- Hardcover: 288 pages
- Publisher: Faber and Faber; First Edition edition (20 Jan 2003)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0571205828
- ISBN-13: 978-0571205820
- Product Dimensions: 22 x 14 x 3.2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (53 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 140,140 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
| ||||||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. |
Product details |
More About the Author
Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Tobias Jones' remarkable book essential reading for Italy enthusiasts: The Dark Heart of Italy (subtitled Travels Through Time and Space across Italy) is unlike any book on the country you may have read before. It is not a guide to Italy's art, or her geographical splendours. Nor is it a guide to her amazing cuisine. And it is not an examination of the Italian character. It does, however, contain elements of all of these and much more. When the author emigrated to Italy in 1999, he expected the customary ravishing of the senses that Italy usually provides. But, looking beneath the surface, Jones was astonished to encounter surprising undercurrents, among them national paranoia and the crippling fear inspired by terrorists (the Italian parliament, it seems, has a 'Slaughter Commission').
This is, of course, the country of Silvio Berlusconi, the tycoon whose controversial election via his stranglehold on the media was (to British eyes at least) something that should not be countenanced in a non-totalitarian country. While always taking on board the glories of Italy, Jones' picture of the country is both fascinating and disturbing: this is a land torn apart by civil wars and endemic corruption, the still influential Cosa Nostra and unbending Catholicism exert considerable sway.
Italy remains utterly unlike any of its European neighbours. Jones sees links between the powerful creativity of the Italian soul and the 'dark heart' that he refers to in his title. What is most remarkable about the book is the fact that no one who loves Italy will be at all disenchanted to encounter the truths that Jones presents to us. If anything, the complex and contradictory nation that emerges will hold an even greater fascination for both the serious student and the casual visitor. --Barry Forshaw
Conde Nast Traveller, 1 January 2003
Incisive and intelligent, this is the book to take on your Italian holiday.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Browse and search another edition of this book.
First Sentence
I arrived in Parma knowing only a few Italian words culled from classical music and from menus (adagio, allegro, prosciutto, and so on), and I found myself in the infantile position of trying to understand my surroundings at the same time as I learnt how to describe them. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index
I arrived in Parma knowing only a few Italian words culled from classical music and from menus (adagio, allegro, prosciutto, and so on), and I found myself in the infantile position of trying to understand my surroundings at the same time as I learnt how to describe them. Read the first page
Explore More
Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
52 of 57 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book must be revealing to the British, but it is an absolute eye-opener for an Italian living in the United Kingdom, like me. It gives a description of Italy free of the prejudices we Italians have on ourselves, it does not take anything for granted, and manages to make fun of some of our most ingrained habits. It made me laugh out loud for most of the first chapter, then it made me think, then it got me depressed and angry. The attitudes he describes, towards bureaucracy, towards political power, towards dishonesty, are exactly what compelled me to leave the country (finally) 5 years ago. A must-read for those who want to understand modern Italy, and for expatriate Italians as well - as a vaccine against excessive homesickness
39 of 45 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
When I first came to live in Italy, five years ago, I was trapped at a dinner party by a man who told me that all Italian postmen were thieves. "Never order anything through the post, because it will automatically be stolen", he warned me. The reason, he explained in a hoarse whisper, was that all Italian postmen were Communists, and that they stole things from the mail as a mute expression of class warfare. I was horrified, but went on ordering books and CDs through the post. Five years and over a hundred mail-order deliveries later, I can happily say that I have never once experienced any serious problem with the Italian postal system. Everything that I have ordered has been delivered, often with amazing speed. The man I met at the party belonged to a particular type of Italian - male, deeply pessimistic, and convinced that modern Italy is a forum for the working out of intricate and baleful conspiracies. Italians such as this have been around since the Renaissance and the rise of the Italian city states. One soon learns to spot them and to avoid them - unless, that is, one actually likes being regaled by Ancient Mariner figures with a sinister tale to tell.
Mr Jones' problem is that he has never really escaped from the clutches of the Italian Ancient Mariners. He has an unfortunate weakness for listening to their tales and, worst of all, he tends to give the tales a credence that they don't always deserve. And my goodness how tedious his versions of some of the stories can be. Read his chapter on the bombing in Piazza Fontana in Milan in 1969 (much of it written in italics, for some unexplained reason), and you will find yourself as though trapped in the corner of a smoke-filled bar late at night, looking longingly at the exit while an Italian Ancient Mariner grips your arm and regales you a long and complicated rigmarole of political mystery and intrigue - a story, alas, that has long since lost its relevance to the everyday lives of people in the real world outside.
