NEW PRIZES
The Ohio State Reformatory
Exciting news, particularly for Shawshank Redemption fans. The Mansfield Ohio Convention and Visitor’s Bureau has decided to sweeten the pot with additional Shawshank prizes. You can shop for Shawshank souvenirs and your purchases will help save the movie’s famous Oak tree.
Now the Shawshank package includes:
- A fan t-shirt
- A carry bag
- Two Tickets to the Ohio State Reformatory where the movie was filmed
- A coffee mug
- A movie poster
Total estimated Value: $78.00
AND
Oka b Shoes
Another winner will get his or her choice of OKA b shoes, which range in price from $20 to $40. And they DO have men’s styles!!
ENTER before Feburary 1
- by commenting,
- tweeting @pen4hire,
- mentioning Vera Marie Badertscher on Google+ or,
- best bet–subscribe by e-mail to A Traveler’s Library.
If you already subscribe, just tell me that in an e-mail (if you have not done so already). Everyone is eligible for one of these prizes–even if you have won a daily prize. All entries throughout the month of January will be counted. See complete rules here.
See Who Won
January Winners so far are listed here.
Well this is embarassing!
I listed the wrong prize to go with the Friday post. I have now corrected the prize listing, and you have until 3:00 a.m. Monday morning to take action.
This is the next to last daily prize. Monday is the final daily prize.
PDF
Sicily Week
APOLOGIES–I listed the wrong giveaway book for today.Have now corrected the mistake. Enter by Monday, Jan. 30 for this prize and chance at Grand Prizes. See below for details.
Destination: Sicily
Book: The Honoured Society: The Sicilian Mafia Observed, by Norman Lewis (Original-1964 with postscript added in 1984; reviewed edition 2003.)
If you were playing word-association, Sicily-Mafia might be your first reaction. The Honoured Society seems to me to be a perfect addition to a library of travel literature– if you read it along with Seeking Sicily– to understand that region of Italy. You will find many of the same themes in the two books.
Norman Lewis is best known as an outstanding travel writer. (See my review of Naples ’44). But his first wife was Swiss-Sicilian, and her father, an exile from Sicily, belonged to the Mafia. Thus began Lewis’ interest in the honoured society. His book benefits from personal experience and meticulous research in addition to Lewis’ skills as a wordsmith. Think how much he enhances the following paragraph, which could have been a dry list of facts.
“In this world one occasionally stumbles upon a place which, in the physical presence, and the atmosphere it distills, manages somehow to match its reputation for sinister happenings. Such a town is Corleone. A Total of 153 murders took place between 1944 and 1948 alone.” (This in a town of 18,000.)
Like John Keahey, in Seeking Sicily, Lewis traces the characteristics of Sicilian history back through its many conquerors.
Like Keahey, Lewis says, “Sicily is not Italy.” He goes on, “nor–with the exception of the spas, the palms, and the mimosas of its eastern seaboard–is it even recognizably a Mediterranean country.”
Although the Mafia’s first appearance may not be clearly marked in a timeline of history, there is no question that the Spanish Inquisition, while Sicily sat under the thumb of Spain, played a large part. Since the Inquisition not only punished, but confiscated property, the aristocrats enthusiastically joined the Inquisition, both to enrich themselves and to protect their property. For 300 years, in the 15th-18th centuries, property was taken in this way. The Mafia became the protector of the poor by the only avenue open to them–vendetta.
Part of the delight of reading Lewis lies in his ability to make amazing and detailed connections. He traces the fatalism and vendettas of the Sicilian culture back to African tribal rituals and to the desert tribes of Arab lands. Remember the horse’s head at the beginning of The Godfather? African tribal rituals included depositing of a beheaded dog or sheep on an enemies doorstep.
“Without realizing it, they have killed each other as far back as anybody can remember, and still kill each other, not so much out of bloodthirsty sentiment, but from economic necessity. There has never been enough to go around, so the vendetta becomes a device for keeping down the population.”
The Mafia’s survival has depended upon an agility in adapting to economic circumstances. In the early days, serious money could be made in manufacturing phony religious relics and selling the seats in church and devotional candles. But land was the real base of operations.Feudal systems survived in Sicily long after the Middle Ages died in the rest of Europe. The land-holding aristocracy utilized the Mafia as protectors of the land and enforcers and later to ensure votes for conservative politicians. A rupture developed when the land-holders decide it is in their best interest to support Mussolini who set out to destroy the Mafia.
