"Italians" writes Beppe Severgnini, "arrive in Britain full of preconceptions: the English are reserved, they love tradition, they like to read and they hate to bathe. Over the course of a few days they discover that everything they thought is true. This discovery generates such euphoria that they go no further."
But England and the English deserve to be examined in depth and Mr Severgnini goes on to explore this mysterious island with irony and verve. He describes how the English dress, what they eat, how much they drink, and why they are so obsessed with a certain kind of wallpaper. It may not be a tourist guide but any tourist will find all kinds of suggestions, explanations and information about the country. "An Italian in Britain" irreverently explores a sampling of such British eccentricities as the mystery of the sinks with separate hot and cold taps, the secret of the millions of girls who go bare-legged in the middle of winter and can't say why and much more.

After making a bookring for "An italian discovers the US" from the same author, I'm going to make a bookring for this one too...

The bookring will go FIRST to UK, where the book will be commented (yep, :-P) and then travel in the rest of the world so we can read the opinions of the british bookcrossers...

UK Group
Lucycat (Hull, England)
Shylock (Skipton, UK)
Swisstoni (Nottingham, UK)
Loopy1 (herne bay, kent, UK)
Tanabata(London England)
YowlYY (London, England)
everybody else will be inserted BEFORE YowlYY...

Rest of the world tour...
Librarie (Oslo, Norway)
Juliebarreto (Kamuela, Hawaii, USA)
Cobaltcat (fresno, California, USA) (not answering to PMs)
Arugh48187 (Apple Valley Minnesota, USA)
Mysteryfan03
florafloraflora (Washington, DC, USA) (ex sugarkane)
Kernow8 (Southampton UK)
Pikapolonica (Sweden)
Annelis (Finland)
Catrionna (Merignac, Gironde, France)
Clawdia (Barcelona, Spain)
Agnul (Milan, Italy)
Nuela (Milan, Italy)
Pelodia (Rolo, Italy)

The bookring is starting its journey.
Sent today to Lucycat

Wheee! The book has cunningly navigated the current Postal Strike and landed here with me this morning. And it has departed with the last post tonight...it has been a horribly wet and windy wintry day today, so I curled up with the book and my little girl, and for once managed to get some serious reading done. Which isn't always easy with 'Tweenies' pottering around in the background...

This was a very entertaining book, although I think the cover makes it look 'fluffier' than it actually is...it's incredibly tempting to draw comparisons with Bill Bryson, although I do have to state for the record that 'Bill Is King'. ;O)

Severgnini writes with great affection about the odd habits, rituals and affectations of the Brits, and I have to say I laughed right along with him. When all's said and done, we're a funny old lot.

The only real gripe I have about this book is that while it claims not to just be a rehash of magazine and newspaper pieces, there's a fair bit of repetition in here, which often seems to happen when a journalist's work is gathered together in one volume.

Off and away now to my fellow BC'er Shylock over in Skipton. Happy reading!

Ta very much Lucycat!
Arrived by mail this morning from the opposite side of Yorkshire-travelling from the coast to the hills.

9th Nov:
Sorry-I have to say I preferred the good-natured wit of Bill Bryson, who is tactful, charming & funny even in the bits where he doesn't like us.
I also preferred Paul Theroux's 'Kingdom by the Sea' -although he can be quite nasty when he's in a bad mood, he's very eloquent in his tirades against us. He's also very perceptive to atmosphere & underlying feeling.(I can do a bookring for this one if anyone is interested.)

Many thanks for the opportunity to read this though, PP, I hadn't heard of it before. Posting not far away to SwissToni tomorrow.

This has arrived in Nottingham and I have already started to read it, so it should move on again soon (I'm supposed to be reading a Paul Auster ring, but this looks like it should be a relatively quick read, just don't tell YvonneP).

First impressions? The translation is a bit clunky and I'm already a bit bored (p.43) of the talk about Thatcher and the apparent obsession of the British with class. For the record, I hate Thatcher as she took away my free milk at playtime and I do not understand why everyone thinks we have a rigid class system. Does that make me upper middle class or just socially unaware? On the plus side it has already caused a row with my girlfriend (who was brought up in France) about the merits of having separate hot & cold taps.... (an argument familiar to readers of the Yahoo UK bookcrossing forum). We're about to re-do our kitchen you see....

Anyway - proper review when I'm done...

