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This is a good journey of discovery on how the Italian rail system operates but also how Italian society operates. This is a good book for any English speaker wishing to stay a little while longer here in Italy.

Una persona l'ha trovato utile

federico bercelli

lettura da viaggio

Recensito in Italia il 28 aprile 2016

libro ben scritto, con la giusta ironia. descrive molto bene luoghi e situazioni note ai pendolari e agli altri viaggiatori che abbiano percorso le tratte raccontate da Tim Parks, mettendo in evidenza aspetti che a volte la quotidianità non fa notare.

Interesting but a slow read

Kismet

Recensito in Italia il 20 febbraio 2018

I very much enjoyed Tim Parks' early books on life in Italy so did not expect to find this one to be such a slow read. All the facts mentioned are interesting but to be honest I think this book can be of particular interest almost only to foreigners living in Italy.

funny and unfortunately very true!!

Davide Devietti Goggia

Recensito in Italia il 11 novembre 2013

Being a daily train commuter and a long time admirer of the wit and elegance Tim Parks makes fun of our Italian ways and culture I couldn't but but his latest portray of the belpaese. Everything you'll read is totally accurate. Each and every page talks about how Italian trains defy travelers' mental sanity. If you're a foreigner you'll read about what you find when getting aboard. If you're Italian you'll read about your everyday traveling life. Either way.. A very accurate, pitiless and amusing read!! Bravo! You did It again!

Una persona l'ha trovato utile

vintage Parks. humour and insight

O. Klepper

Recensito in Italia il 16 settembre 2014

In his series of books on Italy, Tim Parks is a fine observer, mild but with deep insight into the deeper roots of Italian culture. Taking the railways' bureaucracy as his latest line of approach,he shows himself the best foreign writer on Italy alive.

Recensito in Italia il 16 aprile 2014

It describes italian people perfectly!Parks knows italians better than any other italian person and he describes the society through the best known stereotypes which often correspond to reality!

Recensito in Italia il 28 agosto 2015

Di facile lettura anche per persone meno avvezze alla lingua (mia mamma). E' molto interessante vedere come uno straniero veda e interpreti i nostri "usi e costumi".

Recensito in Italia il 28 luglio 2013

Un viaggio per l'Italia per capire, scoprire e conoscere i nostri "difetti" e le nostre "particolarità", senza scadere nei soliti luoghi comuni.
Mi è piaciuto molto e come frequentatore di treni, l'ho trovato decisamente reale.

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Ansgar Eussner

Take the train to understand Italy

Recensito in Francia il 31 gennaio 2019

The author exemplifies the history and way of life in Italy through his experiences made by travelling frequently by train. He mixes travel notes and astute and detailed observations with excursions into history and politics which make a capativating reading.

Diotima

Einfach hinreißend!

Recensito in Germania il 13 maggio 2017

Eines der amüsantesten Bücher, das ich je - auf meinem Kindle, in der U-Bahn - gelesen habe.
Abgesehen von der oft ironisch bis satirischen Perspektive des engl. Autors auf die italienische Mentalität...
erfährt man auch echt viel über die italienische Eisenbahn....ihre "Begründung" durch Garibaldi bis zu ihren
heutigen Defiziten (vor allem den finanziellen).
DB-Fahrer könnten wundervoll Vergleiche anstellen....
Einfach ein schönes Buch!

Allan Murphy

Arrivederci

Recensito in Canada il 8 settembre 2013

Parks extrapolates cultural values from his train travel experiences. Having lived in Italy for 30 years, he writes with affectionate criticism. Parks is open about his own eccentricities. My only complaint is that while he often wrote about taking photographs, there were none in my edition. A very enjoyable summer read - for any season, in fact.

Steve Gio

The Italian Bella Figura: Put on a good 'front'

Recensito negli Stati Uniti il 31 luglio 2013

I am not even finished reading Parks' book about seeing and experiencing Italy by train: I confess though, about 75% completed. This is one of those "I could not put it down" titles---something I would rarely venture to say about a work of non-fiction. Many times I was wiping the tears of laughter from my eyes . My non-Italian partner would look at me as though I had finally cracked up and 'gone over to the other side.'

