La Bella Lingua: My Love Affair with Italian, the World's Most Enchanting Language

I have started learning Italian for a number of good reasons. First, a friend loaned me this book, but after reading it I bought it. I might say it was hard to put down. I have been an avid student of the language, but reading this book has boosted my inspiration and interest beyond bonds.The style is admirable, and captures one’s devotion and dedication not only for the language but it expands one’s interest way beyond. It creates interest in Italian literature which may only have existed in a casual form. It covers many areas of the culture in an irresistible way. In places, I even found the style poetic as it covers all aspects of the Italian language and culture. Obviously, the author’s erudition is enviable, which makes the book highly informative and creates further interest in reading also through the extensive bibliography at the end of the book.English words do not appear to be sufficient to describe the magnetism for the culture this book projects, which is so eloquently rendered. Even the end of the book describing some of the vulgarity, which is present in all languages, can make me, as an old man, blush. But at the same time, all the aspects of the ‘La Bella Lingua’ prompts you even more to absorb this culture.

As a first generation American born of Italian parents from Abruzzo, I resisted learning to speak Italian. Our parents spoke to us in Italian all of our lives, we answered in English. I convinced myself that this was as it should be, they needed English more than we needed Italian. I was 63 before I ever went near Italy. This book however has awakened my love for the language. Actually I NOW KNOW why when our 'English only' friends would gather around my Mom's table enjoying her wonderful food we could never translate the great stories our parents would tell. My siblings and I would laugh uproarously at their comments but when our friends begged for a translation, it JUST NEVER sounded funny (English just isn't that colorful). The language has its own reality and Diane gives it such love and devotion that it makes me so happy to read, laugh, enunciate and enjoy.

I stumbled over Mrs. Hales' blog and fell in love with her writing style. I bought this book based on that. She writes with an infectiously fun spirit and an obvious love of Italy and everything about it. I tore through this book in a few days and I intend to re-read it with a highlighter to help recall some of the best bits.This book seems to convey a great deal of what makes Italy what it is. I hope to get over there soon and find out if her depictions are accurate. I was only a kid when I went to Italy many years ago. I've been eager to get back and this book only made my desire stronger.It also would seem to be a quick primer of Italian culture and history, exposing you to just enough facts to spur you to go research topics in depth.Overall, it's a fun and quick read. If Italy intrigues you, buy it. I think you'll find it money well-spent.

Don't dismiss La Bella Lingua by thinking it's only for people who are interested in learning Italian. I don't speak Italian and frankly have no interest in learning it but what has been pure pleasure for me is reading about the origins of the language and history of Italian. This book is for readers who consume great little stories about fascinating people and places. It's about the joy of life that Italians have shared with all cultures over the centuries but it's never been written about like this before. Dianne Hales is my BFF so I've had a ton of rollicking fun along the way watching Dianne as she follows her passion. In Mill Valley we enjoy wine, food and laughter but in Italy with her husband, Bob, they roll up the rugs and share the dance floor at 3am. After each trip to Italy she shares the adventures of her "other life" with me. With La Bella Lingua, she shares these adventures with the readers. The book reminds me of the way history used to be passed from generation to generation - story telling and history lesson all in one delicious book that you won't want to put down. This is my 2009 gift book.

The book does what it promises, and very elegantly, although language lovers will object that there is too much cultural history and less linguistic detail. Naturally, the book is not very academic which might be irritating for someone interested in more detail. I found the writing well organized and the material presented clearly. The author does not seem to know (or care) much about other countries, therefore comparisons and cross-cultural references are avoided. In that sense, the book is limited. It makes an argument but it avoids any comparisons. French cuisine, stay away! This seems to be either intentional or caused by the author's lack of broader knowledge. Of course, one can argue that without the Greek civilization there wouldn't have been any Italian culture etc. In addition, the book avoids getting into details of Italian regionalism and clearly avoids talking about politics. The author also avoided explaining Italian fascism (no need to explain, really?). In that context, the statement that "Americans invaded Italy" (during WWII) seems rather peculiar. References to Italian Catholicism are so rare that the Vatican itself seems to be located in a neighboring country. In spite of all the years the author spent in Italy it is still a tourist's book.

I read it once for pure pleasure and am now reading it again for education. Would go really well with the app Language Transfer.

Hales, who makes her living writing in English, took her love of the Italian language much further than most of us could manage. It became a second profession, delving into its history and its current state. She analyzes the effect of Dante's writing on modern Italian, stressing that in spite of the fact that Italian is many levels and dialects, it is held together by a common source, the Tuscan dialect of Dante's time. She covers dialectal differences, slang, bad language and its levels of impropriety, Italian literature and a great deal more, including advice on how not to offend or appear like a bumpkin (cafone). If you want to learn Italian, or if you speak Italian and want to learn to speak it better, this book will speed your way.

Un libro mediocre sobre Italia. He vivido allí durante tres años y me irritan los comentarios estereotípicos sobre Italia. En cuanto a comentarios sobre la lengua, comprad algo como Italianos para tontos o algo parecido.

Makes for nice reading. Do buy if interested in Italy and Italian

Sembra che ormai, solo all'estero la nostra lingua venga considerata da studiare e da apprendere... Viviamo in un paese in cui si mischia l'italiano con altre lingue. Per esempio si dice -lo scrivo come lo si pronuncia di solito- "telefonia mobail" per dire "telefonia mobile". Tra l'altro la parola "mobile" si scrive allo stesso modo in tutte e due le lingue prese in considerazione. Io sono dell'opinione che una persona che conosce la propria lingua debba dire "telefonia mobile" quando si espime in italiano e "mobile telephony" quando decide di parlare inglese o americano. Mischiare le due cose dà l'esatta misura dell'ignoranza intesa come non conoscenza di ambedue le lingue. Ma torniamo al libro. La scrittrice Hales afferma che l'italiano è l'unica lingua con la quale si può manifestare ed sprimere la parte del nostro pensiero che caratterizza la nostra umanità, il nostro essere genere "homo sapiens, faber, cogitans" ecc. Bel libro, da diffondere.

First, skip this if you're looking for an academic text or an encyclopaedic survey: the author is a journalist who is writing for amateurs (in both the English and the Italian sense of that word), and she has produced a book of manageable length (290 pages of text) that her target audience will enjoy. As regards the language of Italy, I appreciated the frequent reminders of the importance of dialect in Italian culture; and her explanation of the emergence of the Tuscan dialect as "italiano standard" - see, for instance, her account of Manzoni's rewriting of "I promessi sposi" and the background to the familiar quote that he "rinsed his rags in the Arno". The general principle - that the language of Dante, Petrarch and Boccaccio eventually acquired pre-eminence, confirmed in the cultural field by Manzoni and eventually in the political field by Mussolini - is familiar, but not always presented with the wealth of examples that you will read here. As regards Italian literature and culture generally, I enjoyed the anecdotal approach: how much more interesting does Leonardo Da Vinci appear when you discover that not only did he paint the Mona Lisa, invent the aeroplane, etc. etc., but he also wrote a short note on "why dogs sniff each others' bottoms"! (I have to say that, when I read this, my first thought was that some Italian friend of the author had been pulling her leg; but not so - it's true!) What you get is the author's individual perspective on her subject matter, clearly derived from considerable knowledge of Italian language and culture, not just the pre-digested opinions of others, and supported by interesting, usually unfamiliar, details. How interesting, for example, was the life story of Lorenzo Da Ponte, Mozart's librettist, who eventually became America's first university professor of Italian. Only one word of warning for English readers: the author writes in a prose style familiar from American magazines and this occasionally grates on the English ear; but don't blame the author for that.