Va bene!

A few years ago my friend Elena got me Four Seasons in Rome by Anthony Doerr for a bridesmaid's gift. It was a great gift, and so personalized for me, since I studied in Rome while in college and she visited me there. The gift was a great symbol of our friendship. And I took approximately two years to read it.... but, better late than never, right?

The book was a memoir of sorts about an author who lives in Rome for a year struggling to write a novel with his wife and infant twin boys. In one sense, I loved the book-- the descriptions of the city made me feel like I could breathe in the essence of Rome. I could smell the fresh bread baking, and see the vivid colors of grafitti on trains, and hear the constant whir of motorinos flying through the city, but the book completely lacked a plot. Doerr wrote the book like one long list of things he encountered over the year. Each individual paragraph could be complete and beautiful as a poem providing a fragmented glimpse of a city, but the paragraphs together offered me nothing. I felt no connection to any characters, and I saw little (if any) development or growth of the characters-- including the city of Rome. There are so many novels where a city comes alive and grows like any other character, but other than a few exceptions the city was only described like a set of a play would be throughout this book.

I still enjoyed the book, and was also incredibly jealous of the author being around when the new pope was chosen. I was in Rome the year before the author, and had a papal audience with Papa Gianni Paolo II. It was an experience I will never forget-- the man glowed, literally, on stage. It was so apparent that he was a holy man, and it was really powerful to hear him speak and receive a blessing. I feel so lucky to witness that. A year later I watched from home as millions of people went to view the pope and waited for the announcement of his successor. From my living room I watched the eternal city grieve and celebrate the life of one man while hopefully awaiting a new leader. I ached to be there-- though after living in Rome I realized just how inadequately the city handles the normal number of tourists, and assume that trying to do anything while millions of Catholics made pilgrimages would have just been a nightmare. In any case, being able to appreciate this experience first hand vicariously through the words of Doerr was wonderful.



While reading this book, I gradually began to crave more and more Italian food. So, to celebrate completing the book, I made myself some Spaghetti Carbonara and caprese salad-- two dishes I miss most from Rome because they are just never quite as good on this continent. It was molto delicioso.

"mini" caprese

The cast of characters for my Carbonara