New allies popped up with World War II. Because the Mafia were anti-Mussolini, the United States army enlisted them to help defeat the Italians. Imported American gangster Lucky Luciano was given authority, and the brotherhood’s business practices turned to controlling the black market (with American support) and, after the war, to Luciano’s favorite business–heroin. The traditional Mafia leaders in Italy would not support his other business–prostitution. That was not honourable in their eyes.
I was amazed to learn that after the war when Sicily struggled with the question of their relationship to a newly independent Italy, the Mafia leaders favored becoming the 49th state of the United States. (Hawaii and Alaska had not yet joined the U. S.)
The Mafia power through alliances that had lasted for centuries began to crack in the 1960′s and the postscripts to the book describe the rather pessimistic scene in the early 1980′s. Today, according to John Keahey, in Seeking Sicily, the Mafia has been reduced from a powerful organization that dominates Sicily to more or less independent outlaws, no longer supported by church, state and journalists. However, a website called Mafia Today recently ran an article stating that the Sicilian Mafia is the most successful business in Italy today in the face of economic disaster for legitimate business. It seems it will never end. At least the Mafia wars no longer threaten travelers and it is once more safe to book your travel to Sicily.
I hope you’ve enjoyed our week in Sicily. If you’d like to read some contemporary travel experiences on the island, check Hecktic Travels blog for their series on Sicily; Travel Solo for top things to do in Sicily and Joe’s Trippin’ about Southern Sicily.
More reading on Sicily:
I Siciliana by Adrian Cole–travels with the Mafia in Sicily.
The same author writes about Norman Lewis in Italy and Spain in Tender Beginner: A Twentieth Century Witness. He says of Lewis’ relationship to Sicily:
“…a life-long attachment to the island, its people and its problems, and in the tradition of the greatest of writers, what is left after the descriptions and the anecdotes and the details is a sense not just of place, but more importantly of the human relationships which underwrite the whole endeavor of being a traveler, and dependent on the generosity of strangers. “
Is Mafia the first thing YOU think of when you hear Sicily? Would it concern you enough that you might not travel to Sicily?
The Giveaway prize today goes to one person who comments, subscribes, tweets or mentions us on Google+. It is a copy of On the Road to Babadag: Travels in the Other Europe by Andzej Stasiuk, a stylish travel book about middle Europe. (You can comment on this post or on an earlier post. Just do it before Monday, January 30, 3:00 a.m. MST. This is your next to last chance to win. See complete rules here.)
Tags: BlogSherpa, book review, Godfather, Italy, Mafia, Norman Lewis, Sicily, Travel
Today one lucky person will win a lovely classic travel book, reprinted by Tauris Paperbacks and distributed in the U.S. by Palgrave. See details at the bottom of the post.
Window View, Venice
In the city of Venice, where so much is hidden behind doors and glimpses at life inside a window seem a stolen pleasure, I caught this woman enjoying her view of the neighborhood Piazza.
Other photos simply capture the peeling plaster, streaked paint and rusting metal caused by centuries of rising and falling water. Doorways in Venice can be Moorish, modern, Baroque, Renaissance, Victorian or any style man has dreamed up–but somehow they form a coherent whole that is unmistakably Venice. I end with perhaps the most famous doorway in Venice.
Windows and doors along a Venice canal.
Venice, Ghetto, weather-beaten door
Window in Venice Ghetto
Venice- Graceful Decay
Window in Venice, Canareggio
A little girl watches other children playing outside her building. Venice
Door to San Marcos Cathedral, Venice
These photos are my contribution to Travel Photo Thursday. To see more travel photos from around the world, go to Budget Traveler’s Sandbox.
Staying with the theme of Italy–if not Sicily–our pictures today were from Venice and our prize represents Tuscany. D. H. Lawrence’s Etruscan Places: Travels Through Forgotten Italy, was one of my favorites which I reviewed here. Today’s prize goes to one person who comments, subscribes, tweets or mentions us on Google+ (You can comment on this post or on an earlier post. Just do it before Friday, January 27, 3:00 a.m. MST. If you already subscribe by e-mail and want an extra entry every day as a subscriber, be sure to tell me that in the comments. See complete rules here.)
