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#Italia
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Caroline2
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There‘s currently a kindle deal on this book (set in Naples during WWII) if anyone is interested? It‘s on the International Booker Prize longlist even though I said I wasn‘t going to look at any more longlists and I certainly wasn‘t going to buy any more. 🤦‍♀️ 😂 #internationalbooker

BarbaraBB I bought this one too, I loved his earlier book 4d
Caroline2 @BarbaraBB oh good to know. 😉 4d
48 likes1 stack add2 comments
review
Gleefulreader
Eva Sleeps | Francesca Melandri
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Pickpick

This was an interesting book because I found myself caring slightly less about the main storyline (unwed South Tyroleon mother in Italy in the 1950-1970s) and more about the history of this now mostly autonomous region. South Tyrol is on the border with Austria and is primarily German speaking and got caught in events of WW1 and WW2 and Italian nationalism. A fascinating part of history that I knew little about. #europacollective

jlhammar Sounds good! 2mo
14 likes1 comment
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Tamra
Italy in Small Bites | Carol Field
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Time to make my 🎄feast grocery list!

Sans the roast beast. Can you imagine the price this year??? 🤣

Julsmarshall Ooh, can‘t wait to hear what you decide! I‘m working on our menus too. 3mo
Tamra @Julsmarshall for sure 5 cheese lasagna & focaccia, that is our tradition. 😋 What are you planning? (edited) 3mo
50 likes2 comments
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Gleefulreader
Lesser Islands | Lorenza Pieri
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Sometimes you go to the used bookstore and hit the jackpot. Snagged all these Europa editions this weekend plus a mint condition/brand new Penguin Clothbound edition of The Picture of Dorian Gray. Merry Christmas to me!

#europacollective

jlhammar Wow, gorgeous haul! I haven't read any of those Europas yet. I can't believe they had so many! 3mo
Chelsea.Poole Nice stack! 3mo
11 likes2 comments
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Graywacke
Italian Backgrounds | Edith Wharton
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#whartonbuddyread - Italian Backgrounds - 2nd half

Well. Your Italian tour has completed. Please grab your personal items, check for anything you may have dropped while napping, and take a stop in our little discussion store here before exiting. (Maybe i‘ve spent too much time on ✈️s recently?) Anything standout for you? Should we go back to novels after the holidays? (Next could be The Mother‘s Recompense)

Currey Yes, back to novels please. 3mo
See All 17 Comments
Currey @batsy @Lcsmcat @Graywacke As Batsy noted in her review the George Sand dis was quite the masterpiece of cruel 3mo
Currey @Graywacke - I enjoyed looking up the painters and paintings to help me see what she was discussing but I was again feeling as if I was so much NOT the intended audience for this book 3mo
Lcsmcat Like @Currey I felt like so much was going unnoticed by me because I am not of the time or the class. But mostly I think Wharton is just at her best when depicting people, rather than places. 3mo
Lcsmcat I‘m for returning to the novels, but I‘m not sorry to have tried this. And @Graywacke - your introduction had me giggling. 😂✈️ 3mo
Graywacke @Currey @Lcsmcat we are the wrong audience in many ways. I was hoping for some history, but I kind of got the sense Wharton assumed we knew all the history already and she was determined to find something we couldn‘t possibly know. She seemed to have a well read and well traveled audience in mind. 3mo
Graywacke My main problem is that a text catalogue of art works might make sense in 1905, but doesn‘t make sense today and it‘s not what we‘re used to. Those artist names and works fly by, and i found myself searching for something i would have a chance of remembering. 3mo
Leftcoastzen I didn‘t find a way to get my hands on this one . I was looking through a section of trade paperbacks I seldom look through & I do have a copy of The Mother‘s Recompense!😂 3mo
batsy That was my main issue too @Graywacke there's a lot that's assumed of the reader but we're not as smart these days, Edith! We have smartphone-ruined brains 😂 I was so hoping the other pieces would have the same tone and creative freedom, so to speak, as the Hermits piece. @Lcsmcat That's a great point, the novel suits her strengths better in terms of getting into people's heads. 3mo
CarolynM I intended to join in with this but I‘m just not in the right headspace. I will get to it one day, and when I do I know I‘ll enjoy everyone‘s comments. 3mo
Graywacke @Leftcoastzen it‘s not easy to find in paperback, and maybe not worth the effort. But, cool you‘re prepared for The Mother‘s Recompense. 3mo
Graywacke @batsy the hermit piece was terrific. And I agree, we aren‘t as smart these days. 🙂 3mo
Graywacke @CarolynM hugs. Join back in anytime you feel ready. 3mo
TheBookHippie I was so disappointed ! And @batsy 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 I don‘t think she was writing to us… sorry to be so late! Last weeks of school were 😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫 bring on the novels and winter break! 3mo
Graywacke @TheBookHippie enjoy your break! And yeah…about the book and our Wharton future. 3mo
32 likes17 comments
review
batsy
Italian Backgrounds | Edith Wharton
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Pickpick

