The Italians

Given the small number of books on the subject, Barzini's book has much to recommend it. For starters, it was written by an actual Italian and concentrates on what makes Italians "tick" rather than on the more traveloguey aspects of the matter. Other writers have tried this, notably Tim Parks but Barzini attempts to explain Italy rather then merely observing it.

Although this could be a reasonably dry subject, the book is written in a fun, somewhat raffish style which never really drags. The author spent a lot of his time in the USA and many of his observations are interesting from an typically anglo saxon point of view.

To be fair, I DO have some reservations about this book. The main problem is that, having been written in 1964 the text is somewhat dated. The Italy described by Barzini is one of poverty and illiteracy and these days that world has (thankfully) faded pretty much from the picture. You can see a bit of Barzini's Italy in 1950s/60s Hollywood films such as "The Roman Holidays" and "It Happened in Naples". As another reviewer has pointed out, customs have also changed. Divorce, which Barzini found unthinkable, has been legal in italy for quite a long time.

On the other hand, a lot of his observations remain true and accurate. It takes a good long time for national character to change and a lot of what Barzini described still peeps out from behind modern day Italy. I think that the best way to read this book is not so much with a grain of salt, but rather with a large glass of water in order to dilute the author's conclusions a little.

The *substance* of the book is still accurate, it's just a little faded with time.


A Remarkable Failure   August 5, 2000
James Paris (Los Angeles, CA USA)
45 out of 58 found this review helpful

I began reading this book expecting not much more than a decent, informative summer read. What I found was an always passionate, but not always on-target study of the Italian people by one of their own. While not all books on national character on worth reading, this one has merit.

Instead of looking at THE ITALIANS as a cohesive book, which it is not, I suggest you take it as a series of chapters -- some brilliant and right on the mark, others overstating a simple truism. In the former category, we have the two brilliant chapters at the end on Italian history after the defeat at Fornovo in 1495, and how foreign intervention led to the development of the Baroque in art, music, and life. Less effective are the chapters on Italian family life and how to succeed in Italy without half trying.

Barzini was dumbfounded at how the world was (and apparently still is) beating a path to Italy without understanding what every Italian knows. He asks, "Why did Italy, a land notoriously teeming with vigorous, wide-awake and intelligent people always behave so feebly? Why was she invaded, ravaged, sacked, humiliated in every century, and yet failed to do the simple things necessary to defend herself?"

THE ITALIANS does not answer these questions; but the fact that it posits them and comes close to answering them makes it a remarkable failure. I believe this book has been more or less continuously in print for 36 years, and with good reason.

Italy may seem at times like the animated, gaily-bedizened clown from the commedia dell'arte; but in reality, she is more like the tragic clown Pagliacci from Leoncavallo's opera, who, cruelly traduced, forces himself to laugh through his tears.


A dated work...needs updating.   July 19, 2002
David Lupo (Fairhaven, MA USA)
20 out of 23 found this review helpful

As other reviewers have said, the work is a bit dated, and I wish there was something comparable that I know of, and could read. I also wish I read this book after my trip to Italy, rather than as a means of preparation for it. One needs to experience Italy first, and experience it deeply before one can really get all that Barzini has to offer. The book could have been more tightly written, each chapter takes off in a different direction, and I would opt for a definite objective for the book with more streamlining. I would have hoped that, by 1964, Calabria would have been more spoken about. My mother's parents came from there, as did many "mezzogiorno" who did not benefit from the "risorgimento". I don't think this was dealt with sufficiently in the chapter on the "Mezzogiorno Problem". Who was Barzini's audience?
On the other hand much of the information is enlightening. And some of it is entertaining. His conclusions are worth reading. But go experience the country for the summer first, and then come back and read this work.


Superfluous Cynicism.   August 28, 2007
Steve Guardala (Land Of The Dying Gaul!!!)
17 out of 20 found this review helpful

This elegant, but dated book appears to fit Mr. Barzini's pessimistic generation. Which after living through two world wars & the great depression is understandable. However, as he stated in the preface this is not a scholarly or scientific analysis. The reader should take his observations with a "block of salt." It is safe to say that the vast majority of books on national character are usually oversimplifications.

