Italian Neighbors : Or, A Lapsed Anglo-Saxon in Verona

by Tim Parks

Release Date: 01 June, 1993

Edition: Paperback

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Witty, without any treacle

I enjoy _Under the Tuscan Sun_ when I'm in the mood for a touch of poetry, as melodramatic as the book sometimes gets, but I have never made the mistake of believing that it describes the reality of living in Italy. With Tim Parks, however, what I get is a sympathetic, yet not rosy-clouded story about why he decided to make Italy his home, and what happened after. Told with humor, a good eye for dialogue and character, and with an underlying affection for his adopted country that comes through. Yes, the incident with the dog threw me a little, although I'm not sure it wasn't a bit of hyperbole to emphasize how miserable it is to have a howling dog outside your window at all hours. I also realize that my American attitude towards pets can be very different from the Italian attitude, as the abandoned dogs at Pompeii demonstrate. Either way, it shouldn't be enough to spoil the book for you, especially since the dog is not harmed.

Some merit, serious demerits: Italian Neighbors

Although Tim Parks has produced an interesting account of life in Italy, Italian Neighbors has flaws that will make some readers very uncomfortable. Italian Neighbors contains vignettes of Parks' first year living in a small Italian town, with lots of descriptions of his neighbors and his surroundings. Parks does not provide many details about his life, but apparently he's a British expat married to an Italian, who lives or has lived near Verona.

The crucial thing to remember while reading this book is that Parks is a novelist, not a travel writer or a journalist. This changes the way he portrays Italy. As an example, he tends to present his neighbors and friends as characters rather than as people; the difference is hard to quantify or explain, but it becomes obvious during reading. Those who actually live in Italy, or who merely have Italian friends, will probably be fairly shocked to see Italians portrayed as such quaint and odd little people - frankly, it sounds rather patronizing. However, I'm convinced it wasn't intended this way; I think Parks is simply viewing his world, and writing about it, the way a novelist must. Still, this presentation detracts heavily from a reality-based book.

My most serious problem with the book, though, was the portrayal of animal mistreatment. I think Parks badly misunderstood his audience here. He's writing in English, and as a group, the natives of English-speaking countries tend to be among the most sensitive to animal cruelty and neglect. Depsite this, he cheerfully details the absolute miseries - and the wretched death - of his neighbor's maltreated dog, Vega. Worse yet, he devotes several pages to his plans to poison the poor animal. It's sickening, and Parks really harps on it, returning to the topic of Vega in a number of chapters. I wished very much while reading this book that Parks had been kinder to Vega. At the least, if he couldn't display any real caring or empathy, I wanted him to stop telling me about his callousness. He didn't. Dog lovers will probably not love this book.

The book also has strengths. Parks is very good at capturing the essential nuttiness of the Italian bureaucracy, and tells several amusing anecdotes on that topic. The author also does a good job at describing an interloper's gradual acceptance into a small town, and he portrays several of the moments in this process - the first greeting, the first friendship - with great realism and feeling. These promising elements were enough to keep me, at least, reading to the end, but they weren't enough to make me love the book.

Summary: Italian Neighbors, while an interesting perspective on small town Italy, falls short in enough areas that it probably will be truly enjoyable only to those who can never read enough about Italy (and who don't care much for dogs). But for many armchair travelers and expats, the book's merits will provide sufficient justification for a single reading of a library book. Borrow, don't buy.