For Christmas, I received a digital slide converter, which means that I have access to many of my photos that previously were hidden in boxes. Are you tired of windows? Want a change of subject? or do you want some more doors and windows?
All photos are my property. Please respect my copyright and do not copy without express permission.
Tags: BlogSherpa, Ghetto, Italy, photography, San Marcos, St. Mark's, travel photos, Venice
Your prize today is movie/travel related. Enter before 3:00 a.m.MST Thursday morning. See how to win below. And remember every comment and new subscription counts toward the two grand prizes, even if you’ve won a daily prize.
The Governor's Palace, Palermo, Sicily
Movie: The Leopard (1963), Starring Bert Lancaster, Claudia Cardinale and Alain Delon
John Keahey,the author of Seeking Sicily, calls the book, The Leopard, (not to be confused with Jo Nesbo’s latest mystery by the same name) a blockbuster and essential reading to understand Sicily. Although I’d like to read the book (1956) some day, I cheated and watched the movie, made in 1963.
You see, I’ll watch just about any movie with Burt Lancaster (1913-1994). I love the way he moves. I love his sense of power and the feeling you get that he has a secret. From his sexy days on the beach with Deborah Kerr in From Here to Eternity, to his dramatic role in Come Back Little Sheba , to his old man role on the boardwalk of Atlantic City , he was a gem of a movie star. This article lists the incredible Lancaster films, in case you’ve missed them. And, getting back to the subject at hand–Lancaster plays the Prince who represents the sinking aristocrat based on the book author’s own grandfather.
I also ordered up The Leopard from Netflix because of Keahey’s recommendation of The Leopard and because I love movies that convey the history of a place I want to visit. I love movies with beautiful scenery and an authentic portrayal of a culture. And from what I read, it appears that the movie is fairly true to the book. The book relates the story of the mid-1800′s in Sicily, a time of upheaval for the aristocracy, who had been loyal to the Bourbon royalty. However, the movement for a united Italy headed by Garibaldi appealed to them until they decided they would be better off under an Italian King than a democratic Italy, and went with the first King of a United Italy.
The settings are grand–palaces on ancestral estates in Southwest Sicily. And the narrow hilly streets of the towns are appealing, but I could not help feeling that movie was almost too true to the original New York Times travel article, I realized just how good a guide to Sicily the movie actually is.
I could not help feeling that the movie stuck too close to the book. Most of the film moves along at a stately pace, but the last 40 minutes takes place at a ball where all is character development, and nothing moves the plot forward. My feeling is not shared by a lot of eminent critics and you can read what Roger Ebert had to say about The Leopard in 2003.
The political tugs and pulls on the Prince and the buffoonish Mayor (although not made clear in the movie, he’s a Mafia member, and a fairly typical one according to the author we discuss on Friday) definitely are fascinating. You will come away from this book, or the movie understanding a good deal more about the historic politics of Sicily than you knew before.
In the conversation most representative of the Sicilian character, the Prince is asked to run for the Senate in the newly unified Italy. He refuses, explaining that
“Too many things have been done without Sicilians being consulted for you to be able now–to ask a member of the old governing class to help develop things and carry them through...” Sicilians, he says, only want to sleep. “…they will always hate anyone who tries to wake them, even in order to bring the most wonderful gifts; and I must say, between ourselves, I have strong doubts whether the new Kingdom will have many gifts for us in its luggage.”
Yes, despite the fact that it may seem a bit slow for the modern audience, the film is still gorgeous and enticing to the traveler to Sicily. I’d say add it to your traveler’s library, unless you’d rather read the book.
Have you been to Sicily? Did you get a feeling of the complexity of their history?
The Giveaway prize today goes to one person who comments, subscribes, tweets or mentions us on Google+. It is a copy of Lights, Camera, Travel, a Lonely Planet collection of essays by people in the movie industry about places where they filmed. It is an interesting and varied collection. The “varied” is why I have not reviewed it. I prefer books all about one destination. (You can comment on this post or on an earlier post. Just do it before Thursday Jan.26, 3:00 a.m. MST. If you already subscribe by e-mail and want an extra entry as a subscriber, be sure to tell me that in the comments. See complete rules here.)
