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La Passione: How Italy Seduced the World by Dianne Hales presents a nonscholarly look at Italy and its history and influence. Hales is the author of La Bella Lingua, a New York Times best-seller; Mona Lisa: A Life Discovered, an Amazon best book of the year, translated into six languages; and more than forty trade and textbooks.
What makes Italy unique in a world of195 countries? Ask anyone of Italian heritage, and they will tell you. It is almost like the old Marine Corps maxim. Never ask a person if they were a Marine. If they were, they would tell you, if not no need to embarrass them. The same goes for Italians. Ask Americans with interests in different areas about Italy. Cyclists will speak of Colnago, Campagnolo, and Pinarello. The motorcyclist will speak of Ducati and Moto Guzzi. The car enthusiast Mazaradi and Ferrari. The list goes on with opera, clothing, works of art, political philosophy, and food. No matter the subject of discussion there is something the Italians did to make it better or more remarkable.
Hales' book presents something of a different take on Italy. Her work is not a rigid history or even a cultural history although she does show her source material. It carries an informal and friendly tone throughout the book. She uses history to support the concept of La Passione, a passion for being passionate. La Passione is easily recognized. This year I met Valentina Scandolora a well known Italian cyclist who was competing in the US for the first time. There is little doubt about her passion for cycling and winning. But, what was the most fun was hearing about things that, we Americans, think of as Italian. Coffee and food are two easy subjects. It is difficult for an Italian to find a good cup of coffee in Oklahoma or decent (real) Italian food. It's vaguely recognizable but not the real thing. It's not arrogance but a simple statement -- "This is not Italian."
This passion runs deep in Hales' love story of Italy. It covers a broad spectrum from Petrarch to high heels. I learned a few new things about Dante, lace, Titian, and Botticelli. La Passione is the perfect book for those wanting to learn more about Italy and Italian culture without the rigors of a detailed history text. The writing is informal and lets the reader have a feeling they are talking to an insider with secrets to share. Nicely done.
New York Times bestselling author Dianne Hales attributes these landmark achievements to la passione italiana, a primal force that stems from an insatiable hunger to discover and create; to love and live with every fiber of one's being. This fierce drive, millennia in the making, blazes to life in the Sistine Chapel, surges through a Puccini aria, deepens a vintage Brunello, and rumbles in a gleaming Ferrari engine.
Our ideal tour guide, Hales sweeps readers along on her adventurous quest for the secrets of la passione. She swims in the playgrounds of mythic gods, shadows artisanal makers of chocolate and cheese, joins in Sicily's Holy Week traditions, celebrates a neighborhood Carnevale in Venice, and explores pagan temples, vineyards, silk mills, movie sets, crafts studios, and fashion salons. She introduces us, through sumptuous prose, to unforgettable Italians, historical and contemporary, all brimming with the greatest of Italian passions--for life itself.
A lyrical portrait of a spirit as well as a nation, La Passione appeals to the Italian in all our souls, inspiring us to be as daring as Italy's gladiators, as eloquent as its poets, as alluring as its beauties, and as irresistible as its lovers.
This was a wonderful guide to Italy and its rich culture and history.
*Book received from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*
Where does one even begin in order to write about the profound, over-arching influence of Italy on our cultural histories and our daily lives? Hales opens this delightful and enchanting book with a lively history of Italy itself, her vivid prose bringing ancient and medieval peoples and a rich culture to life. Then, readers are drawn into her heartfelt enthusiasm for Italy, joining her in an odyssey of delightful discoveries, helping them to delve into fascinating stories about the many cultural icons whose genius—and Italian passion for life— we have seemingly taken for granted, but see with new eyes from her thoughtful perspective. She writes, "More than a country, Italy embodies a culture that has transformed art and architecture, language and music, food and fashion." Quoting an Italian cultural historian, Hales enlightens us with, "Passion—and passion alone—lifts us above the ordinary. Without passion, there would be no literature, no art, no music, no romance, perhaps none of the wonders Italians have wrought. Beyond sentiment or emotion, la passione italiana qualifies as a primal force of nature that cannot be ignored or denied."
Hales links the native passion of Italian cultural luminaries clearly to each artistic and cultural endeavor—so that we understand how the passion that drives the artist is communicated to and manifested in the passion of the beholder upon seeing, viewing, or listening to the work of art. Her thoroughly-detailed and conscientious research describes each cultural treasure so vividly that readers don't even realize they are being treated to college-level knowledge, which, in someone else's words might be drily-recited facts. We see even the familiar through new eyes, through Hales's clear-eyed lens, enthralling us with stories of, among many, many others, Dante, Michelangelo, da Vinci, Raphael, Verdi, Puccini, Armani, Fellini, and Ferrari. So many times, upon reading another delightful anecdote and story of yet another Italian cultural treasure, I found myself exclaiming, "I didn't know that!" Bursting with talent and passion, the legacy of Italian passion for life in our culture is ubiquitous and all-encompassing. Italy and its passion itself have taken hold of our imaginations.
