Rec's for books on Sicilian history and culture?
Aug 25th, 2004 | 10:12 AM
#1
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Joined: Oct 2003
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Rec's for books on Sicilian history and culture?
Hi all, just beginning the process of planning for a Spring 2005 trip to Sicily.
As I started trying to figure out the general itinerary, I thought it would be best to first delve into the fascinating history and culture and from there concentrate on the towns/cities that intrigue me the most.
Anyone have any rec's for books that do a good job of telling the complicated history of Sicily?
Cultural anthropology and sociology are old interests of mine, so I am so excited about going!
As I started trying to figure out the general itinerary, I thought it would be best to first delve into the fascinating history and culture and from there concentrate on the towns/cities that intrigue me the most.
Anyone have any rec's for books that do a good job of telling the complicated history of Sicily?
Cultural anthropology and sociology are old interests of mine, so I am so excited about going!
Aug 25th, 2004 | 10:37 AM
#3
Joined: Mar 2003
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First and foremost, Giuseppe di Lampedusa's "The Leopard," a novel, but what a revealing one!
For two -- just a tiny bit outdated -- views by Americans of contemporary Sicily, Mary Taylor Simeti's "On Persephone's Island" and Peter Robb's "Midnight in Sicily."
I've always wanted to read John Julius Norwich's two volumes on "The Normans in Sicily," but I haven't yet managed to find them.
If you don't want to settle for a "History of Sicily," you will have to go into each of the individual phases of Sicily's history: under the Greeks, the Romans, the Byzantines, the Arabs, the Normans, the Angevins, the Aragonese, the Spanish Bourbons of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies (and I've probably forgotten one or two of the invading nations that have shaped Sicily's history...).
Sicily is a fascinating and, in my experience, unique palimpsest of cultures.
Other Sicilian writers worth reading are Luigi Pirandello, Leonardo Sciascia, Giovanni Verga and, on a lighter note, Andrea Camilleri (detective fiction).
For two -- just a tiny bit outdated -- views by Americans of contemporary Sicily, Mary Taylor Simeti's "On Persephone's Island" and Peter Robb's "Midnight in Sicily."
I've always wanted to read John Julius Norwich's two volumes on "The Normans in Sicily," but I haven't yet managed to find them.
If you don't want to settle for a "History of Sicily," you will have to go into each of the individual phases of Sicily's history: under the Greeks, the Romans, the Byzantines, the Arabs, the Normans, the Angevins, the Aragonese, the Spanish Bourbons of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies (and I've probably forgotten one or two of the invading nations that have shaped Sicily's history...).
Sicily is a fascinating and, in my experience, unique palimpsest of cultures.
Other Sicilian writers worth reading are Luigi Pirandello, Leonardo Sciascia, Giovanni Verga and, on a lighter note, Andrea Camilleri (detective fiction).
Aug 25th, 2004 | 11:05 AM
#5
Joined: Feb 2003
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I don't have much to add to Eloise's list, except for two books by Dacia Maraini. "Bagheria" is autobiographical, and reflects on the changes in her home town of Bagheria, near Palermo. "The Silent Duchess" (in Italian "La Lunga Vita di Marianna Ucria"
is a novel set in 17th century Sicily. Maraini is an excellent writer with a definite (feminist)political consciousness and a knowledge of history and sociology.
is a novel set in 17th century Sicily. Maraini is an excellent writer with a definite (feminist)political consciousness and a knowledge of history and sociology.