Sorry, but I didn't enjoy this book all that much at all. The Britain that Severgnini talks about just isn't one that I recognise. The obsession with class is not something that I am particullarly aware of, but the author seems obsessed by it. In fact, he likes putting people in boxes full-stop - I've never heard of Young Fogeys. There is far too much on politics here (and although his love and fascination for Thatcher may have been timely in the 80s, now it just feels dated) and there's not enough on the things I find genuinely interesting and amusing - like having separate hot and cold taps.
To top it all off, I think the translation is poor - it reads like it has been translated straight out of the Italian word for word, rather than idiomatically taking the sense of each sentence.
In summary: give me Bryson and his informed and affectionate views on the British any day. I'd be interested to hear an Italian view on this book - especially from Italians who know Britain well.
Thanks for sharing though!

This book has now arrived in the garden of England, where I look forward to reading it and making my comments.
Thanks guys :-)

I have to confess I didn't like this book much either.
To start with, the first few pages are all about Margaret Thatcher. Since I was still at school in those days it doesn't mean much to me.
I found the book full of over-generalisations - I live in Kent, and the author mentions other parts of England, but not my corner. I found I had little in common with Londoners or northerners and just didn't recognise much of the book - although the bit about taking four thankyous to buy a bus ticket did make me laugh - I've noticed this myself.
I felt the author was at his best when describing individual scenes, and at his worst when making his sweeping over-generalisations.
Sending on to Tanabata tomorrow.

Received this in the Saturday post (3 Jan '04), thanks Loopy1.
I wonder what I'll make of it being a non-Brit living in London... ;-)

As others have already mentioned, the writing and/or translation was a bit dry and in some places repetitious. Also, it's a bit dated now and at least for me, much too heavy on talk of Thatcher and politics in general (just not my thing!)
Some of the social commentary was interesting and in places I nodded along in agreement, like the separate taps for instance! ;-p
Overall, it was interesting to have a different perspective but not a book I'd recommend.

Posted to YowlYY this afternoon...

I don't believe it...the book arrived already ;-) Jokes aside, I knew that Tanabata was going to pass it on to me, so...here it is. Unluckily, I have 3 books waiting to be read before this one, so I will try my best and get this read within the next 14-21 days. Wish me luck!

Right. Here are my 2 cents ;-)
Firstly, I agree with what most readers already said: the book seems a conglomerate of articles (hence the repetitions) and for me, who read it almost within two days travelling to and from Germany, this just jumped to the eye.
Then, the big stress on the Thatcher years. Although I am a bit older than my predecessors here, I don't know very much about her either, although my British teachers at the school for foreign correspondents emphatized her impact on the current UK economy, bla bla bla...Was it really necessary to remind us on the Iron Lady every few pages? Another point that makes me think this book was just put together out of articles... hmmm...
I would have preferred an update on the current situation (the update on the back of the book doesn't mention at all the fact that Tony Blair lost a bit of his shiny image also with the Brits!), but it was disappointing to read only a very mild update on London.
But back to Maggie, I wondered why Severgnini didn't mention one of the issues I found most dramatic in impact on the UK in her politic career, i.e. the declaration of a general strike as illegal and reduction of power of the unions? It might not seem a big thing to some, but... in my country, we tend to go on the streets and show our disagreement to what the politicians do at Montecitorio (I believe it is still happening these days, please would the Italians here let me know if I am wrong?).Not only the students, or the workers, but also the middle class, housewives, grannies, actors, everyone who strongly feels for the issue will do his/her part.
Apart from the small demonstrations organized by some groups, the only big march on the streets I have seen in my almost 5 years in London has been the big march against the war, where I saw components of every class, I believe. But what about domestic policy? Do the British ever go on the streets and show their politicians that they don't agree with what is decided for them? Apart from a few fringe groups, and the local protests from students, I don't see a nation making its voice clear here. And this is what possibly Severgnini identified as "class society", even if he didn't express it this way. Maybe this is one of the issues that keeps people separated from each other in this country, the fact that the British don't see themselves as a nation apart from the times when
a. there's a sportive event of major importance
b. there's a war
Cannot think of other cases, really!
I haven't lived here long enough to write a proper review though, also because I would like to point out that I've lived in London so far, and London is hardly the representation of what Britain is. Whenever I've travelled in the UK, I have realized that people do live and think a lot differently than those I've met/known in London, so maybe Severgnini would have been better off writing a book on London/ers only? I guess so. His remarks on the Londoners and London life are maybe 90% true as far as I can judge, and I was very much amused and pleasantly entertained by all the talk on the bathrooms, exotic colours of carpets/wallpaper, the property market and the obsession with some period buildings, traffic issues and restaurants.
Unlike the other readers here, I haven't yet read anything by Bryson (although I own a few books, which are, you guessed correctly, Yet To Be Read!!) or Theroux, so no comparisons from my part, but a message to Shylock here: if you're still up to a bookring for "Kingdom by the Sea", I am game :-)
To put an end to this endless journal entry, thank you to PenelopePitstop for starting this bookring, and to the other readers for their notes. I am now very curious to read the comments that will follow...