Hales's interview of acclaimed journalist Luigi Barzini yields this gem about the depth of the la passione italiana that affects us all: "What mysterious emptiness in their souls is filled by merely standing on Italian soil?" Indeed, after (reluctantly!) finishing this enthralling book, my own soul is replenished, refreshed, and renewed. Bravissima, Dianne Hales!
I applaud a substantial bibliography and complete index, but I regret the lack of color plates. The book could have used a section, especially of art works described extensively in the text.
The only illustration of the Mona Lisa appears as cover art and it is as though she is behind fog or a scrim. The author probably couldn't have described Lisa's life but for the heavy speculation taken from the author's description of Renaissance life. She used such words as "Perhaps", "maybe", "it could have been this way", etc. Very readable, for the educated layperson.
Recommended.
The author’s ability to capture the details of daily life in Florence and the feelings inspired by different locations was the strongest point of the book. She collected an amazing assortment of interesting stories, all connected to Lisa. She cleverly used personal correspondence from people similar to the people she was discussing to speculate about how they were feeling. She shared the feelings particular locations inspired in her to speculate about what living at those locations was like for Lisa. She always made it clear where she was extrapolating, so even though it made the story less factual, I don’t think it was misleading. In fact, I think it shared a different truth – not just about what Mona Lisa’s life was like, but what life in general was like in Florence during Lisa’s lifetime. The author’s stories included many famous people and were incredibly entertaining. I suspect this is a credit both to her research ability, finding the best anecdotes, and her enthusiasm, giving her an impressive storytelling ability.
This review first published on Doing Dewey.
The author’s ability to capture the details of daily life in Florence and the feelings inspired by different locations was the strongest point of the book. She collected an amazing assortment of interesting stories, all connected to Lisa. She cleverly used personal correspondence from people similar to the people she was discussing to speculate about how they were feeling. She shared the feelings particular locations inspired in her to speculate about what living at those locations was like for Lisa. She always made it clear where she was extrapolating, so even though it made the story less factual, I don’t think it was misleading. In fact, I think it shared a different truth – not just about what Mona Lisa’s life was like, but what life in general was like in Florence during Lisa’s lifetime. The author’s stories included many famous people and were incredibly entertaining. I suspect this is a credit both to her research ability, finding the best anecdotes, and her enthusiasm, giving her an impressive storytelling ability.
This review first published on Doing Dewey.
The author’s ability to capture the details of daily life in Florence and the feelings inspired by different locations was the strongest point of the book. She collected an amazing assortment of interesting stories, all connected to Lisa. She cleverly used personal correspondence from people similar to the people she was discussing to speculate about how they were feeling. She shared the feelings particular locations inspired in her to speculate about what living at those locations was like for Lisa. She always made it clear where she was extrapolating, so even though it made the story less factual, I don’t think it was misleading. In fact, I think it shared a different truth – not just about what Mona Lisa’s life was like, but what life in general was like in Florence during Lisa’s lifetime. The author’s stories included many famous people and were incredibly entertaining. I suspect this is a credit both to her research ability, finding the best anecdotes, and her enthusiasm, giving her an impressive storytelling ability.
This review first published on Doing Dewey.
The author’s ability to capture the details of daily life in Florence and the feelings inspired by different locations was the strongest point of the book. She collected an amazing assortment of interesting stories, all connected to Lisa. She cleverly used personal correspondence from people similar to the people she was discussing to speculate about how they were feeling. She shared the feelings particular locations inspired in her to speculate about what living at those locations was like for Lisa. She always made it clear where she was extrapolating, so even though it made the story less factual, I don’t think it was misleading. In fact, I think it shared a different truth – not just about what Mona Lisa’s life was like, but what life in general was like in Florence during Lisa’s lifetime. The author’s stories included many famous people and were incredibly entertaining. I suspect this is a credit both to her research ability, finding the best anecdotes, and her enthusiasm, giving her an impressive storytelling ability.
This review first published on Doing Dewey.
The author’s ability to capture the details of daily life in Florence and the feelings inspired by different locations was the strongest point of the book. She collected an amazing assortment of interesting stories, all connected to Lisa. She cleverly used personal correspondence from people similar to the people she was discussing to speculate about how they were feeling. She shared the feelings particular locations inspired in her to speculate about what living at those locations was like for Lisa. She always made it clear where she was extrapolating, so even though it made the story less factual, I don’t think it was misleading. In fact, I think it shared a different truth – not just about what Mona Lisa’s life was like, but what life in general was like in Florence during Lisa’s lifetime. The author’s stories included many famous people and were incredibly entertaining. I suspect this is a credit both to her research ability, finding the best anecdotes, and her enthusiasm, giving her an impressive storytelling ability.
This review first published on Doing Dewey.
