616 Holiday Reading

Extra Virgin and Ripe for the Picking by Annie Hawes are brilliant

I agree with Robert, Annie Hawes is the Italophiles' Helen Fielding, only funnier. Her books have done more to inform and delight me about the Italians than my 37 years as a member of an Italian immigrant family. OK, it's not "literature" in the posh sense of the word. But the books recommended by Robert are my favourite books ever. Annie Hawes is publishing a new book soon about a trip down to the south of Italy. I can't wait.

Other recommendations:

Guareschi's Don Camillo series. Especially "The little world of Don Camillo" Great small town parody of the Church and State in post war Italy. Great warm characters. Another one of my favourites.

George Mikes - "Italy for beginners". A light hearted look at post war Italy. Still relevant. Italians don't change. They wont!

These are all light reading, can't advise on anything else really. Isn't "Girl in a pearl earring" set in Florence?

Maria Lucia

If you want an English author's take on Italy, then try Tim Parkes's books and Michael Dibden's Aurelio Zen detective stories. Both are good reads, and Dibden writes way above the standard of the majority of authors in the genre.

For books about Abruzzo, there is the Ignazio Silone trilogy, but I'd take them with a pinch of salt, he's a miserable whining git and he spent most of his life in Switzerland. In many respects he's like an Italian D H Lawrence without the sex. He's not well regarded at home, although children are forced to read his books.

Here are two books from Tuscan authors (free, complete)

[url]http://www.ilnarratore.com/lett_it/pdf/sacchetti/sacchetti_novella_17.PDF[/url]
[url]http://www.ilnarratore.com/lett_it/pdf/vasari/vasari%20_Pietro_della_Francesca.PDF[/url]

My favourite Italian writer is Andrea de Carlo - I've enjoyed all of his books apart from 'Pura Vita'.

They are not set in Tuscany but they are very, very 'real' - it's hard to explain, but you can't imagine a more realistic Italian life than one depicted in his books.

'I veri nomi' is mainly set in America and it's even funnier - Italians coping with the stars and stripes. They are also written in modern, colloquial Italian, so they'll be very useful for your vocabulary.

I hope you enjoy them.

Many thanks. I will be buying/ordering my summer reading in the next week or so.

Any other suggestions welcome.

Thank you lotaresco, for the pdf lins. Free literature - great!!

maria lucia - thanks for the info on the Annie Hawes forthcoming title - she is by far the best of the 'renovate an olive grove' genre, far better than the turgid 'under the tuscan sun' that seems to get all the hype. Have just now pre-orderd the Annie hawes book on-line...

paperoploi - interested to hear about andrea de carlo - have they been translated into English? Looked on [url]www.bookbrain.co.uk[/url] (excellent site, finds cheapest on-line booksellers inlcuding deleivery charges..)but name was not recognised.

For a really refreshing look at the Tuscan sun genre, I can thoroughly recommend "Too Much Tuscan Sun" by Dario Castagno. At last, a study of the tourists by an Italian...
However, don't make the mistake of starting to read it in the Bar while having a coffee, they're still trying to get the stains off the ceiling :D

There was a similar thread a while ago; [url]http://www.italymag.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=102[/url]

[QUOTE=Sharon]paperoploi - interested to hear about andrea de carlo - have they been translated into English? Looked on [url]www.bookbrain.co.uk[/url] (excellent site, finds cheapest on-line booksellers inlcuding deleivery charges..)but name was not recognised.[/QUOTE]

Sharon, a search on Amazon proved that only 'Treno di Panna' was ever translated into English as 'Cream Train'.

I'd bite the bullet and try to read it in Italian!

I love the Mandadori editions. This year it's '88 poesie' by Ernest Hemingway, for me. Succinct, thoughtful and very, very quotable.

Have yet to decide what prode works to take. Does anyone have any opinion on Mussolini's fiction? I think it was called 'The Mistress'? worth tracking down?

Well I would leave Manzoni if I were you as he is boring to Italians as well. Very well written, but sooooooooo boring.

Eco is a very good author, The name of the Rose being maybe is best book, although the Pendolo di Focault is quite good as well.

I would need to know if your read your books in Italian or English...
Assuming is english, well done for Sciascia, very good choice. i would suggest Italo Calvino, Cesare Pavese, Primo Levi, Alberto Moravia, Pirandello, Dino buzzati, ...therr are so many...
I have seen in the bookshops the traslation of I am not afraid, by Ammaniti, I read it in Italian is a good book.

You see, it is quite difficult to get young italina authors translated into english..

If you are very brave you shoudl read the Divina Commedia by dante, you would see Italy with different eyes after that.

Heve a good read!

I have never read it, and i wouldn't bother looking for it. if you fancy some good stuff from the time read Dannunzio.

.......will it be possible to take the lastest Harry Potter through customs now?

good question!!!!

[QUOTE=Maria Lucia]Other recommendations:
Guareschi's Don Camillo series. Especially "The little world of Don Camillo" Great small town parody of the Church and State in post war Italy. Great warm characters. Another one of my favourites.
[/QUOTE]

I have only just been able to get a copy of Don Camillo (they seem rarer than hens' teeth!) and have fallen in love with it. It seems that the wait was worth it & I can't wait to find more........ eBay awaits!