Dianne Hales

Italian really is one of the world’s most enchanting languages. Dianne Hales’s La Bella Lingua takes the reader on a sumptuous journey through the words of Michelangelo, Dante, and Verdi. Although Italian only has about a third of the words that English has, their meanings are more precise and more elegant. Each word becomes a story. Take “furbo” for example. It means a small deception, but a furbetto is a small child who gains through deception, a furbastro makes money through show more trickery, and a furbizia is a clever use of deception in language. Only Italian could pull off these hidden layers.

Hales writes about her immersion in Italian language and culture like someone who wishes they’d been born there. The Italian language tells the story of its speakers and its nation. Shaped through its folklore and metaphors, Italians can speak of someone who is “piu tondo dell’O di Giotto” (rounder than Giotto’s O, or slow on the uptake) or someone who doesn’t know his “Galateo” (a historical guide on etiquette written in 1558 and still used a model of behavior). Every syllable becomes a world with new and exciting characters.

Hales writes with wit, verve, and childlike glee. She shapes the history of the language around the stories if Italy’s cultural institutions—its food, its art, and its music. While some of her travels seem a bit showy (she gets tickets to Milan’s La Scala and chats with Roberto Benigni), her conversations with Italian friends illustrate the core of the language. It’s meant as a way for the Italian people to continue to share their pride in their nation and history as well as their absolute love for the Italian way of life. While reading this book, I found myself almost constantly saying the Italian words and phrases out loud to hear them come off the page. By the end, you want to learn the whole language, to wrap it around you, so “cominciamo”—let’s get started. show less

If you love Italy—and if you don't love it now, you definitely will, after reading this engaging, vibrant tribute to Italy! Knighted by the President of Italy for her writing about Italy, author Dianne Hales describes the native, inherent passion of Italians—la passione italiana— as the source and nurturer of our civilization's love for art, music, architecture, cars, ceramics, sculpture, design, literature, film, food, and wine.
Where does one even begin in order to write about the show more profound, over-arching influence of Italy on our cultural histories and our daily lives? Hales opens this delightful and enchanting book with a lively history of Italy itself, her vivid prose bringing ancient and medieval peoples and a rich culture to life. Then, readers are drawn into her heartfelt enthusiasm for Italy, joining her in an odyssey of delightful discoveries, helping them to delve into fascinating stories about the many cultural icons whose genius—and Italian passion for life— we have seemingly taken for granted, but see with new eyes from her thoughtful perspective. She writes, "More than a country, Italy embodies a culture that has transformed art and architecture, language and music, food and fashion." Quoting an Italian cultural historian, Hales enlightens us with, "Passion—and passion alone—lifts us above the ordinary. Without passion, there would be no literature, no art, no music, no romance, perhaps none of the wonders Italians have wrought. Beyond sentiment or emotion, la passione italiana qualifies as a primal force of nature that cannot be ignored or denied."
Hales links the native passion of Italian cultural luminaries clearly to each artistic and cultural endeavor—so that we understand how the passion that drives the artist is communicated to and manifested in the passion of the beholder upon seeing, viewing, or listening to the work of art. Her thoroughly-detailed and conscientious research describes each cultural treasure so vividly that readers don't even realize they are being treated to college-level knowledge, which, in someone else's words might be drily-recited facts. We see even the familiar through new eyes, through Hales's clear-eyed lens, enthralling us with stories of, among many, many others, Dante, Michelangelo, da Vinci, Raphael, Verdi, Puccini, Armani, Fellini, and Ferrari. So many times, upon reading another delightful anecdote and story of yet another Italian cultural treasure, I found myself exclaiming, "I didn't know that!" Bursting with talent and passion, the legacy of Italian passion for life in our culture is ubiquitous and all-encompassing. Italy and its passion itself have taken hold of our imaginations.
Hales's interview of acclaimed journalist Luigi Barzini yields this gem about the depth of the la passione italiana that affects us all: "What mysterious emptiness in their souls is filled by merely standing on Italian soil?" Indeed, after (reluctantly!) finishing this enthralling book, my own soul is replenished, refreshed, and renewed. Bravissima, Dianne Hales! show less

show more 启真馆出品、浙江大学出版社2023年9月出版《美丽的语言：恋上意大利语》，我一看书名就想读，直到最近才有机会，马上在路途浏览，如饥似渴。
确实是好书啊！意大利语，文学的语言、诗歌的语言、艺术的语言、音乐的语言。
我大学里就跟同学一起，买了《自学意大利语》，大致了解了这种语言。
我只去过一次意大利，北方，虽然没有到旅游胜地，但也留下了美好的记忆。
在国际组织兼职，最好的朋友就是意大利图书馆协会主席圭里尼教授。2006年我们飞机邻座，返回北京，聊的也是他们美丽的语言。
这本书写法很特别，用非学术的语言，写出了意大利语的各个侧面，涉及语言、文学、美食、文化、艺术、生活等各个方面。不仅对学语言的人有用，相信对了解外国文化也有帮助。
作者思维发散，但却不脱离主题，面面俱到，绝对是一本好书，建议纳入评奖候选。
威尔第歌剧《纳布科》中的囚徒大合唱，这里被翻译成“飞吧，思念，乘着金色的翅膀”(Va, pensiero, sull'ali dorate)，pensiero是“思念”不是高大上的“思想”。
Cazzo等脏话也作了特殊处理，读者也许不能了解深意。
意大利美食太难懂，虽然吃过一些，也不了解究竟。
在全书结尾处，作者写道：“意大利语或许是所有语言之母，但有时，我还是觉得自己像个继女”。“当我向亚历山德拉述说我对意大利以及意大利语总有一种意犹未尽的感觉时，她回答说，‘这就是课堂上的意大利语与活生生的意大利语之间的区别’”。
学语言，就要对语言的历史和来源有了解，还要触类旁通，通过联想帮助学习和记忆。这本书做到了，确实很难得。 show less

I was pleasantly surprised by this book, really a collection of vignettes about Italians, all things Italian and a history of Italy. People, events, accomplishments, it's all there and leaves you wanting more. I thought that some of these profiles were a bit of a stretch when the author was trying to demonstrate La Passione, but not many and not too far. I bought and read it as part of my family history research, and there were points where I wanted to grab a flight and go...now. A fun read, show more maybe could have included a bit more about Southern Italy - always a difficult topic, but nonetheless. Or maybe Cremona and its violins - that is true passion. Maybe in a "La Passione II"? show less