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If you’ve been to Palermo in Sicily, you probably either loved or hated it. My love for the city is no secret. Palermo is not a place that throws open her arms to you; she makes you work for it, makes you discover her charm one ridiculously busy street at a time — and I tend to like that in cities. See also: Philadelphia.
I’ve written a series of posts about some of my favorite popular stops in Palermo including the Duomo, Fountain of Shame, Antica Focacceria San Francesco, and the Capuchin Catacombs, so when I got an offer to review Roberto Alajmo’s new book Palermo from Haus Publishing, I jumped at the chance. The fact that it fits in perfectly with the Gita Italiana 2010 is like icing on the cannoli. Or something like that.
Roberto Alajmo is a native of Palermo; this book is translated into English by Guido Waldman. When I received it, the first thought in my mind was whether this was going to be a love letter to the gritty Sicilian città probably known best for the Mafia and its pastries — and I’d say yes. Yes it is, but it’s a palermitano love letter, if you will.
Now let me explain.
Alajmo speaks directly to a first-time visitor to his city from the first sentence: “You have to get yourself a window-seat and arrive on a clear sunny day.” This sets the tone of the entire book as he educates the reader about the city’s sights, but not just tourist attractions. Much of the book is a tongue-in-cheek look at the city and its natives with caustic, wry observations about illegal structures, Palermitano mentality about corruption, rubbish, politics, and so much more.
Buy Palermo by Roberto Alajmo on Amazon
I found myself smirking through most of Palermo (and underlining an overwhelming portion of the book) because Alajmo’s analysis is so keen, his criticism subtle and yet full of daggers. He leaves you with many thought-provoking ideas such as the real reason why the South has so many unfinished buildings: “an unconscious sense that total completion carries with it an inbuilt sorrow.” It’s just a brilliantly written book.
So where’s the love?
Remember, Alajmo is a native of the city. He knows it. He appreciates its beauty, but he really delves into its problems — *big* problems in many instances — and the latter is what nearly all of this book is about. But in order to truly love someone (or in this case, something), don’t you have to recognize the faults and decide to love anyway?
So, yes, I would characterize Alajmo’s Palermo as a love letter to his city — a whopping, entertaining dose of tough love, but would a Palermitano have it any other way? I just loved it. Five very full espresso cups out of five.
Aside from content, by the way, this is simply a snazzy little book. It’s hardcover and measures 15.6 x 11.6 cm (about 6 x 5 inches); perfect for stuffing in your bag on a trip and a great gift item as well.
Haus Publishing has kindly offered a copy to a lucky Bleeding Espresso, so here’s the spiel:
To be eligible to win a copy of Palermo, leave a comment on this post by 11:59 p.m. (Italy time) next Sunday, August 29, 2010. Haus Publishing has agreed to ship anywhere in the world, so international readers are free to enter as well. For an extra entry, become a “liker” of Haus Publishing on Facebook, and let me know you’ve done so in a separate comment here. If you’re already a fan of Haus, let me know and that will be your extra entry. I will select a winner via random number draw at the close of the contest.
Have you been to Palermo? Would you like to go?
Be sure to come back tomorrow for a trip to the beach in the Salento!
P.S. If you read Karen’s post yesterday and wondered if she ever found the Loggia, please go back and read the post again. I had inadvertently deleted the juicy part! Many apologies to Karen!
My first blog was not at Blogger but at Yahoo and it really wasn't a blog but sort of a website. But that didn't last soon after I discovered Blogger. In mid August of 2006 I created a Blogger account but didn't start blogging right away. I was busy doing other things.
Then in December, I just up and started a blog. I think my reason for starting was simply out of curiosity and I also I wanted to try something new. I titled the blog, A pity I'm an Aquarius which was from a favorite Cantonese song by Miriam Yeung. (And yes, I am an Aquarius.) The blog was not very interesting. It was a very aimless blog full of various ramblings, photography, quotes and other things that interested me. Somehow, I veered to other projects. So the blog was put on hold.
And then for no good reason, I started a music blog called Tomorrow's Song which was named after a song by Anthony Wong Yiu Ming. But apparently there aren't that many people who shared my love of Cantonese/Asian pop music.
After I quit that blog, there were a few blogs before I started my first real photoblog titled Postcards from the Clouds. It was going well but then I saw this blog with a format that I liked and so I thought I tried it out. I moved the blog to Aminus3. It was okay for a while but I didn't quite get used to the format and the way the comments work. So I moved back to blogger but with a another new blog. And at the time, you couldn't keep your blog url like you do now so I couldn't get back the old url.
And then I decided I wanted to have a blog for only my writings which eventually became Just Writing Words. On the side, I started various other blogs (a few at Wordpress) but those didn't lasted. And then in the beginning of March of 2008, I went on to do a duo photography blog at Aminus3 with another blogger named Susan. The blog was called 2Lives. That blog finished at the end of the 2008.
