Dances with Luigi

This blog sometimes turns into a book review corner. But I wanted to share with my fellow Italiophiles a book I am presently reading.

Somewhere, I think it was the Slow Travel board, the reference to a book, Dances with Luigi, prompted me to catalog this title in my mind. I am now in the middle of this wonderfully enlightening book. Enlightening because it articulates a clearer understanding of how *maybe WHY would be a better description* I was raised in a first-generation Italian family.

Dances with Luigi was written by Paul Paolicelli, a news reporter turned author, who travels back to his ancestral roots. Although much of his wonderfully eloquent descriptions of Rome weave throughout the book, his travels through southern Italy are more poignant.

I find it refreshing to see an American's point of view evolve into an appreciation and understanding of how past political events fashioned the fabric of Italian families. And was equally surprised to find answers to trivial questions I had in my mind while traveling Italy: Crossroads were considered spiritual places in ancient Rome - one reason for decorating make-shift altars and shrines at intersections in Italy today. Upon his request, Raphael was buried in the walls of the Pantheon. Vittorio Emanuele II is also there.

I am particularly enjoying the juxtaposition Paolicelli places with the Italy of long ago and an American's view of Italy, the traditions of Italy both religiously and culturally, and the genteelness of the Italian people.

I gleaned an unspoken message from Paolicelli - the urgency and satisfaction of learning one's history. I never knew my grandfathers and both grandmothers died when I was still in single digits. Later in life I realized I had lost not only endeared family members but also a reservoir of vibrant family history and the culture of a small hilltop town in southern Italy in the late 1800s.

The author writes in describing Rome: "Several writers have compared Rome to a beautiful and intriguing woman who reveals little of herself to a stranger. One needs to take time and effort to get to know her/it." Love it!

The two photos are my paternal and maternal grandmothers.

The Rossetti Letter

The Rossetti Letter by Christi Phillips

To have two glorious weeks of relaxation and curl up with favorite new presents, books!

I happened into one of my favorite places this vacation, a used bookstore on the main street where I live. Happened to pick up this book, The Rossetti Letter, as the cover looked interesting. And what is not to ignite an inquiring mind but a hint of Spanish conspiracy, set in Venice, a main character being that of a Venetian courtesan and a letter that could change history? For all my Venetian aficionados, I recommend this book if you haven’t already enjoyed Christi Phillips’ descriptions of Venice.
It’s an easy read and seems to be laced with Venetian history and folklore in some places. I’m not sure at what point a historical novel, if this can be defined as such, leaves fact and becomes fiction, but it totally engrossed me.

Just a morsel:
"Tiny white lights entwined within the branches of the terrace's sheltering tree glimmered on the water's surface, and reticulated golden reflections shimmered and rippled on the palazzo's ochre-colored exterior." .. "El sbarlusego - It simply means 'the shining'. I remember lying awake at night when I was a boy, watching the light on the ceiling. The full moon on the Grand Canal can be as dazzling as the sun."

My Next Read - Possibly

After my disappointment with An Italian Affair, I read The Sixteen Pleasures. Yes, Annie, this was much better!
Now, my dilemma: Should I order this hardcover, The Hand that Just Held Mine or continue with my Florence-inspired readings, The Birth of Venus?

Has anyone read The Hand that Just Held Mine?
Here's an excerpt of a review which piqued my curiosity:

"Ultimately, I think this story is about the ferocity of love. Specifically the love between a mother and a child. The bond that exists between them - an invisible, nearly unbreakable bond. A bond that is magical, and terrifying and inexplicable. There is beauty in this story, beauty in words and action and descriptions. But none was more beautiful for me than the story about that bond.

The women we become after children...We lose muscle tone, sleep, reason, perspective. Our hearts begin to live outside our bodies. They breathe, they eat, they crawl and - look! - they walk, they begin to speak to us. We learn that we must sometimes walk an inch at a time, to stop and examine every stick, every stone, every squished can along the way. We get used to not getting where we were going...We get used to living with a love that suffuses us, suffocates us, blinds us, controls us."

Teaser Tuesday - a day late

TEASER TUESDAY

Taken from Fizzy Thoughts
http://fizzybeverage.blogspot.com/2009/02/tuesday-teaser.html
•Grab your current read.
•Let the book fall open to a random page.
•Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere
between lines 7 and 12.
•You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your
“teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations
if they like the teaser you’ve given!
•Please avoid spoilers!

Here’s my Teaser:
You should feel how my heart races? And it’s that way the entire night, every time I almost drop off. Shock, shock, shock! (Secrets of Sant’Angelo by Jeff Shapiro, p 181).