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Ryan's Reviews > Under the Tuscan Sun: At Home in Italy
Under the Tuscan Sun: At Home in Italy
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Plot: Author summers in Tuscany, buys an old farmhouse, refurbishes it, travels through Italy, and cooks constantly.
Review: Open up a "Sunset" or a "National Geographic Traveler" magazine, and imagine reading a beautifully descriptive & evocative 6-page essay on what it's like to live & work & cook in Italy. Then, when you finish it, flip the pages back and start the article again. But substitute the Zuppa Toscana with Porcini Risotto. The Pesto Crostini for the Fontina Bruschetta. A full-bodied Montepulciano for the earthy Sangiovese. And keep reading. Over and over again.
It's hard to read a 280-page book that has no plot. It's just hard to keep opening it up on the bus everyday. Each passage is very interesting, but a travel article - which is what it is - can only sustain a reader for so long, even when done well.
This book makes me want to visit Italy (Oh!, wait, as it turns out, we're going there on our upcoming honeymoon; lucky us!). It makes me want to bake a slice of bruschetta & top it with a rub of garlic, a dab of olive oil, & roasted eggplant. It makes me want to work in the garden & enjoy the sweat of manual labor before laying down for a lazy August siesta. It makes me want to say things like "Etruschi," & "Arrosto," and hang out with guys named Francesco and Primo. It makes me want to slowly sip a glass of Brunello di Montalcino in the fading evening sun. Essentially, it makes me want do something other than continue reading.
It makes me want to be somewhere else: Somewhere sunnier, where the cheese is richer, the vino is bolder, the afternoons are slower, and the magic of human civilization is much much older and wiser. I have the thrill of giving this book the most unforgettable and interesting bad review I've given so far.
Review: Open up a "Sunset" or a "National Geographic Traveler" magazine, and imagine reading a beautifully descriptive & evocative 6-page essay on what it's like to live & work & cook in Italy. Then, when you finish it, flip the pages back and start the article again. But substitute the Zuppa Toscana with Porcini Risotto. The Pesto Crostini for the Fontina Bruschetta. A full-bodied Montepulciano for the earthy Sangiovese. And keep reading. Over and over again.
It's hard to read a 280-page book that has no plot. It's just hard to keep opening it up on the bus everyday. Each passage is very interesting, but a travel article - which is what it is - can only sustain a reader for so long, even when done well.
This book makes me want to visit Italy (Oh!, wait, as it turns out, we're going there on our upcoming honeymoon; lucky us!). It makes me want to bake a slice of bruschetta & top it with a rub of garlic, a dab of olive oil, & roasted eggplant. It makes me want to work in the garden & enjoy the sweat of manual labor before laying down for a lazy August siesta. It makes me want to say things like "Etruschi," & "Arrosto," and hang out with guys named Francesco and Primo. It makes me want to slowly sip a glass of Brunello di Montalcino in the fading evening sun. Essentially, it makes me want do something other than continue reading.
It makes me want to be somewhere else: Somewhere sunnier, where the cheese is richer, the vino is bolder, the afternoons are slower, and the magic of human civilization is much much older and wiser. I have the thrill of giving this book the most unforgettable and interesting bad review I've given so far.
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Under the Tuscan Sun.
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Reading Progress
February 9, 2008
– Shelved
Started Reading
March 10, 2008
–
Finished Reading
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Hazel
(new)
Feb 09, 2008 07:12PM
Are you giving it a chance? I could not get past page 20, it was somewhat tangential and slow. But I guess it could be interesting if you're interested in anecdotes about finding plumbing in old walls, and observations about bugs and such. Hahah
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Sure I'll give it a chance. I'm only on page 13 so far. Hasn't been so bad yet that I'd have to put it down...
wasn't interested in reading it through. i'm glad to read these reviews and learn it was not just me. the title and picture are seductive but the reading was tedious. :-)
