Customer Reviews

Italian Lessons

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

 

 

Surely this is Peter Pezzelli's crowning glory so far - with the possible exception of Every Sunday (although the writing was good and the approach interesting, I found the subject matter, ie the adultery humor, troublesome), I have thoroughly enjoyed every book (which I read in quick succession one after the other) Pezzelli has written so far, but this is surely his best yet. His characters are delightfully real and the reader cannot help but think that he or she knows someone just like that. The youthful and naive romace is captivating and the reader is tranported into the world of the determined lover. The unfolding drama of the brothers reunited by tragedy, at first a puzzle and then slowly unravelling as one is taken back to the country and the people the proffessor once left behind. There too the characters are fullly rounded and almost tangible in Pezzelli's descriptions. The cameo appearance of Pezzelli's first character, Pepi, did not go unnoticed either...and the end is simply charming...if at once you try and fail, try, try and try again...what a gem - I can hardly wait for the next one! Bravo! Benissimo!

I second the comments of the reviewer who suggested that people who love all things Italian will find this book a pleasant read. I don't think the writing has much depth, but there is a certain authenticity to the characters and the locations that is appealing.

One of the reasons I decided to read this book is because I am attempting to learn Italian and thought it was nice to see Italian phrases sprinkled throughout the book. However, several times I questioned whether the phrase was correctly written, and was interested to see the post from the bilingual reviewer.

Ex. as written:

"Anywhere else you may call me Professore, but here I am simply Giancarlo, capito?"

"Capito," said Carter.

I think this should be "capisci?" or "capisce?" (if formal)..and Carter should reply "Capisco." "I understand." If I'm wrong and "capito" is an appropiate form that I haven't learned yet, my apologies to the author, but based on Bilingual's review I think there are some occasional problems with the use of the Italian language...maybe Pezzelli needs to find his own Giancarlo.

I picked up this novel to read on a plane trip and for this purpose it was acceptable. The setting is Providence, Rhode Island. It's the end of the school year at Rhode Island College. Loner and music professor Giancarlo Rosa is packing up to spend a quiet summer at home wallowing in his aloneness. Suddenly he finds himself confronted with jock Carter Quinn an all-American young man who has just graduated from college. Quinn has been told that Professor Rosa sometimes teaches students Italian in his spare time. Quinn is desperate to learn Italian so he can go off to Italy at the end of the summer speaking the language and looking for a needle in a haystack - a young woman named Elena whom he met briefly in Rhode Island. He doesn't even know her last name but seems to know the town in which she lives. The gruff professor takes Quinn on as a student. He excels at learning Italian. What happens when he finds Elena is quite predictable. Intertwined with this story is the story of the professor. Slowly we learn why he hesitates to fully engage with life.All things are resolved when a potential tragedy back in Italy brings the professor, his family and Carter Quinn together. Everything about the story is predictable. But if you love Italy - the country, the language, the culture you will find this novel mildly entertaining.

I am a real fan of Peter Pezzelli's. "Italian Lessons" takes the reader into the rural Italian culture, the food, the musical language,and love. It's a great "read", but ends all too quickly!

Italian Lessons is my fourth Pezzelli novel and by far the least satisfactory. The story in a nutshell: a college boy, Carter Quinn, falls in love with an Italian exchange student after spending a few hours with her. He discovers that she has returned to Italy and decides that since summer vacation around the corner, he will learn Italian and then go to Italy to pursue her. Giancarlo Rosa is an Italian music professor in town who sometimes gives out lessons in Italian during the summer. He reluctantly decides to take on the love-sick student. Giancarlo has a secret past that keeps him from composing music and renders him a social recluse even though a female colleague continues to pursue him. Ultimately our love-sick puppy heads off for Italy and the book's adventure results in terms of Carter's pursuit of love as well as Giancarlo's past being revealed. In fact, it is the latter that ultimately brings Giancarlo to Italy to meet up with Carter in rather hurried fashion. The story's ending was readily predicted about 1/3 of the way through the book. The characters, in my estimation, were not particularly well developed and what was most disappointing was the lack of development of the Italian culture which has always been my main interest in Pezzelli's novels. This simply was not one of the author's better stories and frankly left me questioning whether I would read a fifth. I continue to stand by my previous recommendation of "Home to Italy" and "Francesca's Kitchen" being Pezzelli's best books both of which demonstrate his love and understanding of the Italian culture.

Can love at first sight be the basis for a lasting relationship that spans the Atlantic Ocean? Carter Quinn is determined to find out. Smitten by Elena, an Italian exchange student with whom he shared a brief few moments before college graduation, Carter puts his future (and reasoning!) on hold and sets out to learn the Italian language and delve into its culture during the summer before heading to Italy to find Elena again and convince her of his undying love. To do so, he must convince Giancarlo Rosa, a music professor in Rhode Island, to give up some of his own free time during the summer in order to give Carter the necessary education he'll need. Rosa, still haunted by the long ago hurts and broken relationships that caused him to leave his small Italian homeland and never look back, is hesitant to give Carter his time. Fortunately, he sees a spark of something in Carter's passionate commitment to his unrealistic dream, and somewhat reluctantly agrees. He is a stern taskmaster, requiring every ounce of dedication and hard work that Carter has, but is also a rewarding one, providing Carter with an insight into the Italian heritage that becomes interesting and absorbing on its own, without the necessary drive supplied by Carter's unwavering pursuit of Elena. In the months that follow, during their grueling lessons and Carter's subsequent trip to Italy, the two men learn much from each other and form the beginnings of a bond that will open the way to Giancarlo's healing and Carter's own destiny.

