Italian Neighbors
by Tim Parks
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Book Summary Information
Author: Tim ParksEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2003-10-07
ISBN: 0802140343
Number of pages: 280
Publisher: Grove Press
Book Reviews of Italian Neighbors
Book Review: A good read overall, but...
Summary: 4 Stars
Overall I found this book entertaining, smart, and engaging. Parks has an excellent eye for detail, a great sense of low-key humor and wit, and his very readable style flows extremely well. Parks provides a vivid and intimate image of the tiny village of Montecchio (and its colorful inhabitants) where he lived with his wife.
But at times I couldn't help but be put off by a certain smugness, or tone of cultural superiority that emanates from Parks' voice as he writes in great detail about the wild eccentricities of the townsfolk, and of the maddening, catch-22-like contradictions in Italy's mind-bending bureaucratic and political labyrinth. However, it's not that I think he should change that; it's that what makes this tone of smugness apparent is the reader doesn't get a good sense of exactly why Parks *likes* Italy (assuming he does) and why he wants to stay there. Sure, apart from saying he was driven out of London by sky-high rent, he does toss a few crumbs about things he appreciates or actually likes about the place. But those seem outweighed by an overall tone of condescension and abundant descriptions of how everyone around him is a total freak. (And oddly, we never learn about how/where he got together with his Italian wife, and if that factors in to his living there). Writing about the insanity and seemingly incomprehensible socio-cultural differences is fine (and having been to Italy, I can certainly relate to some of it), it's just that there's not enough love there to balance it, and that's what really makes him come off a bit patronizing. Without more of that "love," it's more of a cheap laugh at the expense of his neighbors. One gets the feeling that if any of the locals actually read this book they'd run him out of town!
But overall, I'm getting longwinded here about a relatively small point. It's a recommended read not just for Italophiles or people considering a move to Italy, but for anyone in search of a readable, engaging, light sociological study into a foreign town they've never been to.
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