Perhaps because I am a second generation Italian American who was fortunate to have older family members around when I was younger, those born/raised in Italy, some as early as 1878, and being raised in a now long gone "Little Italy' in Chicago, this book had me howling with laughter, understanding and repeatedly saying, "si, si, e vero!" (yes, yes, all true!) Having been to Italy to see relatives several times over 40 years, Parks captures the essence of Italianismo---which can occasionally drive Americans, Brits and Germans 'pazzo' (nuts).

The Brits, have had a love affair with sunny and warm Italy from the 19th century Romantic poets on forward. However, they are always "English" no matter how long they reside in Italy, no matter how fluently they speak textbook Italian, minus regional dialect. The Italians are not precise Anglo-Saxons. This Parks understands and respects, even though as a resident foreigner who teaches in University, his Anglo-Saxon frustration with Italian 'bella figura' of putting on a proper appearance, a 'good face' even under the most obscure and negative circumstances, is vital to understanding Italian culture and the importance of 'respect'.

His descriptions of the evolution of train travel, far from being tedious or boring, is fascinating at times as well as comically hysterical. I suppose because I understand elementary Italian, I found myself laughing to tears at the folly and non sequiturs of Italian laws and "regulations" regarding train tickets and travel. Nevertheless one does not need to know Italian at all to appreciate this good 'outsider/insider' non-Italian analysis of the train system as it reflects Italian society: maddeningly slow and illogical at times, yet superbly sleek, modern and fast. From a fat, mortadella reeking passenger chomping into a huge sandwich and who belches and loves to hear himself complain theatrically about how 'miserable' the train station personnel made his life, to young Italian college students who enjoy the 'Gotcha!" moment at which the Brit outfoxes the imperious and self-important train conductor, this perspective of Italy from trains is a welcome departure from the usual geographic reveries about the joys and frustrations of Italian life: from business-centered high fashion Milano to the sing-song patter of Palermo merchants in Sicily, I give Parks' creative approach to Italy five thumbs up and a resounding "Bravissimo!"

2 persone l'hanno trovato utile

Matteo_B

So much more than a travel book: absolutely spot on

Recensito nel Regno Unito il 11 giugno 2013

Apart from a rather silly typo at the start of the book which states that Parks travels from Verona to Milan via Genova Piazza Princpe, this is a delightful book and should arm anyone planning a trip in Italy using the trains. It will also provoke wry grins from those of us who are seasoned in the use of Trenitalia. As Parks explains the train system in Italy mirrors the Country itself: charming but also maddeningly bureaucratic and cussed in a way that drives those not familiar with it to distraction. You have to have you wits about you and be on your guard (and for heaven's sake make sure you stamp your ticket in the yellow box before you board the train) but at the same time the railway allows you to travel all over this wonderful country at a very reasonable (highly subsidised) cost: something that struck me as amazing on the first of my travels after putting up with the rip off fares in Britain. It also allows you to meet some wonderful people and this is something Parks also mention. Inter regional trains in Italy are made up of compartments of 6 seats and you can always bank on meeting some characters on the journey. Sure you can remain aloof if you don't want to talk but for me this is always part of the fun. Parks also describes the unique bustling atmosphere of Italian main train stations. Unlike the UK, they always give a sense of excitement of the journey for the journey ahead. You only have to go to Milan Cenrale or Roma Termini to get this vibe.

This is a book that has me looking forward to further journeys in the year ahead and has given me even more insight into that which I already have. It also has some lovely observations, especially about the deep south of Italy which is shamefully abandoned and an area which I have yet to visit. All in all then this book ranks alongside Italian Neighbours, Italian Education and A Season with Verona as an insiders commentary from a man who has lived in the Country for 30 odd years and raised an Italian family there. It is a great read.

44 persone l'hanno trovato utile