Light and predictable, the plot of this book serves its main purpose - that of a vehicle to carry Pizzelli's beautiful love letter to Italy - quite well. The story is merely icing on the cake. Peter Pezzelli's novels are what the ideal travel guide should be. With their rich descriptions of the Italian people and countryside, they instill in the reader a deep admiration for and a desire to learn more of the Italian culture. Though they touch on the most significant or well-known locations and treasures of the country, they do so only briefly, encouraging the reader to discover them on their own. More importantly, they focus on the foundations of family and faith that are so central to the Italian heritage with a touch that is gentle, a bit romantic and full of homespun wisdom, showcasing all that is grand and beautiful about this ancient land and its people. Italian Lessons is certainly another treasure from Pezzelli that you won't want to miss.

This book may have a predictable ending, but it is worth the read. It made me want to continue to learn Italian. As unrealistic as it is at times, such as the main character's obsession with learning the difficult Italian language quickly so he could go to Italy to find a girl he met just once and knows so little about, it still holds your interest.

This item, as well as two other books, never arrived at my address, but I think it was the fault of the post office rather than the seller.

Fans of Peter Pezzelli's previous books will recognize the territory covered in ITALIAN LESSONS. Set mostly in a Rhode Island college town, with intermittent flashbacks and jaunts to various Italian vistas, the book harkens back to many of the well-traversed places and themes explored in home to Italy and FRANCESCA'S KITCHEN. But just as many authors tend to write what they know, so, too, does Pezzelli with his latest novel. Although he may not attract hordes of new readers (or sustain the rapt attention of old ones) with his semi-repetitive approach to storytelling, the fact is that Pezzelli has found a formula that works for him --- and, it seems, for his readers.

The book's young protagonist, Carter Quinn, has just graduated from college and is without a plan --- at least an entrepreneurial one. Instead, he's hoping to travel to Italy to find Elena, the girl of his dreams --- or so he thinks. Despite the fact that he had only spent one blissful night with her, and the nagging point that he knows nothing about her aside from the fact that she's from Italy and has gone back home to finish school, Carter is head over heals in love and must track her down at all costs to tell her how he feels.

Throwing all caution (and rationality) to the wind, he decides to put off getting a "real" job in favor of following his heart. The problem is, he can't speak the language. So he seeks out the help of a music professor, Giancarlo Rosa, who has been known to give Italian lessons from time to time. While the two don't hit it off at first, little by little their attitudes about each other --- and the task at hand --- begin to change. After weeks of rigorous training, Carter is finally ready to embark on his journey.

Before Carter leaves, Giancarlo gives him a watch to bring with him to Italy. The watch had belonged to his father, and Giancarlo wants Carter to travel to the tiny hamlet in the mountains where he grew up, to return the watch to his estranged brother, Giorgio, whom Giancarlo hasn't seen in 30 years. The reason for the two brothers' falling out remains a mystery to Carter, but because of his professional relationship with his teacher, he refrains from digging too far into Giancarlo's past and just agrees to deliver the package --- but only after he finds Elena.

What Carter eventually finds out about Elena may not come to much of a surprise to astute readers, but the lesson he learns is valuable, nonetheless. In fact, his much- anticipated encounter with her is almost an afterthought to what happens when Carter meets Giorgio and his family. When tragedy strikes, and Carter becomes the catalyst for a brotherly reunion after three decades, he realizes that maybe his ill-fated trip was worth it after all.

ITALIAN LESSONS is at once romantic, life-affirming and surprisingly entertaining to read. While the plot might seem too carefully crafted and clichéd to be realistic at times, less snarky readers who are willing to suspend their urge to critique in favor of being swept away will guiltily grasp onto this neatly wrapped-up story that is ripe for the silver screen. Connoisseurs of all things Italian will delight in the various Italian foodstuffs, cities, phrases and quirky Italian-esque habits mentioned throughout the book (including their maniacal driving tactics), and those in need of taking a risk or two might find themselves thinking twice about the well-worn path they've planned for themselves.

With ITALIAN LESSONS, Pezzelli wasn't trying to write an opus, and he succeeds at what he sets out to do. As Carter and Giancarlo both learn at the end of the story, sometimes the best things and experiences in life are those that aren't mired in excessive analysis, but those that are enjoyed for what they are in their simplest, purest form.

--- Reviewed by Alexis Burling

I'm bilingual in Italian and English. One of my pet peeves is finding bad Italian when I find books set in Italy or having Italian characters. In a book called "Italian Lessons", I found at least 5 grammatical errors in the Italian - and I'm only in the first half of the book! I'm writing this in the hopes that Peter Pezzelli will find himself an editor who will do a better job, or at least that he will find a "Giancarlo" who will help him correct the Italian that he is including in his books, and lend him more credibility. Spaghetti aglio e oleo? He can do much better!!!