Of cause, in the mist of all the above blogs, I started another blog but this time it was for designing blogs. I sort of became interested in designing blogs back in 2007 when I fiddled with my own blogs and so it was natural to start offering blog designs. I designed a few blogs and a few of them were Wordpress blogs. They turned out very well. My favorite blogging platform is still Blogger and will probably always be. Due to a lack of time, I closed the design blog.
In June 2008, for reasons beyond me, I decided to start a group blog relating to design & photography but the members lost interest in posting and so did I. So that blog was history. Soon after that, I started another design blog but I soon closed that one also because of lack of time. Designing blogs is very time consuming plus installing the new design sometimes takes more time than I thought. It really depends on the blog's overall look and how many sidebar items and how many various personal touches are used.
In May of 2009, The Memory of Rain was created after many failed attempt at photoblogs. In June, I joined a prompt site called Inch by Inch Art Tuesday. That led me to do more drawings and posting more than just photography. After Inch by Inch Art Tuesday closed in July of 2009, I started Create Tuesday but then I handed it over to Mr. Toast to host it because, as usual, I was doing more than I have time for. Mr. Toast was nice enough to agreed to host and now it is a very successful co-op which was renamed, Creative Tuesdays.
In October 2009, I started a New York photoblog with my good buddy, Frances, called The Daytrippers. And this year, I started Little Voice Creations for presenting/selling my creations but currently there is only one project which is a book of poems & stories which I have no clue when it will be finish. Recently I started Lovely Day Designs for book designs but decided I didn't want to just design books. So Little Voice Designs was created for book, blog & various design works.
I also started twittering with one-line poems which I update only when I remember I have a twitter account. So now you know my blogging history which is pretty much similar to other people's. But I think perhaps, I am more fickle than most bloggers. And no, I did not remember any of the dates or much of the names of the blogs. I have a whole folder organized with folders with the names of all the blogs and within them, more folders with month and year and all the photos and text files in them. So I really could not have remember anything without these folders.
So, in all, I have had 40+ blogs - not including all the various blogs that I started and deleted. Does this mean I am a blog addict? Perhaps. Or perhaps I have much too much time to waste. Or perhaps I need the blogging platform to say what I cannot say in real life. Or perhaps I have too much time to waste. In any case, I dearly enjoy blogging and all the friends I have met even just briefly.
I think blogging is great for people to show a part of themselves which they otherwise hide or unable to reveal in real life. I know I would not be such a productive person if there is no blogging. Certainly I could go around and hand out photos or drawings or a pieces of paper with my writings on it but it is not at all the same. Plus I would never dare to go up to a stranger and show them what I make. It's not in my nature to flaunt or freely reveal myself in public. But strangely enough, I can in the blogging world. I feel there is no restrain or lines to box you in. And being semi-anonymous is a great excuse to be myself.
Last month, The Memory of Rain turned 1 year old. And on June 5, this blog, Just Writing Words, will be 3 years old. And in August, it will be 4 years since I started blogging.
After three years of writing and posting on this blog, it's time to take a break. There is no specific reason. Certain things you just have to quit for awhile. I'm not saying I'm sure about this decision and that's why the title is "indefinite hiatus" and not "permanent hiatus", but it seems to be the best decision for now. I will still write but just won't be posting any of it.
The Unfinished
I did not finished my Alphabet Poetry Series. The last one was for the letter M. I really, really want to finish but I couldn't seem to. Perhaps I will finish at a later time.
A while back I said I was going to get my stories & poems into a book but that's not happening. I find I am unable to finish editing the stories. I don't think it's important now. A few months ago, I was quite enthusiastic about it but now I don't seem to care at all. The book's not going to happen. Not this year anyway. I'm sorry to disappoint the three of you that were interested.
The Archives
You are welcome to read what I have written so far. Just browse by labels or by archive at the right sidebar. With over 800 posts, I'm sure some of you might even end up reading a piece that you like.
Thankful
I am grateful for every visitor, every comment, every sweet word that are given to me here this past three years. Sometimes I think I write just so I can get nice comments. I think that's what's so great about blogging, you can post anything and there would be someone out there who might like it.
I am thankful to many, many, many bloggers that I met through the years. I would list them but this post would get quite long but you can see most of them at my blogroll - especially the ones under 'writings' and 'photography' and also at she who blogs blogroll. These people influences me to write and to blog.
Last Words
I wish I have some funny joke or some wisdom to leave you with. Instead I'll leave you with this short poem:
Learning to Fly
the wind travels backward
it weaves into my mind
unwritten words from the future
and in that moment
I learn to fly
For now this blog will not be updated. I will still be posting at The Daytrippers and The Memory of Rain, so I'll see you all there.
