Customer Reviews

The Italians

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The world is full of books on Italy. Unfortunately, a lot of these are written by foreigners whose well-meaning observations are usually pretty mundane and often the product of some Summer holiday spent in Tuscany. Discussing the national character is not common in Italy (except of course when it's done with the ritual pessimism).

Given the small number of books on the subject, Barzini's book has much to recommend it. For starters, it was written by an actual Italian and concentrates on what makes Italians "tick" rather than on the more traveloguey aspects of the matter. Other writers have tried this, notably Tim Parks but Barzini attempts to explain Italy rather then merely observing it.

Although this could be a reasonably dry subject, the book is written in a fun, somewhat raffish style which never really drags. The author spent a lot of his time in the USA and many of his observations are interesting from an typically anglo saxon point of view.

To be fair, I DO have some reservations about this book. The main problem is that, having been written in 1964 the text is somewhat dated. The Italy described by Barzini is one of poverty and illiteracy and these days that world has (thankfully) faded pretty much from the picture. You can see a bit of Barzini's Italy in 1950s/60s Hollywood films such as "The Roman Holidays" and "It Happened in Naples". As another reviewer has pointed out, customs have also changed. Divorce, which Barzini found unthinkable, has been legal in italy for quite a long time.

On the other hand, a lot of his observations remain true and accurate. It takes a good long time for national character to change and a lot of what Barzini described still peeps out from behind modern day Italy. I think that the best way to read this book is not so much with a grain of salt, but rather with a large glass of water in order to dilute the author's conclusions a little.

The *substance* of the book is still accurate, it's just a little faded with time.

I heard of this book 40 years ago when a TV version won an Emmy award. I was inspired to read it after my most recent trip to Italy. Growing up as an Italian-American, I wondered why my people acted the way they do, and this book provides valuable insight. Barzini graduated from Columbia U., and it shows in his command of the English language. This book is a classic, but like most classics, it's old, so while much of it is timeless, other parts are out of date, both culturally and politically. However, if one wants to gain a grounding in the Italian culture, this book is a very good place to start.

Luigi Barzini has a unique style and presents his theories on the Italian psyche in an entertaining collection of anecdotes. Keep in mind that the view of Italians that the journalist Barzini presents here is his view, and in the beginning of the book he states that it is not a scientific study, simply an entertainment. With that in mind, the book delivers on the author's purpose.

As other reviewers have said, the work is a bit dated, and I wish there was something comparable that I know of, and could read. I also wish I read this book after my trip to Italy, rather than as a means of preparation for it. One needs to experience Italy first, and experience it deeply before one can really get all that Barzini has to offer. The book could have been more tightly written, each chapter takes off in a different direction, and I would opt for a definite objective for the book with more streamlining. I would have hoped that, by 1964, Calabria would have been more spoken about. My mother's parents came from there, as did many "mezzogiorno" who did not benefit from the "risorgimento". I don't think this was dealt with sufficiently in the chapter on the "Mezzogiorno Problem". Who was Barzini's audience?
On the other hand much of the information is enlightening. And some of it is entertaining. His conclusions are worth reading. But go experience the country for the summer first, and then come back and read this work.

This book explained so much! I highly recommend this book to anyone who has spent time in Italy and come away with questions. This book is not for armchair travel. It will not transport you. What it will do is identify what one Italian writer sees as "Italian traits" and then, in a somewhat academic way, pose some interesting ideas by way of explanation.

As an American living all over Italy I have been a student, a working woman, a guest, and yes, a tourist. Long before I ever even heard of this book I was full of questions and confusing experiences. Usually I'm pretty sceptical when people set out to EXPLAIN a "national character". But here Barzini addresses the very issues I've been puzzling over. I found myself saying "YES!" and underlining passages with big exclamation points in the margins.

There are two reasons I don't give this book 5 stars. Barzini's florid writing style just doesn't appeal to me. Also, while a lot of this book spoke to my own experience, I wondered how much of the rest is dated. I give it four stars but I think it's possible to pick and choose chapters according to your interests.

This elegant, but dated book appears to fit Mr. Barzini's pessimistic generation. Which after living through two world wars & the great depression is understandable. However, as he stated in the preface this is not a scholarly or scientific analysis. The reader should take his observations with a "block of salt." It is safe to say that the vast majority of books on national character are usually oversimplifications.

But, at times the author hits the target of the elusive Italian national character. I would read the forward & conclusion first, & than the book in its entirety. The heart of the book for me is on pages 331-4. As for the chapters, I will critique each in order, & give the most informative pages. Ch1, Visit Italy & you will find out for yourself. Ch2, history entices visitors. The main pages are 25-7. Ch3, This is very subjective, & all individuals must find out on his/her own, main pages of interest are 54-7. Ch4, This was repetitive, spectacle an ancient habit, main pages 68-70. Ch5, There is some truth for sure, pages 80-1, 92-3 & 100 are very intruiging. the latter page was even funny. Ch6, About the economics of the country as a whole. This was very dated even when the author wrote it. Ch7, hero or Benito lite? You will find this one very deep indeed.