Disclaimer: The photo at the top comes from Flickr and is used under Creative Commons license. Please click on the photo to learn more about the photographer. The movie trailer comes from You Tube.
Tags: Alan Delain, Bert Lancaster, BlogSherpa, classic movie, Claudia Cardinale, historic movie, Italy, Netflix, Roger Ebert, Sicily, The Leopard
Today the very appropriate Giveaway Prize is the book that is being reviewed–by an author that loves literature as much as travel. Entries good until Wednesday morning. Please see details below.
Castle of Erice, Sicily, Photograph by John Keahey
Sicily Week at A Traveler’s Library
Destination: Sicily
Book: Seeking Sicily (NEW November 2011) by John Keahey
John Keahey‘s effort to understand Sicily starts with a book, (But of course!) and continues with repeated travels and extended stays in Sicily. His wander lust, he tells us, was born even earlier, in a Carnegie Library. Clearly we are going to like this guy!
He says in Seeking Sicily, that he wanted to read native Sicilian writers, and started with Giovanni Vergas’ Cavalleria Rusticana and Other Stories, which descries rural life in 19th century Sicily. Luigi Pirandello, writing in the 19th and 20th century, added more understanding.
Photo by John Keahey
Then came the most important Sicilian writer, Leonardo Sciascia (1921-1989). The main base of Keahey’s operations and home of his favorite literary key to Sicily is Racalmuto. This small town was birthplace and home base for Sciascia. Like many western Sicilians, Sciascia had Arab root. He once told a journalist that his family name was originally XaXa, “an Arab word meaning a soft material or netting.” Keahey visits the Fondazione Leonardo Sciascia, Sciascia’s grave, and his country home.
Keahey thinks Sciascia was a cynic until Sciascia scholar (and the author’s grand daughter) corrects him. “Oh, no, no, no,” she says with finality. “He was skeptical! Cynical has another meaning in Italian. To say someone is cynical is to say he has no principles!”
Sciascia, who frequently went against the popular trends of the day, says in one of his books, “Skepticism isn’t an acceptance of defeat,” but a margin of safety, of elasticity.”
And what does this have to do with Sicily? Plenty, it turns out. I helps explain the rise of the Mafia, the resistance to thinking of themselves as Italian, the surprising influence of the Arabs and why Sicily is painted as “irrational.”
Keahey explains the sculpture on the street of Racalmuto (pictured above) by saying, ”Sciascia, in bronze, ‘walking’ along Racalmuto’s main street, a regular practice of his. He always had a cigarette in his right hand, but the sculptor removed it ‘to protect the eyes of young children who may bump into it.’
From his reading and his travels, Keahey provides us with important clues to Sicilian personality and culture.
- Sicily has almost never experienced self-rule, being the target of Carthagenians, Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Spainards, French, and Italians.
- As residents of a perpetual colony, the people turned inward, trusting only family–not authority.
- Sicilians are not Italians. The author says, “Sicilians might be viewed in America and elsewhere as ‘Italians,’ but in their hearts and souls they are Sicilians.”
- The people of Sicily perceive their location as north of Africa rather than south of Italy.
- The original power of the Mafia grew out of close association with the authorities, and their more recent power came most notably from the Americans after the Allied invasion of World War II. (And we’ll be talking more about the Mafia this coming Friday. Their story is told by a famous travel writer.)
Seeking Sicily starts in Palermo at the ruins of Palazzo Lampedusa, palatial home of yet another author, Guiseppi di Lampedusa (1897- ). Travel note: the palazzo was bombed in World War II and after standing in ruins for many years, is currently under partial restoration. Lampedusa’s novel The Leopard is characterized as “a must read for anyone who wants insight into Sicilians and how they became who they are, separate both culturally and emotionally from the rest of Italy.” (Stay tuned. On Wednesday this week we’ll talk about the 196 3 movie, The Leopard, starring Bert Lancaster.)
Painted Cart, Photo by John Keahey
But fear not, this book is not all academic analysis and literary review.As we accompany the author of Seeking Sicily, he experiences the grinding heat of summer, the joys of natural landscape and ancient ruins, and the rought-edged gray look of Palermo (suggesting a Norman heritage rather than a Roman one). He meets one of the few remaining cart painters, who decorates two-wheeled carts with vividly colored scenes, as seen above. Of this picture, he says, “A chance encounter with the real thing, on a Sunday morning drive, in the area of Partinico along SS113, perhaps 20 kilometers southwest of Palermo.”
