After Hannibal [Paperback]

 

 

Create your own review

This was the first book I read by Barry Unsworth and it made me a fan. I've read it twice, now, once when it first came out in paperback and again just recently. In the interim, I have gained eight or nine years of life experience, and spent time in Umbria, as well as other rural areas of northern Italy and southern France. Second time around, all those experiences added tremendously to my appreciation of the novel. As we watch, neighbours on a hillside road in central Umbria discover that best-laid plans often go awry, and Unsworth treats us to a rich cross-section of human nature as it copes with surprise and misfortune along with beguilinng descriptions of the beauty and historic depth of one of the many picturesque areas of Italy. The inhabitants' stories unfold with witty, lighthearted original prose. The relative simplicity of the narrative and the compactness of the stories might lead a reader to conclude this is lightweight reading. Nevertheless, there are multiple layers in the interconnected tales: classic life situations, the absurdities that come with the clash of cultures, characters both real and symbolic, and a connection to history, recent and ancient. It may not be the literary equivalent of a Michelin three-star meal, but it's a pretty fine chocolate truffle, perfect for a poolside read at your house in Umbria.

Unsworth is always a gifted writer, even with a story that seems to alternately tighten and lose its focus, as here, rather than sharpening steadily toward a climax that ties everything together, as his best novels do. Its flaws notwithstanding, this Umbrian set-piece is an entertaining read, with some well-developed characters, especially the lawyer, Mancini; the unscrupulous British contractor, Blemish; and the Chapmans, whose marital compromises are exposed during the course of the dispute with their unpleasant peasant neighbors. The other characters - the anguished German, the morose cuckolded professor, the naïve and art-mad American retirees, the gay Italian betrayed by his lover - function more as local color. As realistically detailed as their personalities are, they are not particularly relevant to the plot, such as it is. Not that they need to be, in a book like this, which is as much a collection of character sketches as an account of a specific human conflict. If you accept the novel on those terms, it's easier to enjoy. Reading it, I wondered if Unsworth hadn't collated and embroidered mental notes about some of his real Umbrian neighbors into these pages. The greedy peasant family, the Checcheti, who instigate the dispute over the road they all share, are for me the one real disappointment. Seen from a distance, they never come into focus enough to be interesting. They are never in the same room with us, as it were. That may well be true to the Chapman's perspective on them, however, as the Chechetti are presented almost exclusively in relation to their British neighbors. At the end, I felt that I did understand many of the other characters. Mancini, the Perugian lawyer more interested in the art of litigation than in justice, nicely represents the "furbo" (cunning) aspect of the Italian personality. Blemish, the book's buffoon, is believable as a committed cheat who is morally offended when others try to cheat him. (His loving and lusty relationship with his generously fleshed wife provides the book's only comic element.) The fatuous, self-satisfied Harold Chapman is neatly described as someone who "was given to the counting of blessings, which in practice meant the listing of assets." I cheered the far more sensitive Cecilia Chapman's radical life-choice at the end of the novel. This would be a good book to read on holiday at the beach or in the mountains. But don't take it to Italy when you go. Bring your Blue Guide and your phrase book instead, and get to know the country and its inhabitants a little. I promise you'll meet far friendlier people than inhabit this fictionalized Umbria.

In Umbria, Italy, various expatriates (American, English and German) try to re-establish their lives, attempting to reach the Italy of their imaginations. They do battle with rapacious locals and foreign property developers. An Italian gay couple's relationship breaks down, and a professor tries to come to terms with life following his wife's desertion. Most of these people seek the assistance of the suave lawyer Mancini to help them through the vagaries of the Italian legal system.

This is a relatively recent novel by Unsworth, yet it felt very much like his earlier works, though it's not as good. It's really a set of short stories linked by setting and by the character Mancini. Unsworth does a gentle comic examination of the differences in Anglo-Saxon and Italian attitudes: how unrealisitc the expatriates' hopes of Italy are (expecting to settle in the Italy of the Renaissance - with violence removed and electricity added of course).

As this is an Unsworth novel, it's very readable, but curiously inconclusive. Some of the stories (and characters) are developed better than others, but, bereft of resolution none are strong enough to be really fulfilling. Not a bad novel, but I felt it was a step back by a skilled author. Perhaps this one had in fact been written a long time ago, stored away and released at a later date.

G Rodgers

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review

› See all 12 customer reviews on Amazon.ca

 

3.0 out of 5 stars Not Unsworth's Best
As always, Unsworth's skill as a story teller and creator of compelling characters pulled me through the story. Read more

Published on Feb 14 2003 by SCOTT X. NELSON

4.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining, readable but not Unsworths best.
Though entertaining - and deadly realistic in its portrayal of human weakness at its most mean - this is not the best of Mr.Unsworth's fiction. Read more

Published on April 23 2001 by Donal A. O'Neill

5.0 out of 5 stars Wise and Witty
Can the history of a region shape the lives of those who settle there? Barry Unsworth, winner of the Booker Prize for his novel SACRED HUNGER, suggests that may be so in his... Read more

Published on Aug 10 2000 by Lev Raphael

3.0 out of 5 stars A favorite author stumbles.
Barry Unsworth is one of my favorite authors, and I have read all his books. This was my least favorite. Read more

Published on Jun 27 2000 by Mary Whipple

3.0 out of 5 stars A good light read, but not Unsworth's best
A very readable account of expat life in Italy, revolving around the shananigans of a cunning lawyer. Read more

Published on July 13 1999

2.0 out of 5 stars No Fava Beans, but plenty of Chianti
I'd been looking forward to this book since THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS and was enormously disappointed. No cannibalism. No Clarice Starling. Read more

Published on Jun 12 1999

3.0 out of 5 stars very disappointing
I have read almost all of Barry Unsworth's books and am extremely disappointed in "After Hannibal". Read more

Published on May 30 1998 by Sari Gilbert

4.0 out of 5 stars An Umbrian pastoral with contemporary invaders
After Hannibal is another fine example of Unsworth's ability to brilliantly incorporate historic narrative into contemporary fiction. Read more

Published on April 22 1998 by Edward Alexander Gerster

4.0 out of 5 stars So you want to buy property abroad?
The first Barry Unsworth book I have read, and very enjoyable. If you are thinking of relocating, or buying property in a region with unknown cultures this book is a must. Read more

Published on Jan 31 1997

Search Customer Reviews
Only search this product's reviews

› See all 12 customer reviews on Amazon.ca

Search Listmania!