The Ancient Shore

Author: Shirley Hazzard
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022611130X
Category : Travel
Languages : en
Pages : 140

Book Description
Born in Australia, Shirley Hazzard first moved to Naples as a young woman in the 1950s to take up a job with the United Nations. It was the beginning of a long love affair with the city. The Ancient Shore collects the best of Hazzard’s writings on Naples, along with a classic New Yorker essay by her late husband, Francis Steegmuller. For the pair, both insatiable readers, the Naples of Pliny, Gibbon, and Auden is constantly alive to them in the present. With Hazzard as our guide, we encounter Henry James, Oscar Wilde, and of course Goethe, but Hazzard’s concern is primarily with the Naples of our own time—often violently unforgiving to innocent tourists, but able to transport the visitor who attends patiently to its rhythms and history. A town shadowed by both the symbol and the reality of Vesuvius can never fail to acknowledge the essential precariousness of life—nor, as the lover of Naples discovers, the human compassion, generosity, and friendship that are necessary to sustain it. Beautifully illustrated by photographs from such masters as Henri Cartier-Bresson and Herbert List, The Ancient Shore is a lyrical letter to a lifelong love: honest and clear-eyed, yet still fervently, endlessly enchanted. “Much larger than all its parts, this book does full justice to a place, and a time, where ‘nothing was pristine, except the light.’”—Bookforum “Deep in the spell of Italy, Hazzard parses the difference between visiting and living and working in a foreign country. She writes with enormous eloquence and passion of the beauty of getting lost in a place.”—Susan Slater Reynolds, Los Angeles Times “The two voices join in exquisite harmony. . . . A lovely book.”—Booklist, starred review

Greene on Capri

Author: Shirley Hazzard
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
ISBN: 1429979259
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 168

Book Description
The subtle portrait of a great but difficult man and a legendary island. When friends die, one's own credentials change: one becomes a survivor. Graham Greene has already had biographers, one of whom has served him mightily. Yet I hope that there is room for the remembrance of a friend who knew him-not wisely, perhaps, but fairly well-on an island that was "not his kind of place," but where he came season after season, year after year; and where he, too, will be subsumed into the capacious story. For millennia the cliffs of Capri have sheltered pleasure-seekers and refugees alike, among them the emperors Augustus and Tiberius, Henry James, Rilke, and Lenin, and hosts of artists, eccentrics, and outcasts. Here in the 1960s Graham Greene became friends with Shirley Hazzard and her husband, the writer Francis Steegmuller; their friendship lasted until Greene's death in 1991. In Greene on Capri, Hazzard uses their ever volatile intimacy as a prism through which to illuminate Greene's mercurial character, his work and talk, and the extraordinary literary culture that long thrived on this ravishing, enchanted island.

The Great Fire

Author: Shirley Hazzard
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
ISBN: 0374706352
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 338

Book Description
The Great Fire is the winner of the 2003 National Book Award for Fiction. A great writer's sweeping story of men and women struggling to reclaim their lives in the aftermath of world conflict The Great Fire is Shirley Hazzard's first novel since The Transit of Venus, which won the National Book Critics Circle Award in 1981. The conflagration of her title is the Second World War. In war-torn Asia and stricken Europe, men and women, still young but veterans of harsh experience, must reinvent their lives and expectations, and learn, from their past, to dream again. Some will fulfill their destinies, others will falter. At the center of the story, Aldred Leith, a brave and brilliant soldier, finds that survival and worldly achievement are not enough. Helen Driscoll, a young girl living in occupied Japan and tending her dying brother, falls in love, and in the process discovers herself. In the looming shadow of world enmities resumed, and of Asia's coming centrality in world affairs, a man and a woman seek to recover self-reliance, balance, and tenderness, struggling to reclaim their humanity.

In the Shadow of Vesuvius

Author: Jordan Lancaster
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 0857713531
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 281

Book Description
The definitive companion for anyone seeking to delve beneath the surface of Naples. Naples is an Italian city like no other. Drama and darkness are often associated with the city, which rests beneath active Mount Vesuvius and is the home of the Camorra - its version of the mafia. But beyond this, Naples reveals itself to be one of the most historically and culturally vibrant cities in Europe. From its origins in Homer's Odyssey and its founding nearly 3,000 years ago, Naples has long attracted travellers, artists and foreign rulers - from the visitors of The Grand Tour to Goethe, Nelson, Dickens and Neruda. The stunning beauty of its natural setting coupled with the charms of its colourful past and lively present - from the ruins of Pompeii to the glittering performances of the San Carlo opera house - continue to seduce all those who explore Naples today. In the Shadow of Vesuvius is a sparkling portrait of the city - the definitive companion for anyone seeking to delve beneath its surface.

