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Books : La Bella Vita: Life, Love and and Food in Southern Italy
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Rating: 
- The real Italy
This book brought alive to me the Southern Italy I know so well. It is
vivid, passionate and sensual -- and, as one of the reviews on the cover
stated "tender". In its evocation of the people, rituals and daily rhythms
of a small Italian coastal town, discovered, and then loved, by outsiders it
has the quality of Italian films -- especially Cinema Paradiso. Torre
Saraceno's own outdoor cinema, overlooking the sea, its soundtrack overlaid
by crickets, the enthusiastic participation of the locals in the twists and
turns of the films, is now burnt on my memory. I laughed aloud and was moved
in equal parts as the book traces the change of destiny in a tiny community
over the course of 20 years, when it is embraced by the influx of tourists
-- welcome for their money, but ultimately catalysts for unforeseen change. Because of the time span, it offers a broader picture than A Year in Provence or Driving Over Lemons.
Vida Adamoli, please now write about Rome -- where, you tell us, you also
lived for 20 years. I know it will be a warm, affectionate, intimate, funny
picture -- very different from the tourist guide trio of St Peter's, the
Trevi Fountain and the Colosseum.
Rating: - wonderful summer or winter reading
Vida Adamoli's description of Italy is vivid and loving. Whether she is writing about the streets of Rome or the hippie houseparty in Torre Saracena, the smells and sounds rise out of the pages to meet you.
Many English people fantasise about living in a foreign country and getting to know 'the locals'. With Vida, you feel she has actually succeeded. Her sister visits her in Italy, but Vida, married to an Italian, becomes part of the town.
Even the hippies that take over a derelict building in town are woven into the fabric of this enchanting story.
But even as they are all admiring the Paradise they have found, their very presence is destroying it and admitting the 20th century to a medieval village.
I enjoyed this book enormously and I would recommend it to anyone, either on holiday or at home.
- The real ItalyThis book brought alive to me the Southern Italy I know so well. It is
vivid, passionate and sensual -- and, as one of the reviews on the cover
stated "tender". In its evocation of the people, rituals and daily rhythms
of a small Italian coastal town, discovered, and then loved, by outsiders it
has the quality of Italian films -- especially Cinema Paradiso. Torre
Saraceno's own outdoor cinema, overlooking the sea, its soundtrack overlaid
by crickets, the enthusiastic participation of the locals in the twists and
turns of the films, is now burnt on my memory. I laughed aloud and was moved
in equal parts as the book traces the change of destiny in a tiny community
over the course of 20 years, when it is embraced by the influx of tourists
-- welcome for their money, but ultimately catalysts for unforeseen change. Because of the time span, it offers a broader picture than A Year in Provence or Driving Over Lemons.
Vida Adamoli, please now write about Rome -- where, you tell us, you also
lived for 20 years. I know it will be a warm, affectionate, intimate, funny
picture -- very different from the tourist guide trio of St Peter's, the
Trevi Fountain and the Colosseum.
Rating:
- wonderful summer or winter readingVida Adamoli's description of Italy is vivid and loving. Whether she is writing about the streets of Rome or the hippie houseparty in Torre Saracena, the smells and sounds rise out of the pages to meet you.
Many English people fantasise about living in a foreign country and getting to know 'the locals'. With Vida, you feel she has actually succeeded. Her sister visits her in Italy, but Vida, married to an Italian, becomes part of the town.
Even the hippies that take over a derelict building in town are woven into the fabric of this enchanting story.
But even as they are all admiring the Paradise they have found, their very presence is destroying it and admitting the 20th century to a medieval village.
I enjoyed this book enormously and I would recommend it to anyone, either on holiday or at home.