Customer Reviews

The Ancient Shore: Dispatches from Naples

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Ms. Hazzard and Mr. Steegmuller have written a most astute and heart-warming book about Naples, Italy. They have felt the pulse of Naple, the temperament of the locals and written about it in beautiful prose.

Naples is always a mixture of chaos and calm; of shouting and respect; of colors and light. As they write, ". . . Neapolitans move among their extraordinary architecture as in a natural element: Even the gradest edifices are not "monuments" but expressions of temperament in their nobility, their strangeness or sweetness, their theatricality." Thankfully Naples is still relatively unvisited by hordes of tourists and remains our personal, secret jewel. Thank you to these authors for capturing its essence and loving (most) all of it !

The Ancient Shore is a very erudite collection of meditative essays on Naples, that ancient, mysterious Italian city that combines the ancient, the beautiful, the comedic, the diabolical and the grotesque into an admixture both arcane and awesome. Shirley Hazzard is an erudite author and her prose is learned and languid like the city she admires, although at times her writing can seem more somnambulant than sophic. The book includes a nice collection of black and white photographs.

Having lived in a suburb of Naples for two and a half years I could relate to much of what was written. The writing is so poetic and delicious that you will want to reread some of it to others just to enjoy it again. I only wish I had read this book before I moved to Naples so I could have pondered that unique perspective before facing the angels and demons that awaited me.

I love her books- her style, the language, the contents (never dull, yet never heavy)- just perfect! I love her fiction and now, also her essays! Must read if you love Napoli and surroundings... Brava!

An incredibly poetic book of essays by a wonderful writer -- you don't even have to have been to Naples to enjoy these!