Keahey even devotes a chapter to food and recipes.
In each place we learn more about Sicilian culture. In addition to the books and authors mentioned in the text, the author provides a lengthy biography and a detailed index, making it easy to find everything in you want to know about Sicily.
Perhaps I’m an easy sell, because I’ve always been fascinated by Sicily–particularly by the outstanding Greek ruins–but this book has me definitely yearning to book passage sooner rather than later.
Although I have never been to Sicily, I did go to Italy. If you’re looking for reading other than Sicily, I listed these suggestions for Italian reading a while back. The Browser.com interviewed one of “my ” Italian authors, Tim Parks, who picks Italian novels, one of which is Sicilian.
You have four chances to win a copy of Seeking Sicily (which was given to me by the publisher). Be sure to check the rules, and remember that if you already have a subscription, you need to tell me in the comments that you want that extra entry every day for your reward. You have from now until 3:00 a.m. MST Wednesday, January 25 to enter today’s contest.
Disclaimers: the links to book titles are a convenient way for you to shop at Amazon. Just know that if you use them, even though they don’t cost extra, A Traveler’s Library will earn a few cents on each purchase, and we thank you! The video book trailer is the publisher’s creation and comes from You Tube. All photos used here are used with the consent of John Keahey. They are his property.
Tags: BlogSherpa, book review, giveaway, Lampedusa, Palermo, Racalmuto, Siascia, Sicily, The Leopard, travel books, travel literature
Check the winners list for the latest winners in the January Birthday Giveaway. Only a few prizes left to draw. Remember, EVERYBODY who comments or joins, or tells me they want their older subscription entered, will have an entry in the Grand Prize Drawing at the end of the month. Win a Shawshank Redempton fan package, or a pair of OKA b shoes.
Now on to a great book for your trip to France and a Giveaway book on another country…..
Read about France, win a book about Portugal. See below.
NOTE: The Arizona State Alumni magazine wrote about Kristin Espinasse in December 2011. You can read it here.
Destination: France
Book: Blossoming in Provence by Kristin Espinasse
You might think at first glance that a beautiful blond from Arizona who goes to Paris to study and winds up marrying an impossibly handsome Frenchman who starts a successful vineyard where they live in Provence and have two children….you might think that is pretty much a fairy tale life.
Well, yeah, but fortunately for all us dreamers, Kristin Espinasse spills all the difficulties of marrying France along with her tempting photographs of the life of Provence. Before you start hating her for her life, and because she is an accomplished writer and photographer, please read what she has written. In Blossoming in Provence, her sequel to Words in a French Life, we learn, for instance, that the impossibly handsome Frenchman doesn’t just pack light on a weekend trip, he packs in a trash bag and leaves his toothbrush at home because he can always use hers. (Now those are two tips I’ve never seen the numerous travel blog posts on packing light.)
A riot of daiseys, Giverney
And then there are the children, who have grown up in full public view as Kristin has blogged about their life for the past seven years. From correcting her French vocabulary when they were in grade school (rolled yeux. “Oh Maman!”) or they spill a mint drink all over the floor she has just cleaned for guests, and as they enter their teens, we regular readers of the French Word a Day blog begin to worry that they will soon leave home and blog.
But lest you think all she talks about are the annoyances of expat life, I must hasten to say that Kristin turns every one of her vary personal experiences into a lovely and positive life lesson. Not only that, but each one is a French lesson as well! As she is making sense of her life in France, we are meeting irrisistable characters like her mother (who now lives in Mexico), Jean-Marc’s family–who, trust me, are NOTHING like the French family in Le Mariage. And that is why I am breaking with the January tradition and not giving away the book I’m reviewing today. I CANNOT part with it.
Restaurant sign in Brittany
If you, as I did, once studied French, but got away from it and want to brush up a bit, freshen your vocabulary with today’s slang–you’ve come to the right place. Blossoming in Province presents selections from the French Word a Day blog. Each includes some French expressions within the little story and a list at the end. (On the blog you can also get pronunciation help from one of her native French speaking family). So loyal are Kristin’s followers that they comment vigourously, suggesting corrections or alternatives to the words and expressions she presents. AND the blog readers helped her select and edit the entries for this book. Which may explain why this little book strikes me as so much more worthwhile than many made-from-blog books.
