I see another book about someone buying a house somewhere and recounting his (it's usually his) encounters with 'amusing' locals I'll scream. This is thoughtful, wistful, intellectual and accessible. A real cracker - and I've never been to Trieste, but I already know how I might feel if I ever do. Which is exactly what a travel book should do. Please don't let this be Jan's last book, as she promises in the Epilogue. Travel writing needs you...
Rating:
- A Beautiful Ending...
Trieste is a city I knew nothing about, but always had a vague impression of. That impression, of faded grandeur, old-Europe cosmopolitanism gone to seed, and melancholy, is largely confirmed in this, the first of Morris' books I've read. The fishing village at the top of the Adriatic was a sleepy burg until the Austro-Hungarian empire transformed it into it's only seaport and HQ for its imperial navy in the early 1700s. It rapidly became one of the leading seaports of the world, and an international center of commerce. Following the defeat and dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian empire, Trieste was handed over to Italy, which already had plenty of ports, and thus it quickly reverted to sleepy backwater. Over the last century it was occupied by the Nazis, Allied forces, was a UN free territory, and eventually reverted to Italian rule. Nowadays, as Morris writes, "It offers no unforgettable landmark, no universally familiar melody, no unmistakable cuisine, hardly a single native name that anyone knows."
And while Morris ably rambles through the city's history (which she first visited in 1946), the book is a bit of a metaphor for human aging and memory. She has vowed this is her final book in a prolific career, and the melancholy tone echoes the melancholy of a city whose glory days lie a century in the past. She writes, "Trieste makes one ask sad questions of oneself. What am I here for? Where am I going?" That's not to say the book is depressing or sad, because her love for the city is evident throughout, as she grapples with its place in her own psyche. While she clearly enjoys recreating in her mind's eye the hustle and bustle of the imperial era, she also finds, "For me, Trieste is an allegory of limbo, in the secular sense of an indefinable hiatus." So while the narrative is studded snippets of history, amusing and telling anecdotes from her own visits, and evocations of past residents such as Richard Burton and James Joyce, it's also rich in introspection. Above all, Morris' meandering prose is beautiful and has inspired me to delve into her past work. I do wish the publishers had included a few historical maps, some photos, and a bibliography of other works on Trieste.
Rating:
- interesting book about a city, melancholy and displacement
jan morris wrote an interesting book about the frontier town of trieste, capturing the city's soul, history and feelings, often greyish and melancholic, sometimes curious and always interesting. pity that the author sometimes makes little spelling mistakes of places, streets and names i wish someone knowing trieste so well shouldn't do. the book is to be recommended however only for the courage to speak about a place even the majority of italians don't know.
Rating: - A beautifully written book
As an Englishman living in self-imposed exile in Trieste, I find that Jan Morris eloquently expresses the unique atmosphere of this unusual, beautiful and all-but forgotten city, along with the strange spell it casts on anyone possessing a sensitive and inquisitive nature. Much more than a travel guide, the book prompts the reader to reflect on many aspects of life, just as the city itself does to those that visit it. A haunting book about a haunting city.
- Not NowhereI really enjoyed this book about a city I drove through many times but only recently stopped in to enjoy its atmosphere. When I came home I eagerly read this book and was so taken by Jan's writing on the city that I want to go back at the earliest opportunity. That for me is travel writing at its best.
Rating:
- A proper piece of travel writingGod, it's so refreshing to read a proper piece of travel writing for a change. Forget the ridiculous faux-madcap adventures as our hero travels with a ridiculous companion or implement. And if I see another book about someone buying a house somewhere and recounting his (it's usually his) encounters with 'amusing' locals I'll scream. This is thoughtful, wistful, intellectual and accessible. A real cracker - and I've never been to Trieste, but I already know how I might feel if I ever do. Which is exactly what a travel book should do. Please don't let this be Jan's last book, as she promises in the Epilogue. Travel writing needs you...
Rating:
- A Beautiful Ending...Trieste is a city I knew nothing about, but always had a vague impression of. That impression, of faded grandeur, old-Europe cosmopolitanism gone to seed, and melancholy, is largely confirmed in this, the first of Morris' books I've read. The fishing village at the top of the Adriatic was a sleepy burg until the Austro-Hungarian empire transformed it into it's only seaport and HQ for its imperial navy in the early 1700s. It rapidly became one of the leading seaports of the world, and an international center of commerce. Following the defeat and dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian empire, Trieste was handed over to Italy, which already had plenty of ports, and thus it quickly reverted to sleepy backwater. Over the last century it was occupied by the Nazis, Allied forces, was a UN free territory, and eventually reverted to Italian rule. Nowadays, as Morris writes, "It offers no unforgettable landmark, no universally familiar melody, no unmistakable cuisine, hardly a single native name that anyone knows."
And while Morris ably rambles through the city's history (which she first visited in 1946), the book is a bit of a metaphor for human aging and memory. She has vowed this is her final book in a prolific career, and the melancholy tone echoes the melancholy of a city whose glory days lie a century in the past. She writes, "Trieste makes one ask sad questions of oneself. What am I here for? Where am I going?" That's not to say the book is depressing or sad, because her love for the city is evident throughout, as she grapples with its place in her own psyche. While she clearly enjoys recreating in her mind's eye the hustle and bustle of the imperial era, she also finds, "For me, Trieste is an allegory of limbo, in the secular sense of an indefinable hiatus." So while the narrative is studded snippets of history, amusing and telling anecdotes from her own visits, and evocations of past residents such as Richard Burton and James Joyce, it's also rich in introspection. Above all, Morris' meandering prose is beautiful and has inspired me to delve into her past work. I do wish the publishers had included a few historical maps, some photos, and a bibliography of other works on Trieste.
Rating:
- interesting book about a city, melancholy and displacementjan morris wrote an interesting book about the frontier town of trieste, capturing the city's soul, history and feelings, often greyish and melancholic, sometimes curious and always interesting. pity that the author sometimes makes little spelling mistakes of places, streets and names i wish someone knowing trieste so well shouldn't do. the book is to be recommended however only for the courage to speak about a place even the majority of italians don't know.
Rating:
- A beautifully written bookAs an Englishman living in self-imposed exile in Trieste, I find that Jan Morris eloquently expresses the unique atmosphere of this unusual, beautiful and all-but forgotten city, along with the strange spell it casts on anyone possessing a sensitive and inquisitive nature. Much more than a travel guide, the book prompts the reader to reflect on many aspects of life, just as the city itself does to those that visit it. A haunting book about a haunting city.