The author’s ability to capture the details of daily life in Florence and the feelings inspired by different locations was the strongest point of the book. She collected an amazing assortment of interesting stories, all connected to Lisa. She cleverly used personal correspondence from people similar to the people she was discussing to speculate about how they were feeling. She shared the feelings particular locations inspired in her to speculate about what living at those locations was like for Lisa. She always made it clear where she was extrapolating, so even though it made the story less factual, I don’t think it was misleading. In fact, I think it shared a different truth – not just about what Mona Lisa’s life was like, but what life in general was like in Florence during Lisa’s lifetime. The author’s stories included many famous people and were incredibly entertaining. I suspect this is a credit both to her research ability, finding the best anecdotes, and her enthusiasm, giving her an impressive storytelling ability.
This review first published on Doing Dewey.
2 
saholc | 10 andere besprekingen | Aug 3, 2014 |
saholc | 10 andere besprekingen | Aug 3, 2014 | Diane Hales is a freelance journalist who has written widely on health, psychology, and her own love of the Italian language. While not a scholar of Italian art or of history, her knowledge of both is extensive. When she became curious about the woman whom we know as Leonardo de Vinci’s Mona Lisa, she set out to discover all she could about her. This book is an account of what she learned and how she learned it.
The woman was Lisa Gheradini, the wife of a fifteenth-century Florentine merchant involved in international trade. She raised six children, ran her family’s home, and turned to religion in her later life. Hales read extensively trying to flesh out the woman’s life. Fluent in Italian, Hales stayed in Florence, walking the streets and visiting the places Lisa knew. She conferred with experts in Italian history and in Renaissance art. The result is a book that brings together a great deal of information, not only about de Vinci and his subject, but about a variety of other topics which are only vaguely connected to them. Hales relates the complicated history of Florence since its mythical beginning. The ancestry of both Lisa and her husband are traced, as well as that of de Vinic and of various individuals who lived during or shortly before Lisa's time. Despite all the research it contains, the book's mood is subjective and impressionistic. For example, Hales describes herself walking down the streets that Lisa might walked, imaging what Lisa might have worn, what toys she played with as a child, and why de Vinci portrayed her as he did, adding a nice layer of narrative.
Read more: http://wp.me/p24OK2-187
Hales writes about her immersion in Italian language and culture like someone who wishes they’d been born there. The Italian language tells the story of its speakers and its nation. Shaped through its folklore and metaphors, Italians can speak of someone who is “piu tondo dell’O di Giotto” (rounder than Giotto’s O, or slow on the uptake) or someone who doesn’t know his “Galateo” (a historical guide on etiquette written in 1558 and still used a model of behavior). Every syllable becomes a world with new and exciting characters.
Hales writes with wit, verve, and childlike glee. She shapes the history of the language around the stories if Italy’s cultural institutions—its food, its art, and its music. While some of her travels seem a bit showy (she gets tickets to Milan’s La Scala and chats with Roberto Benigni), her conversations with Italian friends illustrate the core of the language. It’s meant as a way for the Italian people to continue to share their pride in their nation and history as well as their absolute love for the Italian way of life. While reading this book, I found myself almost constantly saying the Italian words and phrases out loud to hear them come off the page. By the end, you want to learn the whole language, to wrap it around you, so “cominciamo”—let’s get started.
1 NielsenGW | 10 andere besprekingen | Jun 11, 2013 |
NielsenGW | 10 andere besprekingen | Jun 11, 2013 | Onze site gebruikt cookies om diensten te leveren, prestaties te verbeteren, voor analyse en (indien je niet ingelogd bent) voor advertenties. Door LibraryThing te gebruiken erken je dat je onze Servicevoorwaarden en Privacybeleid gelezen en begrepen hebt. Je gebruik van de site en diensten is onderhevig aan dit beleid en deze voorwaarden.
确实是好书啊！意大利语，文学的语言、诗歌的语言、艺术的语言、音乐的语言。
我大学里就跟同学一起，买了《自学意大利语》，大致了解了这种语言。
我只去过一次意大利，北方，虽然没有到旅游胜地，但也留下了美好的记忆。
在国际组织兼职，最好的朋友就是意大利图书馆协会主席圭里尼教授。2006年我们飞机邻座，返回北京，聊的也是他们美丽的语言。
这本书写法很特别，用非学术的语言，写出了意大利语的各个侧面，涉及语言、文学、美食、文化、艺术、生活等各个方面。不仅对学语言的人有用，相信对了解外国文化也有帮助。
作者思维发散，但却不脱离主题，面面俱到，绝对是一本好书，建议纳入评奖候选。
威尔第歌剧《纳布科》中的囚徒大合唱，这里被翻译成“飞吧，思念，乘着金色的翅膀”(Va, pensiero, sull'ali dorate)，pensiero是“思念”不是高大上的“思想”。
Cazzo等脏话也作了特殊处理，读者也许不能了解深意。
意大利美食太难懂，虽然吃过一些，也不了解究竟。
在全书结尾处，作者写道：“意大利语或许是所有语言之母，但有时，我还是觉得自己像个继女”。“当我向亚历山德拉述说我对意大利以及意大利语总有一种意犹未尽的感觉时，她回答说，‘这就是课堂上的意大利语与活生生的意大利语之间的区别’”。
学语言，就要对语言的历史和来源有了解，还要触类旁通，通过联想帮助学习和记忆。这本书做到了，确实很难得。