But, at times the author hits the target of the elusive Italian national character. I would read the forward & conclusion first, & than the book in its entirety. The heart of the book for me is on pages 331-4. As for the chapters, I will critique each in order, & give the most informative pages. Ch1, Visit Italy & you will find out for yourself. Ch2, history entices visitors. The main pages are 25-7. Ch3, This is very subjective, & all individuals must find out on his/her own, main pages of interest are 54-7. Ch4, This was repetitive, spectacle an ancient habit, main pages 68-70. Ch5, There is some truth for sure, pages 80-1, 92-3 & 100 are very intruiging. the latter page was even funny. Ch6, About the economics of the country as a whole. This was very dated even when the author wrote it. Ch7, hero or Benito lite? You will find this one very deep indeed.


Ch8, it is true enough that double delusions can increase chaos in ones society. Ch9, comfort with the status quo? Ch10, the Italians never truly adopted the farce of feudalism. Ch11, The refuge & torment of family. Pages 190-2 are very good. His analysis about the vast commonalities between Italian, Jewish, & Chinese families was truly striking. The economist Thomas Sowell noted the same traits in his 1981 book, Ethnic America. Ch12, this chapter could easily apply to any western society, there was nothing new here. Ch14, this was an enigma inside a labyrinth, pages 260-70 made for some noteworthy observations. Ch15, pages 283-92 will make the reader think deeply about life. Ch16, perhaps, the most interesting chapter? pages 309-13 were filled with the most fascinating facts. On the whole the author addresses the problems of a very divided society with some brilliant historical analysis. The pervasive problems of Italian society are there for all to see. But, Mr. Barzini gives no solutions. In certain ways he hints at the answers in chapter 7, "The Obsession With Antiquity." When the reader truly wants to know how & why Italians have remained so divided over the past fifteen centuries you will have to go back & study the late Roman empire. I suggest any books by Michael Grant or Adrain Goldsworthy as a good start.


If you like books about unicorns, read this   January 19, 2000
Robert S. Newman (Marblehead, Massachusetts USA)
16 out of 35 found this review helpful

I'll put my opinion first, so there won't be any doubt in your mind. I don't believe that you can write useful books about national character. Is there really such a thing as "national character"? People are just too different, too unpredictable. How well can you predict the behavior of the people closest to you ? How well can you predict what people in your own country will do ? Would every Italian, if they could write well, have written the same book as Mr. Barzini ? I seriously doubt it. So what we have in THE ITALIANS is one man's views on the conglomerate nature of 50 million Italians. After reading it, I felt even more strongly that such books, though possibly entertaining, are a waste of time. An informative book about unicorns--but do they exist ? Anthropologists have been concerned, for many years, in getting the "inside view"--the view of a culture as seen by the person within it. While Barzini is indisputable Italian, he tries to visualize Italians as seen by foreign visitors, then explain to those of us not lucky enough to travel there, why they are as visitors see them, or why they are not as foreigners may think. This is not a successful gambit. Cultures are based on many general factors--like history, socio-economic patterns, religion, family, etc.---but the specific results are just that, specific. Barzini covers many topics--the importance of spectacle and giving an illusion of something rather than actually having that quality; the family vs. the state; Italian modes of achieving success; the north-south split; Sicily and the Mafia; and last, the tragedy of Italy's long domination by foreigners. But nothing really connects. There are only superficial, scattered impressions, nothing very concrete to grasp. The reader is left with a handful of stereotypes. Barzini is at his best when describing the lives and modus operandi of particular characters in Italian history. These sections were well-written and interesting. But his portrayal of Italian "character" is fuzzy, contradictory, and ultimately, unconvincing. Finally, if you are a lover of lists, you will thrill to this book, because there is a list on nearly every single page. Myself, I got pretty tired of those lists. If you want to know something useful about Italy, read another book. If you just want entertainment, which might support any stereotypes you have about Italians, then this book could be for you.