Word: italian
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1990-1999
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...best proof of the inherent eccentricity of existence--this week's best proof, anyway--is that Italo Calvino, revered author of If on a winter's night a traveler and other classics of post-modern literature, began by writing neo-realistic stories of the Italian Resistance. In the recently retranslated and re-released The Path to the Spiders' Nests, Calvino tells the story of Pin, a street urchin. Pin, mischievous and impish and all those other cute things we expect of urchins, lives a difficult life. (This too we expect, although Pin's life has cruder aspects than most...
Although Calvino's book is influenced by the neo-realist movement which dominated Italian post-war culture, the novel nonetheless has an air of surreality. It often seems like a fable because so much is presented to the reader through the eyes of an eight year old, precocious in some ways and naive in most, as all eight year olds...
...recently ate at Artu's, a trendy Italian eatery in Boston, and recognized more Harvard students in the North End than I did during my latest trip to Au Bon Pain. With every restaurant patron sitting outside as they eat their meal, the Square resembles one large quaint little bistro. Finally, my growing suspicions coalesced into a conclusion: Harvard, in its eternal search for new heights of elitism, has co-opted the latest in flamboyant Euro-snob chic. As if the fireplaces and finals clubs weren't appealing enough to every "sophisticate" on campus, we now have crepes served...
Perhaps we've tried to copy the flashy tourists, whose hot pink Italian InVicta backpacks are as much an attraction to us as John Harvard is to them. Or maybe, without realizing it, we've imitated the Square hipsters, mixing and matching neon orange and light green suede New Balance sneakers, and picking out black thick-framed glasses to go with our carefully selected messenger bags...
Accommodations: Italian marble baths, two televisions, private pantries and fully stocked mini bars...