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Title: Midnight In Sicily: On Art, Feed, History, Travel and la Cosa Nostra
ISBN: 0312426844
Author:
Peter Robb
Publicate Date: 2007-11-27
Publish: 2007-11-27
List Price: $16.00
Average Customer Rating: 4.5
Format: Paperback
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $8.92
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $7.52
Amazon Merchant Price: $10.88
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| Customer Review: |
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1: Una Bella Storia
One word for this book.....wonderful. If you love the things that really matter in life such as good food, beautiful scenery, culture, history, interesting and diverse people, this book is right down your alley. Turn a corner and you'll meet the shadowy figures of the mafia and those who hunt them, turn right and you may meet those who protect them. But these are sidelines to what is an amazingly descriptive, poetic and lyrical book from a man who clearly loves his subject matter which is essentially, Sicily. Peter Robb has written a marvellous book which left me with the urge to pack my bags and run off to the hills of Erice to sample some linguine con vongole with a glass of the regional Fazio. If you have to read one book before your execution, make it this one. Simply delightful.
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2: Superficial
I bought this book after an Amazon's suggestion, and was looking forward for an overview of my country's history from the outside, but was disappointed.
I think it would be fair to say that Mr. Robb tries to set the stage for a review of the last 60 something years in Italy (and in particular Sicily) with the eye of the historian. Unfortunately he comes across as too politically charged to be successful in his intent.
When dealing with such recent history an historian can only do so much objectively, i.e. almost nothing. I felt the book is a partial view of Italy's politics, neatly divided between good and bad, with characters that are either a cross between a hero and a saint or between Satan and bluebeard. It hurts to see some of my heroes bunched together with opportunistic egomaniacs that did nothing to address the underlying problems and everything to work their own advantage. This might just be due to a difference in political views, but it makes you want to scream that yes, the facts might be somewhat there, but it is just half of the truth.
The most concrete indication of the futility of historic perspective on this topic is the fact that the book, published 12 years ago, feels already old. The exact opposite of Sciascia's writings on the mafia, that instead are current and actual as if they were written today.
I think the author's goal is admirable, but unfortunately the result is very simplistic, politicized and polemic, factious, barely scratching the surface, and ultimately reinforcing what everybody with more than a little experience on these matters thinks: outsiders don't know a thing.
The author tries to condense decades of the most complex interactions and dramatic events that have formed and plagued a nation whose dealings are already notoriously devious and complicated, into statements of right and wrong.
To the sensibility of an Italian (no, I can't generalize like this, let's say to my sensibility as an Italian) these statements are crude and na??ve, it is no surprise that to my knowledge this book is not translated in Italian and that there seems to be no Italian reviewer on this site. No offense to all the people who consider themselves Italians, but I am using the term "Italian" here in the strict sense, i.e. somebody who has lived the facts narrated in this book in the first person.
I wonder if I am the only one feeling this way, or if there is anyone else who has listened to the telegiornale growing up, with all the news of maxiprocesso and pool antimafia and Falcone e Borsellino and mani pulite, who sympathizes with me.
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3: Madonna mia ... bravo!
Great read ... informative and scary, the trips Robb takes the reader in and throughout the mezzogiorno made me hungry and thirsty and yearning for a six month vacation there ... the scary has to do with the Italian mob and how ruthless it was (is) ... Robb's wonderfully detailed overview of the history of the mob/Italian culture/government, etc. and how that cancer grew to a disproportionate mass is totally understandable within the context of this wonderful read. Bravo!
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4: Midnight in Sicily
This is a very intricately and detailed story of the mafia in Sicily. If you like a quick read it is not for you: Enjoyable otherwise.
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5: A great book to read before a trip to southern Italy
I read this book with pleasure and excitement. If you love Italy or are planning a trip to Sicily you need to get it In fact, jest read it, wherever you might be, maybe with a little glass of grappa.
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