This is my first attempt at Wharton's nonfiction. I am dazzled by the ease with which she synthesises myriad references to art & architecture. Her depth of knowledge is remarkable. People reveal themselves when they travel, but especially so when they write about it, & as such there's a glimpse of her snobbery. There were times when it felt like the references overcrowded her prose. Her formal descriptive powers in her novels are the highlight;

batsy here it felt like we were often given a rundown of how many examples she could cite, how many references she could make. I'm sure writing as a woman in that era would have made her even more determined to show that she knew what she was talking about, but it doesn't always make for compelling reading. My favourite pieces were "What the Hermits Saw" & "Italian Backgrounds". I haven't finished looking up her references! #WhartonBuddyRead @Graywacke 3mo
batsy (The illustrations in the Gutenberg epub edition, shown above, are by Ernest C. Peixotto. They are lovely and delicate drawings..."softer" than Wharton's artistic eye, in a sense!) 3mo
tpixie Love the illustration and your review. I‘ve never read her… so many books I need to read! 3mo
See All 12 Comments
Ruthiella I didn‘t even realize that she also wrote NF. 😳 3mo
erzascarletbookgasm Lovely review. 3mo
BarbaraBB Wow, I didn‘t know about her non fiction 3mo
JenDR Definitely checking this out. 3mo
CarolynM Lovely review. I will get to this sometime…😬 3mo
batsy @tpixie I know the feeling! #MountTBR I definitely recommend her novels 👍🏽 3mo
batsy @Ruthiella @BarbaraBB She was extremely prolific 🙌🏽 3mo
batsy @JenDR I do hope you enjoy it! It wasn't the best display of her strengths but her writing is always so elegant. 3mo
74 likes12 comments
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batsy
Italian Backgrounds | Edith Wharton
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"Still more Shakespearian is the scene of the pearl. Cleopatra, enthroned in state at the banqueting-table, lifts one hand to drop the jewel into her goblet, and in her gesture and her smile are summed up all the cruel grace of the 'false soul of Egypt'". Love it when words collide, in this case #WhartonBuddyRead & #ShakespeareReadAlong ? @Graywacke

The detail in this painting ? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Banquet_of_Cleopatra_(Tiepolo)

TheBookHippie 😍😍😍😍😍😍😍 3mo
batsy @TheBookHippie So gorgeous! 3mo
Graywacke I think this was my favorite line in this second part. 3mo
See All 8 Comments
batsy @Graywacke Same! 3mo
Lcsmcat That line jumped out at me too. But I think my favorite section was when she not-so-subtly pans George Elliott. Wharton is the queen of snark. 3mo
batsy @Lcsmcat Oh no, I must have missed that...zoned out when I read it, maybe 🙈 I did enjoy her snark towards George Sand! 3mo
Lcsmcat @batsy I shouldn‘t post before I‘ve had my coffee. I meant Sand. 3mo
batsy @Lcsmcat Haha, no that's a relief! I was worried I had missed out on reading the book while reading the book 😁 3mo
52 likes1 stack add8 comments
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GatheringBooks
Back to Bologna | Michael Dibdin
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#DecemberDreams Day 10: My #HolidayRomance while we were in Ferrara and Bologna two weeks ago. 🇮🇹🍝

Texreader Italy‘s the best!!! 4mo
Eggs 🇮🇹💞👌🏼 4mo
Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks Great photos ❤️ 4mo
40 likes3 comments
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Currey
Italian Backgrounds | Edith Wharton
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Onward Wharton readers - one of my favorite Correggios….

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AllDebooks
Italian Backgrounds | Edith Wharton
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#Whartonbuddyreads

This is a delight. It is so lovely to view European travel through the eyes of a rich American woman in the early 20th century. Edith Wharton provides us with a glimpse of a bygone world with her usual prosaic flair. I'm really enjoying this so far @Graywacke @Lcsmcat

Graywacke No. To answer that question. 🙂 Looks like you finished. Glad you enjoyed! 4mo
TheBookHippie I‘m loving this read. 4mo
AllDebooks @Graywacke lol. She's so snobby, tho 🙄 4mo
See All 6 Comments
Graywacke @AllDebooks yeah. This is true. And she has no idea… 4mo
Deblovestoread Not reading along but love the cover 😍😍😍 4mo
39 likes2 stack adds6 comments