The Seasons Of Rome by Paul Hofmann
This is one of several travel books I have left on my tbr shelf. I could read a steady diet of these for weeks but I'd never get anything else read if I did that, so I allow myself one as a treat now and then.
This one did something no other travel book has ever done for me; it cured me of any desire to actually go to Rome. I loved the format of the book; it's written like a journal with dated entries, but I expected (admittedly my mistake) a kinder, more charming look at life in one of the most popular cities in the world.
What I got was a lot of information about the constant political struggles, strikes, terrible traffic congestion, crime (organized and otherwise), major public transit difficulties, air pollution, out of control soccer fans, housing problems and bureaucratic headaches that constitute life in Rome. It sounds like a miserable place to live and even to visit. All large cities have these problems to some extent, but most of the travel books I've read try to infuse at least a little bit of romance into the the mental pictures they paint. The author refers to Rome as "the most beautiful city on earth" but unfortunately this book made Rome seem like a dirty and unfriendly destination.
The writing is good, it's the material that I found boring, maybe because it was so much fact and so little feeling. There was no atmosphere, no sparkle; I didn't even enjoy the section about the city's great hotels and I love hotels. The last third of the book I more or less just scanned the pages to see if there was anything interesting and I was very glad to get to the end of it. I hate saying that because I know it takes an enormous amount of commitment and hard work to produce any book and I feel guilty every time I have to say I didn't like one. And to be fair, there are probably many people who would love "The Seasons Of Rome", but darn it, it didn't appeal to me at all.
