Los Italianos al Desnudo

by Jean-François Revel

National characteristics, Italian

Paperback

First published January 1, 1959

About the author

Jean-François Revel was a French politician, journalist, author, prolific philosopher and member of the Académie française since June 1998.

He was best known for his books Without Marx or Jesus: The New American Revolution Has Begun, The Flight from Truth : The Reign of Deceit in the Age of Information and his 2002 book Anti-Americanism, one year after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. In the latter book, Revel criticised those Europeans who argued that the United States had brought about the terrorist attacks upon itself through misguided foreign policies. He wrote thus: "Obsessed by their hatred and floundering in illogicality, these dupes forget that the United States, acting in her own self-interest, is also acting in the interest of us Europeans and in the interests of many other countries, threatened, or already subverted and ruined, by terrorism." In 1975 he delivered the Huizinga Lecture in Leiden, The Netherlands, under the title: La tentation totalitaire (The Totalitarian Temptation).

Reviews

[Professor · Rating 1 out of 5]

When I was weeding the D section of the library I work at, I came across this book, As For Italy, which was written by French philosopher Jean-Francois Revel. Looking through it, it seemed to be an entertaining deconstruction of the mythic version of Italy that tourist guides and films sell the public. I thought it might be entertaining, but ultimately it was just dull. Revel basically says the opposite of anything ever said about modern Italy, and if you disagree with him, you're a fool (or worse, a tasteless American/German/Englishman). The wine? Terrible swill. The food? They can't even make a risotto properly (I was unclear if he thinks the French do it better, or if he just objects to the dish entirely). Lovers? Italian men just go to the brothel and make love without even taking their pants and socks off, for about 60 seconds. Italian women, meanwhile, are protected from men by their families for so long that they fall in love with the first man they see and are only approachable after 50. The sights? The rivers are muddy, the towns are ugly. The arts? Nothing of worth since the Renaissance, and everything has been smothered by the Church. The fashion? Everyone dresses the same, and wearing your Sunday best 7 days a week is not acceptable. Revel delivers his slam, but I feel like the art of it must have been lost in translation, if it ever existed. You can only read complaints about everything for so long before it starts to grate, so I gave up after reading a few chapters and then skimming the rest. There's a reason this book isn't in print, and why it's going back to the "Weed" pile today.

[Jean-Baptiste · Rating 1 out of 5]

J'adore Revel mais ce livre n'est pas bon du tout