Ch8, it is true enough that double delusions can increase chaos in ones society. Ch9, comfort with the status quo? Ch10, the Italians never truly adopted the farce of feudalism. Ch11, The refuge & torment of family. Pages 190-2 are very good. His analysis about the vast commonalities between Italian, Jewish, & Chinese families was truly striking. The economist Thomas Sowell noted the same traits in his 1981 book, Ethnic America. Ch12, this chapter could easily apply to any western society, there was nothing new here. Ch14, this was an enigma inside a labyrinth, pages 260-70 made for some noteworthy observations. Ch15, pages 283-92 will make the reader think deeply about life. Ch16, perhaps, the most interesting chapter? pages 309-13 were filled with the most fascinating facts. On the whole the author addresses the problems of a very divided society with some brilliant historical analysis. The pervasive problems of Italian society are there for all to see. But, Mr. Barzini gives no solutions. In certain ways he hints at the answers in chapter 7, "The Obsession With Antiquity." When the reader truly wants to know how & why Italians have remained so divided over the past fifteen centuries you will have to go back & study the late Roman empire. I suggest any books by Michael Grant or Adrain Goldsworthy as a good start.

If you have ever been to Italy, if you are Italian (100% or 8%), if you've ever known anybody Italian or eaten Italian food, this tome will shed light & help make sense of this beautiful country and her idiosyncratic inhabitants. A first edition paperback graced my grandparent's bookshelf since as far back as I can remember (30+ years). I took it home after my grandma (an Italian immigrant) passed away at the age of 97. I haven't been able to put it down since. If you're Italian, this book just verbalizes what you've known or at least suspected your whole life. If your not Italian, then you will probably say to yourself many times over, "that explains a lot!"
Happy reading!
Viva Italia!

I began reading this book expecting not much more than a decent, informative summer read. What I found was an always passionate, but not always on-target study of the Italian people by one of their own. While not all books on national character on worth reading, this one has merit.

Instead of looking at THE ITALIANS as a cohesive book, which it is not, I suggest you take it as a series of chapters -- some brilliant and right on the mark, others overstating a simple truism. In the former category, we have the two brilliant chapters at the end on Italian history after the defeat at Fornovo in 1495, and how foreign intervention led to the development of the Baroque in art, music, and life. Less effective are the chapters on Italian family life and how to succeed in Italy without half trying.

Barzini was dumbfounded at how the world was (and apparently still is) beating a path to Italy without understanding what every Italian knows. He asks, "Why did Italy, a land notoriously teeming with vigorous, wide-awake and intelligent people always behave so feebly? Why was she invaded, ravaged, sacked, humiliated in every century, and yet failed to do the simple things necessary to defend herself?"

THE ITALIANS does not answer these questions; but the fact that it posits them and comes close to answering them makes it a remarkable failure. I believe this book has been more or less continuously in print for 36 years, and with good reason.

Italy may seem at times like the animated, gaily-bedizened clown from the commedia dell'arte; but in reality, she is more like the tragic clown Pagliacci from Leoncavallo's opera, who, cruelly traduced, forces himself to laugh through his tears.

This was required reading before I spent a semester in Italy 20 or so years ago. Once I picked it up I couldn't put it down. Maybe this is because of political correctness but few people write books like this anymore where the writer has the guts to try to capture a nation's soul using history, journalism and personal experience. Barazini clearly loves his country but it's much the way one loves a hapless friend.....you know, a Beaver Cleaver type. The country has many incredible characteristics but can never find a way to leverage its brilliance into becoming a respected actor on the world stage. According to Barzini, Italy is destined to be a lot like Monty Python's Camelot: great in theory but ultimately a "silly place."

I just read a small excerpt of this book which I read in its entirety many years ago. I found the writing especially lively and interesting.
I also visited in Italy some months ago and have my impressions of that time to compare with what Barzini says. I also might add that I grew up in a neighborhood in Troy New York where we had many Siciliano neighbors who were our enemies at time but mostly our friends.
I also have a deep and sympathetic relation to the vast creative capacity of the Italian people throughout the generations, both in visual arts and in music. And I am aware too of the historical role, sunny Italy played for those lost in the cold north who dreamed of new life Goethelike in the land of the south. I too know that one of the oldest Jewish communities in the world is the community of Rome which as I recently saw is sadly depleted and has not recovered from the terrible deportations in the time of the Nazis.
All this as prelude to saying that Barzini does not give a comprehensive description of Italian character, but rather a series of essays which show to the reader aspects of Italian life.
The Italians lively, energetic, clinging to their own homes and ways so closely, so richly musical, so passionate in their enjoyment in life , seemed at one time to set a standard for how human beings should live.
I do not know how much of this book is dated, and how much Italy today is simply a depleted, demographically dying, aging and tired society.
In our recent visit to Italy though I felt a strong sense of the beauty of the place and the beauty of people.