Seasons in Basilicata : A Year in a Southern Italian Hill Village

Rating:
Summary: A fine work on a little known region
Review: David Yeadon has done a great service in his excellent narrative of a year spent in the remote and little known region of Basilicata. He initally is interested in the town of Aliano where the anti-fascist writer Carlo Levi was exiled in 1935. There he and his wife spend a year getting to know the region and its people.
I would recommend reading Carlo Levi's Christ Stopped at Eboli before reading Seasons in Basilicata. I would also recommend the film of the same title based on Levi's work.
The only small criticism I would make is that there could have been more careful editing. There are some instances of misuse of Italian words: such as using "padronale" as a noun--it is an adjective relating to a "padrone" or boss in all senses of the word. There was also an instance where he gives the equivalent of fifteen million lire as seventy-five-thousand dollars: it was actually less than ten-thousand dollars. But, considering the work as a whole, these are minor.
Thanks to David Yeadon for exposing this hidden corner of Italy. The reader will find a place far different from the Italy on the tourist trails--and he or she will be richer for it.

Rating:
Summary: Somewhat disappointing
Review: I bought this book with high hopes...my husband loves the book "Christ Stopped at Eboli", we've lived in southern Italy for over five years when you add it up (thank you, U. S. Navy!), and the reviews were promising. I have to admit that I was disappointed, and my husband couldn't even bring himself to finish the book. What bothered me most was that the author, who is a veteran travel writer, took himself off to Italy for an extended stay and didn't bother to try to learn more than tourist Italian before he got there, and then didn't manage to improve his language skills once he was settled. Most of the interviews and conversations he describes in the book were translated for him by someone else. Now, I am the first to admit that Italian is a fairly complex language, especially when it comes to verbs. However, I can attest to the fact that it's possible to learn basic Italian by living in Italy and trying very, very hard to speak with everyone, read newspapers, watch TV, etc. The author's failure to do this results in some assessments of southern Italian life that are a little off kilter. For example, his reference to "colpo grosso" in the section about Italian eroticism and TV shows misses the fact that the game show he was watching was a well-known game show with that phrase as its name. (It's now syndicated.) It isn't a genre of TV shows at all.

I did love the author's sketches of the Basilicata region. I wish he'd sketched more and written less, because I would have liked the book a great deal more. Basilicata is indeed a wonderful and under-rated region of Italy. It has much to offer; it's mysterious, beautiful, remote and unique. It's nice to see that publishers are interested in bringing out books that reveal the secrets of the "untouristed" Italy.

In summary, I got the feeling that Mr. Yeadon would have loved his time in Italy even more than he did had he been able to understand more of what people were saying around him, and the fact that he didn't appear to try (based on what he wrote in the book) to learn Italian, or even to get a tutor, really bothered me. He missed out on a lot of the subtleties of Italian life by not learning more of the rich, musical Italian language. Living in Italy is a complicated, rewarding and frustrating experience, but it can be life-changing. The author would have experienced more of the true Italy had he been able to talk more with the people he saw each day.


Rating:
Summary: Delicious!
Review: Read this book. You won't be disappointed. Although its initial appeal for me was the connection to Carlo Levi's, "Christ Stopped at Eboli," I was enchanted by Yeadon's narrative of daily life in a small town in the Mezzogiorno. I am a little tired of the mania for Northern Italy and have been seeking to experience the "other Italy." After all, it was the southerners who migrated to America in vast numbers and it is their legacy that has thrived and enriched the culture of the United States. If you enjoy this, read Paul Paolicelli's "Under the Southern Sun." Both of these books are a feast. Buon appetito!

Rating:
Summary: Interesting, Humorous, Entertaining
Review: Thanks to a previous reviewer, after checking this book out of the library I decided that I'd better read "Christ Stopped at Eboli" first. The books, read together, make for a wonderful literary experience. "Christ Stopped at Eboli" is really a masterpiece, and after finishing it, I was even more interested in reading "Seasons in Basilicata" and finding out more about this fascinating part of Italy.

Having read a number of travel books in the last year, I would rank this book in the top third. I like the fact that Yeadon spent almost an entire year in this one little town; in some books (like "Under the Tuscan Sun"), the author makes twice-yearly visits to an area -- I don't think it's possible to really capture the "flavor" of a place under these circumstances. Also, Yeadon has a good sense of humor, and there were many places in the book where I simply laughed out loud. While the food of the area was certainly described with relish, it wasn't overemphasized. Yeadon has lots to say about lots of things -- and I came away from the book with a much better understanding of the history, architecture, economy, and atmosphere of the area. Yeadon clearly has a gregarious, extroverted personality which shines through the pages -- he got to know a lot of natives on what seemed to be a more than superficial level. When Yeadon's year in Basilicata was over, the sense of poignancy and sadness at leaving was palpable.