Here's the thing. I loved this book when I first read it (was I 20? maybe 22...). Because I was young, and hadn't learned how to resent those people who gallivant around the globe with too much money on their hands telling us how charmed their lives are while describing the picturesque landscape. That being said, the book is well-written and the descriptions of Tuscan life are, of course, deeply seductive. Because that's the point: a life where you worry whether your wrought-iron gate is cast in period-appropriate design, or you wonder if the grape vines cascading down your porch are wine grapes or grapes for eating *IS* a seductive life. But reading this again while wrapped in the cynicism of my 30s, I just can't get excited about it. Again, the genre of memoir is partly to blame. But more than anything, I'm just supremely uninterested in reading about how fantastic, and rustic, and beautiful your life is. I'm giving it three stars not because I like it, as I'm not sure I do at this point, but because it is beautiful. How much of that is really just the landscape, I wonder.

CRAP CRAP CRAP...HATED IT!!! This is the epitome of nauseating travelogues. This woman thinks she is Italian because she renovated and lived in a small property in Tuscany??? And she is clearly so much smarter, knows better, and has more experience in everything (not JUST renovating and living in a small house in Tuscany) than anyone else on earth because she renovated and lived in a small house in Tuscany. Blech.

The movie made her far more interesting than the book did.

Movie version: her best friend is a lesbian and they send Mayes on a gay tour of Tuscany since the friend's wife doesn't want her to travel in the first trimester. The trip is to help Mayes recover from the divorce. She falls in love with the country, finding magic in unexpected places and buys a villa. In restoring it, she learns to love herself again, as she learns Italian ways of living.

Book version: straight lady buys house with husband because they can. They are utterly ignorant about restoring an old house. Hijinks ensue. They're only there in the summers.

Seriously, which would you pick? There are interesting parts about local Italian history and the occasional magic moment, but mostly it's a "look at how cool my normative life is, aren't you jealous?" kinda book.

Be aware that the three star rating is because Mayes is a competent writer who occasionally includes some really beautiful prose. What this rating is NOT based on is an engaging story. But I can't fault her competency in her craft.

If you liked Eat Pray Love, you may also like this one. I believe the reverse is also true.

someday I will be in Italy and I too will never want to leave and romanticize the lives of everyone there even though I know nothing about Italian politics or daily life of their working class. But I will also be self aware.

مبهجة، مفعمة بمسرات الحياة الدافئة تحت الشمس، والأطعمة الشهية، ورائحة تغير الفصول الأربعة؛ بين رائحة أزهار الربيع البرية والريحان وإكليل الجبل، وأشجار الخزامي والخوخ والزيتون، وصيحات الوقواق على شجرة الليمون...
نسيم ليل الصيف البارد تحت سماء يزينها قمر، ونجوم مجرة درب التبانة...
رائحة أوراق الأشجار الصفراء في بداية الخريف وأول مطر مع هبات الهواء الباردة في نهار هادئ بضوء الشمس الكهرماني الخافت،
ورائحة البندق والفستق، وكعك وبسكويت الشوكولاتة الساخن في الشتاء ودفئه الأبدي الساحر.

02.11.2020

I don't tend to bail on books before I finish them, but I did on this one. Just not my cup of tea, I suppose.

I'm almost done, after over a year in my work bag, reading a couple of pages here and there. Won't see the movie, but based on that synopsis, this is nothing like it, really. The author of this book is an elitist snob and I have a hard time generating any sympathy when she complains of any delay in renovating her villa. I'm only finishing it because it has become a battle of wills.

9/17/10 ok, I finished this and it was crap. I don't even know what the last 2-3 chapters were for, except to add pages of more crap. They didn't even flow with the rest of the book. The author believes she is entirely too self-important. I almost find it hard to believe she bothered to write a book for the plebeians. It served its purpose- a cheap, used paperback that could be trashed in the bottom of my work backpack for those nights when I had absolutely nothing else to do.

A nice rereading experience. This memoir radiates love for Italy, its people, and the simplicity of Italian life. Definitely not at all like the movie so don’t come to this reading expecting that narrative.

Gyvenimiška avantiūra. Italija. Toskana. Dar tiksliau tai Kortona. Tikra istorija apie tai, kai nepaisant nieko žmona ir vyras ryžtasi nusipirkti namą Italijoje. Po ilgų dvejonių beveik alkai įsigyja namą, kurį jau buvo nusižiūrėję, ir pasineria į žemiškus nuotykius jį renovuojant. Susipažinimas su itališku gyvenimu, kultūra bei palengva priimama itališka pasaulėžiūra, priprantama neskubėti, mėgautis akimirka. Kaip ir išmoksta tai, ko net negalvojo, kad kada nors darytis. Italija kvepianti knyga. Taip ir kviečia vėl joje apsilankyti

4 sterren - Nederlandse paperback

Recencie volgt later. Terug naar minibieb voor de volgende lezer.

I hated this book hard. The author is boring and her life is boring and it’s basically one big trip to Home Depot with a few random recipes thrown around. This book taught me a lesson though and that was it is ok to not finish a book. Something I didn’t learn before this. So, I guess grazi!

Yawn.

Half of this is recipes. Under the Tuscan Sun is fairly known and well reviewed... I didn't realize cookbook, sort of.
The other half was a real estate guide, and a renovation guide, and then a tour guide of Tuscany. I mean, really?
All this intertwined with sappy statments in the fashion of Eat Pray Love. Yuck.

It was well written all right, and I can see the appeal for some people. For me, when I want a recipe, I'll reach for an actual cookbook, thank you. Mark Bittman, anyone? Tuscany? Been there, done that, so tour guide is not required. And as far as real estate goes, I need a catalog with pictures and numbers, and then prefer to see the place, and have actual interest in purchasing. Otherwise, it's a moot point.

I guess I should have known better than to reach for this book.
Well now I know better, I guess... Sigh