Clearly Charlie enjoys old mud more than new mud (see his American Notes). Interesting insights from nearly 200 years ago!

Interesting to get a view of travelling through Italy 150 years ago. The importance of the church and the crowds and beggars in Rome are perpetual problems and the hospitality experienced across Italy familiar to all.
Also interesting to understand the spectacle of a public execution, the excitement and fanfare that accompanies it.
Many highlight similar 'atrocities' being cariied out in some parts of the world today yet it was only 150 years ago it was going on in Rome ?? Not that long ago in the scheme of things.

I wish I could say that I enjoyed this more, because Dickens' writing is always wonderful. However, I found myself feeling annoyed with his talk of how dirty certain areas and people of Italy were. He had a very "the English are a superior people" attitude that I found tiresome.

In 1844 Charles Dickens took a break and visited Italy. He takes a house in Genoa, and then after completely trashing Genoa and Italy in general in this book, he takes off on a tour of Italy, taking in all the great sites.

I can only imagine that Dickens was very tired from working on his novels and truly needed the relaxation of an extended vacation, because through most of the book he comes off as more than a little grumpy. That is the best way I can put it.

His prose is wonderful, and his descriptions of the sights are enough to make you almost feel like you have seen them. Unfortunately, nothing in Italy is good enough for him, and the combination is rather hard to work through at times.

Also, the book has descriptions of what he sees, including at times, the lives of Peasants, etc. but there is very little of Dickens in the book. We read nothing of his interactions with anyone while he travels, neither his fellow travelers, nor the Italian people who he often comments on.

The book is good, but his tone, and the lack of the personal encounters in the story left me a little disappointed.

Wonderfully descriptive

This is a delightful account of Charles Dickens‘ travels through Italy in 1846. The writing, of course, is superb and whereas his novels tend to be a bit too wordy for my taste, this travelogue reads like a breeze.

In his adventurous forays Dickens displays amazing courage, energy and stamina – even braving an ascent of Vesuvius at night. At other times he soaks up the multitude of impressions at leisure – the chapter on Venice is especially charming.

Dickens gives us his pictures of an Italy now (mostly) long gone, an Italy of misery, abject poverty, injustice and oppression by church and worldly authorities, but also of an Italy overflowing with unparalleled natural and man-made beauty.

He describes the idiosyncracies of the Italian people with gentle humour, only rarely turning to biting wit (mainly directed against the Catholic Church). He found the Italians to be « naturally well-disposed, patient and sweet-tempered ».

Written nearly 170 years ago this book is still fresh and enjoyable today.

It was a visual treat! Not the usual Dickens!
It was witty, descriptive and often subtle.

I read this while in Italy and although only parts of it overlapped the places I traveled (plus it was written 150 years ago), I enjoyed Dickens' writing immensely and also his observations.

Informative, witty and occasionally tedious.

I'm not sure how much Dickens really likes Italy. It's full of snark and a little more negativity than I was expecting, but it was fun to read while I'm here in Rome.

This is basically a travelog of Charles Dickens trip to Italy in the 1800's.

This is an enjoyable read. Dickens writes about his travels in Italy in 1844 when he was there for almost a year. He is witty and observant as always and shows great energy and adventure (the mt Vesuvius climb while it sounds like it’s erupting would be an insurance nightmare I’d imagine these days!). The chapter on Venice is the highlight. Written as though seen in a dream it is a beautiful piece of writing.

DNF 31%