- Paperback: 240 pages
- Publisher: Picador; New edition edition (9 Jun 1995)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0330338188
- ISBN-13: 978-0330338189
- Product Dimensions: 19.2 x 12.8 x 1.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 316,797 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Review
'Newby is of course a travel writer of near genius - wonderfully dry in the narration of the tribulations which so often afflict him and Wanda, and splendidly precise on the nuts and bolts of things … Highly readable and dangerously liable to induce a craving for one's own patch of Italian paradise' Martin Gayford, Sunday Telegraph
'Newby is an incomparable, shrewd and witty travel writer … immensely enjoyable' John Mortimer, Mail on Sunday
'Eric Newby must rank as one of the foremost travel writers of our age. Among his skills lies the ability to carry the reader with him on the most varied of journeys … a sequel to his 1971 classic, ‘Love and War in the Apennines’… [Newby's] good humour, and his loving eye for a way of life now disappearing, makes it a sterling contribution to that very particular shelf of English literature, describing life as lived among the Italians' Hugh Carless, Guardian
'A jovial account of living in Tuscany' Literary Review
'[Newby's] book is cheerful, informative and often very funny' Times Literary Supplement
'There is a deep respect for human personality here, and a wealth of information scrupulously and precisely retailed' Daily Telegraph
'Beautifully written. Full of wisdom, humour and humanity, Newby is touching on the poignancy of life, its fleeting pleasures and ultimate, inevitable loss … He is a perceptive interpreter of our dreams' Sunday Express
'Newby goes into satisfying detail about the people, the food and the landscape, and the house itself takes a central role in the book … by observing the details of his surroundings with clarity and understanding, he gives the reader a gentle picture of a pleasant Arcadia' Wanderlust
--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.Product Description
In 1967, Eric Newby and his wife Wanda acquired "I Castagni" (The Chestnuts), a small and ruined farmhouse in the foothills of the Apuan Alps on the borders of Liguria and northern Tuscany. They were the first foreigners to live in the area, and for 25 years, they remained the only ones. This book recounts the Newbys' life in their house in a forgotten era. It describes how they pulled the house back from the brink of collapse, their enduring friendship with the neighbouring contadini, who welcomed them - whether eating, drinking, harvesting grapes and olives, or hunting for fungus and wild asparagus - from the moment they arrived.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Meets a market need perfectly.,
By John Austin "austinjr@bigpond.net.au" (Kangaroo Ground, Australia) - See all my reviews (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER) (TOP 1000 REVIEWER) (VINE VOICE) (REAL NAME)
This review is from: A Small Place in Italy (Paperback)
The urge to escape the comforts, routine and refinements of our living conditions to somewhere more challenging, primitive and raw is something that many of us feel - especially those who read books. The books we read can sometimes stimulate the urge, sometimes satisfy it. All I ask of such books is that the author can write well and that he is not boastful. Eric Newby, especially in "A Small Place in Italy", meets these requirements admirably. Indeed, he ranks for me as a travel writer of near genius. He was almost 50 years old when he and his Italian born wife Wanda took up permanent residence in a ruined farmhouse in northern Italy. His account of the trials and tribulations that followed, the neighbours and the locality, is told in this wonderfully witty, readable and valuable book. Part of the value rests in the sociological and historical dimensions it gives. Even while he lived there, the customs, the occupations and the life styles were fast disappearing. If you enjoy this genre, you'll want to give "A Small Place in Italy" a prominent place on your bookshelf.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good read.,
By
This review is from: A Small Place in Italy (Paperback)
Having enjoyed this book so much it quite saddened me that they are no longer there, understandable though it is. For many years they were part of a simple way of life that barely exists now but how lucky we are to be able to read and appreciate how it once was.
19 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Rural Italy with reality adn delight.,
By A Customer
This review is from: A Small Place in Italy (Paperback)
Transports one to rural Italy, a few decades ago.Pleasure and pain of restoring an old house, with the constant background of rural Italian life. Having read the book, one starts to think "I wonder if I could get a small place in Italy?" But be warned, it might just happen!!
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