Just one teeny suggestion. I would like to have a complete vocabulary list at the end of the book, as well as the list at the end of each chapter. And maybe next time (there has to be a next time) we could have a brief vocabulary of generally useful phrases to go with the specialized ones in the stories?
You don’t have to know French, or even want to learn it to enjoy this book and its mother blog, though. Want to enjoy beautiful photography of France that will have you booking a flight? Love dogs? She rarely posts without mentioning her two beautiful goldens. Are you a writer or wanna-be writer? She shares her learning process as she becomes a writer. Or do you just like a little inspiration for finding the good things in your life and fully enjoying it? Travel Library or not, you will thoroughly enjoy Blossoming in Province, its predecessor Words In a French Life and Kristin Espinasse’s blog, French-Word-a-Day.
Disclaimers: Kristin sent me a review copy of her latest book, but I had already bought the first book and am a subscriber to the blog, so obviously one review copy will not sway my opinion. Photos are my own, although they are not in Provence, they are in France. I excuse that fault since I have not been to Provence, and since Kristin does also used photos from other parts of the country. Links to book titles take you to Amazon, where by some sort of miracle although you spend no more, I earn a few pennies from each purchase. Thanks!
So although I’m holding back Blossoming in Province, I have to offer you SOMETHING, don’t I? Strictly your choice if you wish to accept it. Another terrific book for travelers is The Portuguese, A Modern History, reviewed here. If you would like to have this review copy, let me know in the comments below, or in a tweet or on Google+ or all three. Keep in mind that people who have subscribed to the blog, and told me that in a comment are winning lots of things, because they get an automatic entry every day. But you have to TELL me!
Tags: BlogSherpa, France, French- vocabulary, memoir, photography, Provence, rouge-bleu wine, travel book review, vineyards
Today one lucky person will win a copy of a new novel, reviewed recently that has nothing in particular to do with windows and hotels, but a lot to do with looking. See below. And remember you must enter by tomorrow morning.
Two weeks ago we looked at a variety of windows from the outside.
Here are views from some views from the inside of various lodgings that we particularly enjoyed.
The Dashiell Hammett Room at Union Square Hotel, San Francisco
Budapest Apartment Window with view of St. Stephen's Square
View of Chicago River and lake from Westin Hotel
View from Le Case Hotel, Le Marche region, Italy
Le Torricelle View, Le Marche region, Italy
Steinerhof Pension, Salzburg
Rome hotel street view from room
View from Adobe Grande Villas, Sedona
East Winds apartment view, St. Lucia
Night view from Warwick Hotel, NYC
These photos are this week’s contribution to Travel Photo Thursday. You can see travel photos from around the world by going to Budget Traveler’s Sandbox. Next week some windows (and maybe some doors) from Venice, Italy.
The Giveaway prize today goes to one person who comments, subscribes, tweets or mentions us on Google+. It is a copy of Running Away To Home, Jennifer Wilson’s account of her family’s return to her ancestral village in Croatia. I reviewed Running Away to Home here. (You can comment on this post or on an earlier post. Just do it before Friday 3:00 a.m. MST. If you already subscribe by e-mail and want an extra entry as a subscriber, be sure to tell me that in the comments. See complete rules here.)
What is the best view you have ever had from a hotel room? And by the way, I have not yet posted the BEST view I had from a hotel room. That would have been in Greece, hanging right out over the water on the west coast of the Peloponnese, or perhaps in Switzerland looking across Lake Lucerne, or maybe that one that hung on the cliff in Santorini. Oh dear!! I’ll never decide. Are you more decisive than I am??
Disclaimers: Running Away To Home was provided by the publisher for review. All these photos are my property, and I will appreciate your respect for my copyright.
Tags: Chicago, giveaway, hotel photos, Italy, Le Marche, New York City, Rome, Salzburg, San Francisco, Sedona, travel photos, windows
Please check the Cherokee Trip Post if you are interested in that trip, because the final date for reservation is actually February 1–a correction from the original date shown.