Between Salt Water and Holy Water: A History of Southern Italy

Author: Tommaso Astarita
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN: 0393254321
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 440

Book Description
"Lucid, evocative, and richly detailed." —Jay Parini The history of southern Italy is entirely distinct from that of northern Italy, yet it has never been given its own due. In this authoritative and wholly engrossing history, distinguished scholar Tommaso Astarita "does a masterful job of correcting this error" (Mark Knoblauch, Booklist). From the Normans and Angevins, through Spanish and Bourbon rule, to the unification of Italy in 1860, Astarita rescues Sicily and the worlds south of Rome from the dustier folds of history and restores them to sparkling life. We are introduced to the colorful religious observances, the vibrant historical figures, the diverse population, the ancient ruins, beautiful landscapes, sweet music, and magnificent art—all of which inspired visitors to claim that one had to "see Naples, and then die."

People in Glass Houses

Author: Shirley Hazzard
Publisher: Macmillan + ORM
ISBN: 1466801069
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 192

Book Description
Only those who keep their wit and affections about them will survive the mass conditioning of the Organization, where confusion solemnly rules and conformity is king. As in our world itself, humanity prevails in the courage, love, and laughter of singular spirits--of men and women for whom life is an adventure no Organization can quell, and whose souls remain their own.

Falling Palace

Author: Dan Hofstadter
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 0307484599
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 274

Book Description
A portrait of the sun-drenched volcanic city from an American who has lost his heart to the place and to a beguiling Neapolitan woman. In Falling Palace Dan Hofstadter brilliantly reveals Naples, from the dilapidated architectural beauty to the irrepressible theater of everyday life. We witness the centuries-old festivals that regularly crowd the city’s jumbled streets, and eavesdrop on conversations that continue deep into the night. We browse the countless curio shops where treasures mingle with kitsch, and meet the locals he befriends. In and out of these encounters slips Benedetta, the object of the author’s affections, at once inviting and unfathomable. Weaving the tale of an elusive love together with a vivid portrayal of a legendary metropolis, this is a startling evocation of a magical place.

Naples Declared

Author: Benjamin Taylor
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1101589078
Category : Travel
Languages : en
Pages : 242

Book Description
It is a city of seemingly irreconcilable opposites, simultaneously glorious and ghastly. And it is Ben Taylor’s remarkable ability to meld these contradictions into a whole that makes this the exciting and original book it is. He takes his stroll around the bay with the acute sensitivity of a lover, the good humor of a friend, and the wisdom of a seeker who has immersed himself in all aspects of this contrapuntal culture. His curiosity leads him to many byways, both real and metaphoric, and his passion for this ancient city and its people becomes, in his graceful prose and amusing anecdotes, irresistibly contagious.

The Bay of Noon

Author: Shirley Hazzard
Publisher: Picador
ISBN: 1466800488
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 194

Book Description
Long out of print, Shirley Hazzard's classic novel of love and memory A young Englishwoman working in Naples, Jenny comes to Italy fleeing a history that threatened to undo her. Alone in the fabulously ruined city, she idly follows up a letter of introduction from an acquaintance and thus changes her life forever. Through the letter, she meets Giocanda, a beautiful and gifted writer, and Gianni, a famous Roman film director and Giocanda's lover. At work she encounters Justin, a Scotsman whose inscrutability Jenny finds mysteriously attractive. As she becomes increasingly involved in the lives of these three, she discovers that the past--and the patterns of a lifetime--are not easily discarded.

Moon Amalfi Coast: With Naples, Capri & Pompeii

Author: Laura Thayer
Publisher: Moon Travel
ISBN:
Category : Travel
Languages : en
Pages : 658

Book Description
From the pastel rooftops of Positano to the soaring peak of Monte Solaro, immerse yourself in la dolce vita with Moon Amalfi Coast. Inside you'll find: Flexible itineraries for spending five to seven days on the Amalfi Coast, whether you want to island-hop in the Gulf of Naples or spend your days hiking and sunbathing in Amalfi Must-see highlights and unique experiences: Swim in turquoise waters, relax on sun-soaked beaches, or hop on a boat and cruise past cliffs, coves, and secret caves. Go underground to see ancient ruins in Naples or climb the towers of medieval castles. Take a day trip to Pompeii and hike to the top of Mount Vesuvius, ride a chairlift to the summit of Monte Solaro, or unwind in the natural hot springs that dot the island of Ischia The best local flavors: Stroll quiet village streets where the scent of Sunday ragù fills the air, feast on fresh seafood steps from the Mediterranean, sip local limoncello on a sunny terrace, and chow down on authentic Neapolitan pizza Honest suggestions from Amalfi local Laura Thayer on where to stay, what to eat, and how to get around Full-color photos and detailed maps throughout Background information on the landscape, history, and cultural customs of the Amalfi Coast Handy tools including an Italian phrasebook and tips for seniors and traveling with children With Moon Amalfi Coast's practical tips and local insight on the best things to see and do, you can experience the best of the Amalfi Coast. Exploring more of Italy? Check out Moon Southern Italy or Moon Rome, Florence & Venice. About Moon Travel Guides: Moon was founded in 1973 to empower independent, active, and conscious travel. We prioritize local businesses, outdoor recreation, and traveling strategically and sustainably. Moon Travel Guides are written by local, expert authors with great stories to tell—and they can't wait to share their favorite places with you. For more inspiration, follow @moonguides on social media.