Italian Ways: On and Off the Rails from Milan to Palermo

Much like the author, I love to travel by train. Having had the chance to take the train in several countries, on four continents, I agree with him that it gives a distinct insight into a country. This is why I loved this book: not only is there the experience of train travel, but also his reflections about Italy writ large such as complicated process, modernity clashing with tradition, innumerable levels of government, insights into history and social mores. It's fun, precise, honest and unpretentious. It had me traveling back into my own memories while discovering a country I know little about. I found it a perfect balance of travelogue, personal observations and explanations.

This was a delightful romp through Italy as seen from the perspective of a harried traveler on Ferrovie dello Stato. As a person who is fascinated by Italy and Italians, I loved Parks' observations of Italian culture. Particularly unique was Parks' observation that the institutions of a country reflect the personality of its people. Trenitalia with all its foibles is an excellent proxy for Italy in general.

There is a joke that goes:

HEAVEN is where: The police are British, the chefs Italian, the mechanics are German, the lovers are French, and it's all organised by the Swiss
HELL is where: The police are German, the chefs are British, the mechanics are French, the lovers are Swiss and it's all organised by the Italians!!

In Italy the trains are right in line with those stereotypes too. It is a country of fine foods, beautiful countryside, strong coffee and exasperating bureaucracy

Park is very familiar with this as he commutes frequently from Verona to Milan. The journey is a delightful as it is stressful, letting the train take the strain after struggling through the minefield of purchasing a ticket. It is full of detail too, you feel you show more are sharing the same view as he writes about the vineyards and orchards and the bleak industrial landscapes outside the towns and you stand alongside him admiring the soaring heights of the central stations. He is a careful observer of his fellow passengers too, noting as people rush to grab their morning coffee before snatching a seat and talking loudly to strangers unlike The UK where everyone cocoons themselves in their own little world.

His travels take him down through Italy and onto the island of Sicily. This has suffered decades of almost no investment in its railways, and the locals cannot believe that he wants to use them. He has some fairly strong opinions on the current state of the rail system, including the money spent of the fast links between towns and cities at the expense of sorting out the other problems including the most complicated ticket system going. But somehow it still functions.

As an outsider who has lived there for a number of years he is ideally placed to make these observations of his adopted country and it was a real pleasure to read too. He manages to convey just the right amount of detail coupled with a razor sharp wit, without it becoming too much.

Just like an expresso really. show less

Parks explores Italy, his relationship with his adopted country and himself, via Trenitalia.

So pleased at he end when he links railways and vipassana.

I enjoyed this book, but at the same time, I was disappointed; probably because it is a book of two halves, written a few years apart. I've read others of Parks' journalistic books and enjoyed them, but only one of his novels, with which I had a lot of problems. I smiled at lot at his anecdotes, was interested in both his background material and his conclusions about the relationship between Italy and its railways, but in the end I felt it didn't fulfill my expectations,

More or less what you expect from Parks if you have read his earlier Italy books. Less packed with funny events and more digressions though, sometimes a bit too long. Parks is at his best observing people and fighting a hostile and bewildering environment.

Well written treatise that leads you into an esoteric but interesting subject; Italians and their railroads.