Customer Reviews

City of the Soul: A Walk in Rome (Crown Journeys)

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After World War II, a young student who grew up with "the sounds of Rome" in his ears returned to the city of his childhood to study opera. On the fifth floor of an apartment on the Via Fontanella Borghese, where an hour-long lesson cost fifty cents, this young man "cracked a high note at the end of an aria." A voice called out from the courtyard below that he should change his profession. Lucky for us, he did.

In CITY OF THE SOUL, William Murray, who began his writing career as a stringer for Time-Life and later penned The New Yorker's "Letters from Italy" column, quickly proves that there is no better way to see Rome than on foot. He wends his way from the Piazza del Popolo, just inside the ancient Aurelian Wall on the north side of Rome, through the medieval streets in the historic Centro, to the Jewish ghetto on the banks of the Tiber River.

Murray offers a new perspective on heavily trafficked tourist sites like the Piazza di Spagna, where on weekends "all of Rome seems to be passing through" and the Pantheon, which until 1847 was the site of a fish market. From the Colosseum to the Castle San Angelo to the Forum, he makes clear why it is "impossible to go anywhere in the city without becoming involved in its past. The very stones you stand on are the ones over which emperors, kings, popes, nobles, artists, soldiers, humble folk and history's great rascals and victims all passed in an endless procession dating back over twenty-five centuries to the city's founding."

For Murray, a walk through Rome is as much about his own personal history as it is the city's past. It's these personal memories and shared stories that add an intimate quality to CITY OF THE SOUL and elevates it above a traditional guidebook. In particular, Murray recalls moments from his childhood with his mother, grandmother and two aunts. As he walks the city, "the streets seem emptier and haunted by the ghosts of these four Roman women."

If you're interested in more than armchair travel, CITY OF THE SOUL is filled with tips for visitors to Rome. The delights of the Villa Borghese --- and the grounds on which it is located --- should not be missed. Walk along the Via Condotti and then turn back for a spectacular look at the Spanish Steps. Both tourists and locals frequent the cafes, restaurants, wine bars and shops in the Piazza Navona, "the beating heart of the city." The roof of the Capitoline Museum is open to the public and "provides the most magnificent view over the whole city."

Murray returns to Rome every spring and it's easy to see what keeps him coming back. In CITY OF THE SOUL, he quotes an English friend who has long resided in Rome: "It's not only the physical beauty of the place.... It's the smell of it, the aura of great history in the stones of every street and every building. To be in Rome is to be in touch with everything in life that really matters."

--- Reviewed by Shannon McKenna

So many people have written books about their personal lives in Rome. William Murray was a long-time resident of the eternal city and continues to go back each year. I lived in Naples for a couple years and every chance I had I went to Rome. It was only a two hour train ride and it was nice to be able to "do Rome" in short one and two day visits instead of the tourist gun shot through Rome in a week. I must have visited Rome 20 times and I still haven't seen everything there is to see. The only solution is living there and that is what the author did. His book is part history lesson part personal passion. He describes neighborhoods, churches, and monuments from a travelers perspective and from the historians perspective. He relates personal stories including his family, artists, and just people he knew in "the neighborhood." If you have a few days to spare before your trip to Rome you should read this book to give you some personal insight from someone who has been. It is very easy to read and once you start, it will be hard to put down.

Before you read on, perhaps you should know where I'm coming from: I've spent a great deal of time in Rome and Sicily every year since 1994. William Murray's little book about Rome is part of Crown's Journeys series. It's worth perhaps a quick hour's read by someone who has never been to or read anything about Rome; i.e., if you know absolutely nothing about the Vestal Virgins, you'll find a very brief but informative paragraph about them. Tourists will not find the book helpful. Although the book has a 2003 imprint, there are many indications that the chapters are reprints. For example, Murray wrongfully says that the Villa Borghese is not open to the public, whereas it has been open to the public for more than a year; and he refers to the Holy Year as "looming," whereas it has long since ended. There is some anti-American sentiment: Murray suggests that if Rome had been turned over to American engineers, they would have demolished the forums and the Colosseum; yet he flatly contradicts himself with an anecdote about an American millionaire who wanted to buy and restore the Colosseum. (In actuality, anyone who has been to Rome can tell you that the Italians need no help in allowing the degradation of their monuments.) A quotation from William Wetmore Story does not identify Story, not even to indicate that he is one of the more notable permanent residents of the Protestant cemetery in Rome. While he tells us that Janet Flanner was his mother's dearest friend and lover, you'll have to go elsewhere to learn anything about Flanner's place in literary history. Beyond that reference to Flanner, Murray's family reminiscences are quaintly meandering and do little to reveal Rome as a city of the soul.

