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Italy behind the scenes?
Is there a hidden Italy that one doesn't see unless one starts looking for it? That's the question that undoubtedly comes to mind immediately, and the answer is: Yes.
This hidden version of the country exists in the minds of non-Italians who are seduced by the romantic image of a country of sun, sea, gondolas, pasta, and wine into thinking that Italy is paradise on earth. A paradise populated only by friendly, cheerful gondoliers who drink wine all day, sing "O sole mio," and have carpe diem engraved in their hearts. A country dotted with nothing but beautiful castles, restored country houses, and architectural wonder villas in a hilly landscape full of meticulously maintained vineyards, lawns trimmed with nail scissors, and no litter anywhere. A country without ugliness and mess where only beauty can be found. Ah...
Forget it.
Beppe Severgnini, italian journalist and author of books in which he tries to explain Italy, Italians, and even Berlusconi to bewildered foreigners, put it this way in La Bella Figura:
"Let me make one thing clear from the start. Your Italy and our Italia are not the same. Italy is a soft drug peddled in predictable packages such as hills in the sunset, olive groves, lemon trees, white wine, and raven-haired girls. Italia, on the other hand, is a maze. Demanding, but intriguing."
In this book the real Italy, hidden from occasional visitors, is revealed through a range of anecdotical true real-life stories, writtten by a Dutch expat who has been living in the country for almost twenty years.Dozens of stories in which an equal number of problems are solved in a completely Italian way, often leading to puzzled Dutch eyebrows and hilarious scenes.
In this book, the reader encounters countless characteristic Italians, from sympathetic to villainous, from touching to shameless. Real Italians made of flesh and blood, sometimes cliché, sometimes unexpectedly original. But always worth getting to know.
