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3.53 AVERAGE
3.53 AVERAGE
I did not feel the connection I thought I would with the author. I feel like there was a personal aspect that I was missing. I still liked her writing style. I also appreciated the colorful descriptions of the fruit trees, the pine nuts, walking the shops... Maybe if I was sitting on an Italian hillside it'd have hit me differently.
Sidenote: The longer I am plant-based, the less I appreciate books with food in it. I was grossed out by the idea of veal and such before... Now it is even worse :)
Sidenote: The longer I am plant-based, the less I appreciate books with food in it. I was grossed out by the idea of veal and such before... Now it is even worse :)
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
slow-paced
I thoroughly enjoyed this re-read in preparation for an upcoming trip to the region. Critics have panned Mayes’ book for its lack of conflict. But who wouldn’t enjoy spending a few lovely hours in a time and place without problems?
To be honest, I didn't finish this book. I found it to be mediocre and the writing style was difficult to get into. The author has written several works of poetry and I think that style spilled over into the book. I felt like I was thrust into the story and it was not clearly told. This is one of the rare times where I prefer the movie over the book.
A perfect book if you’d like to revel in the beauty, community, and food of the Tuscan countryside.
However, don’t expect a coherent storyline or plot. The writing is beautiful but mostly gives stream of consciousness vibes.
However, don’t expect a coherent storyline or plot. The writing is beautiful but mostly gives stream of consciousness vibes.
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
Read my full thoughts on this book and hundreds more over at Read.Write.Repeat.
Mayes' history as a poet shines through in her writing. Her prose is beautiful and wonderfully descriptive without being too sappy. It gets a little rambling at times, but in the way I imagine Italian dinners do. The languid journey is about just that - the journey, not the destination. No matter when I picked it up, I felt immediately transported to the Tuscan fields and hills. Mayes made my mouth water and my wunderlist ache.
Mayes' history as a poet shines through in her writing. Her prose is beautiful and wonderfully descriptive without being too sappy. It gets a little rambling at times, but in the way I imagine Italian dinners do. The languid journey is about just that - the journey, not the destination. No matter when I picked it up, I felt immediately transported to the Tuscan fields and hills. Mayes made my mouth water and my wunderlist ache.
Didn't keep me engaged - it was well written however and an interesting style
Not fiction - more of a memoir/experience
Not fiction - more of a memoir/experience
The beginning of the book was socomfortable captivating. She discussed renovating the house, etc. I was ready to move to Tuscany and do the same. However, I completely lost interest when she started talking about all the tourist attractions in the area that she visited.
I wanted to read this because I remember loving the movie. The movie came out about the same time my grandma chose to divorce my verbally/emotionally abusive grandpa. I chose to start reading this about the same time I was starting to get the resolve to choose to do the same as my grandma. Turns out that despite being a huge plot point of the movie, divorce is hardly mentioned and really not even important to the story of the book at all. That being said it shares the same settings and some characters. To an extent. Pretty much everything I loved in the movie is missing from the book. Everything I liked in the book was something a travel documentary would have shown better. That being said most travel documentaries have more plot too. It's a home renovation story about a college professor somehow being able to afford an Italian villa and olive oil farm. And then you realize where she's inherited the money from when she mentions her southern roots and the elderly black live in made from her childhood....yikes everything she flashes back to about her childhood made me cringe the rest of the book. Besides being a companion to a tough life transition it's boring no plot pretty scenery, meh.