Mr Jones' dark heart of Italy is an alarming place of Dantean ghastliness. It is the Italy of corruption, pompous bureaucrats, bent magistrates, conniving policemen, self-serving politicians and, of course, Mr Berlusconi and his dreadful government. Much of what he says about these things is true. But there is another Italy, that lies beyond these horrors. This is the Italy of, for want of a better term, the common men and women - the millions of Italians who have to make their day-to-day lives through hard work, self-sacrifice and intelligent and tolerant compromise with their fellow human beings. Perhaps these people have the strongest claim to represent the real heart of Italy. They certainly deserve more mention and acknowledgement than they receive in this book.
This is not a bad book, but it's not a very good one, either. Anyone seeking a readable introduction to life in Italy would be far better advised to read the earlier books of Tim Parks. Those wanting a good historical background with political detail should look at Modern Italy by Denis Mack Smith and Italy and its Discontents, by Paul Ginsborg. One day, perhaps, someone will write a book called The Dark Heart of Britain. This might explain, amongst other things, why so many British people have chosen to make their permanent home in Italy, while so few Italians have elected to go in the opposite direction.
63 of 76 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I am an Italian and I live in London with my English husband.
When people find out I am Italian they tell me of how wonderful my country is and how strange I want to live in gray England. I always say Italy is beautiful, but I wouldn't live there as it's full of Italians. It is hard to quickly explain to people why I think this, so it's very helpful for me to read and recommend books like Tobias Jones' and Tim Parks'. These authors have a first hand experience of Italy and offer detachment and perspective in their reports and analysis.
All Italians will tell you Italy is a mess (un casino). They will not tell you why - as they'd have to explain 2000 years of history first - so they will divert the conversation to all the "unquestionably" beautiful things of the country: food, art, scenery, sun etc... Most Italian have no encompassing grasp of the last 30 years' history. Tobias Jones helpfully summarizes all the connections between terrorism, politics, Communists, Fascists, Berlusconi - the protagonists of Italy after WW II, and family, church and language - the pillars of Italian culture.
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
OK in parts.
I do not think the author has lived long enough in Italy to qualify as an arbiter of what is good and not in Italy.
A lot of what he says is true about corruption, etc. Read more
A lot of what he says is true about corruption, etc. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Mrs. Judith Lugg
Uninformed, superficial, exuding prejudice and smugness, politically...
This must be the worst book on Italy I have ever read. The author displays phenomenal ignorance and his judgement is superficial almost to the point of being funny! Read more
Published 8 months ago by Carno Polo
Belisimo
Book turned up quickly and well packaged. Unless you are bothered about a small mark here and there and the fact that the book has clearly been read before then there is nothing to... Read more
Published 9 months ago by Richard J. Scott
Italian Power Politics
After reading this book it seems that Italy almost isn't a country all - just larger or smaller interests trying to grab what they can in the context of a failed legal system. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Baraniecki Mark Stuart
fairly good snapshot
This book is interesting to those with some acquaintence with Italy, particularly us foreigners who live here and don't understand what the heck is happening very well. Read more
Published 12 months ago by rob crawford
An interesting and useful perspective on Italy, but overtaken by...
A personal view of Italy by a foreigner who lives there, not an academic work of contemporary history. Read more
Published 14 months ago by David
An Englishman's view of Italy
What did I learn from this book? Italians dress well, their television is awful, their politicians are dishonest, and they have a problem with terrorism and organised crime. Read more
Published 15 months ago by The Big Pink One
The Dark Heart of Italy
A well written description of a complex subject, the nature and functioning of (more or less) contemporary Italian politics and culture.
Published 16 months ago by Giovanni
The Dark Heart of Italy
Was very pleased with the fast delivery and condition of the book. The seller's communication was excellent. Read more
Published on 15 Nov 2009 by Italian
Dark Heart of Italy
For anybody who knows Italy, or better who has worked with Italians, this is a fascinating glimse of what makes your average Italian tick.
Published on 4 Oct 2009 by R. Stuart
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
