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A celebration of the language and culture of Italy, La Bella Lingua is the story of how a language shaped a nation, told against the backdrop of one woman's personal quest to speak fluent Italian. For anyone who has been to Italy, the fantasy of living the Italian life is powerfully seductive. But to truly become Italian, one must learn the language. This is how Dianne Hales began her journey. In La Bella Lingua, she brings the story of her decades-long experience with the "the world's most loved and lovable language" together with explorations of Italy' s history, literature, art, music, movies, lifestyle and food in a true opera amorosa -- a labor of her love of Italy. Over the course of twenty-five years, she has studied Italian through Berlitz, books, CDs, podcasts, private tutorials and conversation groups, and, most importantly, time spent in Italy. In the process the Italian language became not just a passion and a pleasure, but a passport into Italy's storia and its very soul. She invites readers to join her as she traces the evolution of Italian in the zesty graffiti on the walls of Pompeii, in Dante's incandescent cantos and in Boccaccio's bawdy Decameron. She portrays how social graces remain woven into the fabric of Italian: even the chipper "ciao," which does double duty as "hi" and "bye," reflects centuries of bella figura. And she exalts the glories of Italy's food and its rich and often uproarious gastronomic language: Italians deftly describe someone uptight as a baccala (dried cod), a busybody who noses into everything as a prezzemolo (parsley), a worthless or banal movie as a polpettone (large meatball). Like Dianne, readers of La Bella Lingua will find themselves innamorata, enchanted, by Italian, fascinated by its saga, tantalized by its adventures, addicted to its sound, and ever eager to spend more time in its company.… (more)
User reviews
Despite the specificity of the title, Hales has actually tried to squeeze three different topics in one volume: (i) an exploration of how the modern Italian language developed as well as its social and cultural impact, (ii) a series of personal reminiscences about her travels and interactions in Italy, and (iii) several brief chapters focusing on that country’s contributions in areas such as art, literature, music, and food.
Each of these subjects might make great separate treatments—and already have in the case of the second and third topics—but they don’t mesh seamlessly here. In particular, while many of Hales’ insights about the language were fascinating (e.g., the discussion of La Crusca academy), the historical chapters are both quite cursory and have little connection to her ostensible purpose; just translating words from Italian to English or vice versa does not really qualify as a “celebration” of the language. Overall, I would still recommend this book for what it is, but that recommendation would have been far more enthusiastic if it had had a tighter focus.
Hales writes about her immersion in Italian language and culture like someone who wishes they’d been born there. The Italian language tells the story of its speakers and its nation. Shaped through its folklore and metaphors, Italians can speak of someone who is “piu tondo dell’O di Giotto” (rounder than Giotto’s O, or slow on the uptake) or someone who doesn’t know his “Galateo” (a historical guide on etiquette written in 1558 and still used a model of behavior). Every syllable becomes a world with new and exciting characters.
Hales writes with wit, verve, and childlike glee. She shapes the history of the language around the stories if Italy’s cultural institutions—its food, its art, and its music. While some of her travels seem a bit showy (she gets tickets to Milan’s La Scala and chats with Roberto Benigni), her conversations with Italian friends illustrate the core of the language. It’s meant as a way for the Italian people to continue to share their pride in their nation and history as well as their absolute love for the Italian way of life. While reading this book, I found myself almost constantly saying the Italian words and phrases out loud to hear them come off the page. By the end, you want to learn the whole language, to wrap it around you, so “cominciamo”—let’s get started.