City of the Soul - I certainly have to concur with author Murray that Rome is a unique and wonderful place. This little book is a gentle pleasure to read. Not much new here, but there are some interesting factoids and it's nice to read of this man's personal attachment to a place that I also love. He's a good writer with the soul of an opera singer, which he originally wanted to become, and has a genuine talent for describing some of the very special locations that exist only in the eternal city.

J.Tom Cooper (gktemugen@aol.com), book reviewer for a radio network., May 5, 2004,
A wonderful banquet of Roman anecdotes
I reviewed the 2-CD version of this book for my radio network and found it delightful. I have been to Rome many times, but Mr. Murray's delightful blend of personal and family anecdotes merged perfectly with his description of some famous and some less famous parts of the city. His pleasant vocal narration and his obvious thorough knowledge of the city kept me interested through the entire book on CD. I found myself taking notes on each piazza or building he described so that I could go back and experience them again. It isn't your typical guidebook description, but it is a perfect companion to a conventional book on Rome. His personal anecdotes about his family, lovers and friends were a welcome bit of spice. I recommend it highly.

Rome is my favorite city on earth, but Mr Murray is in a bad mood all the way through his book -- a bad mood he holds against wonderful Rome. He sounds like a returning vacationer who can remember only the miseries of the trip and relates each and every one of them to all he meets, forgetting the beauty and pleasure of the journey.

Rome is surely not perfect, and in its imperfections lie its joy and humanity -- at least that is what I have found in my visits there over the past 30 years. On our last trip, we took a tiny apartment overlooking a lively piazza providing a never-ending parade of Roman life, a cafe-circled plaza hosting a vegetable and clothing market in the day and a gathering spot for strollers, musicians and jugglers in the evenings. Mr Murray's take on that same piazza? That it is annoying, loud, scruffy, blah blah.

I agree with another reviewer here that some of the book is out of date, but the gloomy attitude pervading the entire work is its worst flaw. A better book is H.V. Morton's "A Traveller in Rome", written in the 1950s, but still an accurately charming and evocative love song for a great city and its ever-present history.

Sorry, Mr Murray. Attitude adjustment time.

I enjoy reading books about Rome and its history, architecture, art and religious foundations. I appreciate constructive criticism and historical honesty in a book. This book, however, was disappointing in its repetitive and gratuitous criticism of most of the religious (Christian) aspects of Rome. In most instances the criticism was unneccessary for the story. I was left with the feeling that the author had an axe to grind. In fact "City Without a Soul" would have been a better title. The author's superfluous chapter describing his "love affair" with a married woman was baffling. I have no idea how those materials got past the editors.

William Murray's account of his life in Rome is an interesting read. Far from serious history his story is personal and gives the reader an "insider" view of the eternal city. I have been to Roma a couple of times and have many cherished memories of the city. Mr. Murray seems to have a strong undertone of angst toward Rome (perhaps from his unrealized dreams of opera stardom) but these far from spoil the entire book. As another reviewer commented his disdain of Catholic Rome and his affair with a married woman did seem out of place, but all in all this book was worth a read.

This is an excellent, first-hand overview of Rome by an author who knew the city as a place to be lived in as well as to be visited. Without glossing over Rome's problems (which are not negligible), he presents a sympathetic and exciting portrait of the city from ground-level. This is an excellent source of information about what to see and what to look for. It is not a detailed guidebook, but there are enough of those around already. Reading Murray's book will whet the appetite of any prospective visitor.

I finished this book wanting to read more - about Rome and about William Murray and his family. Shortly after finishing City of the Soul, we went to Rome and enjoyed many of the walks he described. Not only that, the maps on the end pages are excellent, and the small size of the book makes it an ideal book to take along.

Murrays' mother was Italian and he grew up in Rome, although he was just as at home among Americans and British. While guiding us through central Rome and the discussing the history of the landmarks, he talks about growing up with his journalist mother and her lover. Murray's Rome is populated with artists and writers and this is both a great walking tour as well as a revealing journey of post-war Rome.