Absolutely! Thanks for your interest. Please pm me if you want to be on it, i'll post on the forum now.

http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/1381024

Thanks YowlYY, this arrived this morning. I think that this book may mean more to me than some of the previous journallers because of my age and also because I was living in London during the years that Severgnini was.

I'm another one who didn't enjoy this book very much. The fact that it is quite disjointed due to being made up of separate articles doesn't help very much. I really think it would have been better if the book had been thoroughly updated rather than having a few more up to date articles stuck in at the end. I also think he overdoes the number of mentions of Margaret Thatcher, but perhaps this is just a reflection of her dominance at the time. That isn't how I remember it though.

There are definitely some things that I remember from London in the mid to late eighties and some of his social comment had me agreeing with him. I also admit that I am a big fan of mixer taps now and if I move back to Britain, I will be getting irritated by the two taps!

Thanks to PenelopePitstop for the chance to read this book!

6th March 2004
This is on its way to juliebarreto as Scramble asked to be skipped for the moment.

Received today. Thank you!

April 6, 2004 - Just finished it in the tub tonight. Very enjoyable, MUCH more so than his American effort. Granted, I've never been in Britain, but I definitely felt he was more familiar with Britain than the U.S. - his observations were seemed more substantive and not so superficial. I loved the little tube map that was included; it made his description of the underground come alive. I would love to go there and use it myself! Thanks for this fun opportunity to experience England throught the eyes of a foreigner.

As soon as cobaltcat sends me his or her address, it off to Fresno.

April 12, 2004 - As cobaltcat is incommunicado, I'm skipping over to arugh###. It will be mailed off today media mail.

This one has finally arrived in Minnesota. I think it waited for the weather to warm up. :) I have a few bookring books in front of it, but will get to it soon.

Egads, I am glad this book is finished. I will refrain from spewing forth all the things that I disliked about it and summarize in one succinct word: Yawn!

Released on Monday, July 26, 2004 at Post Office at 153rd and Garrett in Apple Valley, Minnesota Controlled Releases.

Mailed off to cobaltcat as she got accidentally skipped. Happy reading!

Received last week. Will read ASAP.

Thanks!

I've finally finished this. I enjoyed the book although sometimes think there is something lost in the translation as often happens.

Not having been to the United Kingdom, I can honestly say that it was difficult to nod my head at some of the cultural differences. I hope that one day I will visit and then I can make my own comparisons.

I got this in the mail this weekend! thanks so much! I have some rings in front of it and then will be back here.....

I thought that most of this book could not keep my attention, however the parts of the book that I found interesting were fun. I thought it interesting when he talked about how they do not rinse dishes, especially since there was recently a long forum thread about this very subject! thanks for passing this on....



Just a note--florafloraflora passed on this book, so it is on its way to Kernow8 in England!

Arrived yesterday - thanks! I admit to having a sneak peak at the accompanying journal and I'm looking forward to reading the book myself.

Sent to annelis today - pikapolonica requested to be skipped according to his/her profile page.

Here's what I wrote in the accompanying journal:

I think Severgnini really loves London, and as a result his writing about London had some spark and interest. He should have restricted his scope to London though as he obviously spent a lot more time there than elsewhere - his insights about provincial Britain were very superficial so the generalisations were infuriating. If he had shown more evidence for his opinions on Britons in general, as opposed to Londoners, I might have accepted them more readily.

Like others, I found some odd translations - I laughed out loud wondering why middle aged men would be wishing they could still fit in a canoe at Henley! On the whole though I thought the writing flowed well so the translation can't have been too bad. The proof reading was a bit slapdash though, as there were plenty of errors in spelling and, especially, punctuation.

Thanks for sharing this book. I really did enjoy the parts about London, or rather the parts that weren't supposed to be about the regions. I too am looking forward to reading the American one - I spent two years in the USA recently so it would be fun to compare stereotypes!

A very intresting book was found in my mail box yesterday. Some people have liked it and some have not. I am curious to see how I'll feel about it.

Later:
He had made some interesting linguistic observations. I liked these part most. The book was worth reading, absolutely!

I received the book yesterday!!! And I'm looking forward to reading it!

25.06.2007:
Couldn't manage to get into the book... I'll send it to the next bookcrosser as soon as possible.
14.10.2007:
Sent the book last week; at last!!!

Yay! Found it in the mail yesterday :-)

argh!
ho questo ring da un sacco di tempo!
ora mi sbrigo e lo passo.... (giuro)

concordo con Beppe Severgnini... le vecchie guide Touring sono diaboliche :-P