A curious volume from Mr. Dickens. Much better than his "American Notes", perhaps because he seems less disappointed and is more forgiving, but also because it reads less like a reporter's diary and more like a novelist's travelogue. That is, fewer facts and figures about prisons and asylums, more portraits of people and stores of the land. More heart, less head, one could say. Also interesting because one very much senses the development and evolution of the public persona of Dickens here - and that's interesting to watch as well.

Therefore, worth the read if you're a Dickens fan, perhaps not so much if you're not.

Being an Italian reader, this book has been a real adventure for me. It's funny to see your country through the eyes of an English author of the XIX century. From Genoa to Florence, from Rome to Naples, my beloved Italy has been told and described by one of the authors I love the most. Descriptions are accurate as usual, and there're also a lot of funny sketches about daily life in Italy. Some pages have made me laugh, some other have made me angry, of course. There's something I'd wish to say to Charles, old chap, about our country and our uses but it's too late to do that, I suppose. What has surprised me the most was the enthusiastic view of Milan, but we should consider that Dickens has visited this town BEFORE the great industrialisation. This is why he tells us about its architectural and artistic beauty, passing through natural spots that perhaps don't even exist anymore. The most interesting feature of these notes (because these ARE notes and nothing more) is how ironically they've been written, but it doesn't surprise me very much. Dickens has always written like that, and it's really interesting to read something of his that is not a novel and that contains the main features of a real, autobiographical logbook.

For this and other reviews: https://notsoredheadblog.wordpress.com/2016/10/19/pictures-from-italy-by-charles-dickens/

A delightful travelogue of Dickens' travels throughout Italy in 1844, "Pictures from Italy" is like a deep, refreshing breath after the angry outbursts of "American Notes" and "Martin Chuzzlewit." This is Dickens at his best observational writing, showing us Italy through his eyes. Unlike his "American Notes," here he has no trouble finding the charm among the squalor and absurdity. He does notice plenty of absurdity, particularly when it comes to Catholicism, the Vatican, and all species of monks. He catalogs almost 2000 years of history, architecture, and art, but it is his description of the people in their everyday lives that truly brings this work to life. As in the best of his novels, Dickens' talent lies in consecrating the mundane. He celebrates the small, the impoverished, the unimportant by simply showing them as real individuals. This is a nice departure from so many 19th century travel writers, who scrabble to impress the reader with the places they have visited, the amazing sights they have seen, and the important people they have mingled with. I enjoyed this trip through Italy immensely.

My favorite author in my favorite country...a perfect combination. The first twenty or so pages were slow going, but then again they were for Dickens, too. At this point in the book/journey he was going by carriage through France. When he arrives in sunny Italy, everything improves and the book has the charm, warmth, love of life, and (pardon this France) joi de vivre that makes Italy such an invigorating and stimulating place to visit - today, AND in the mid1800s.

Feeling sorrowful, as my delectable trip with Mr Dickens has just come to an inevitable end. Not surprisingly Italy turned out to be splendid but I have some observations to share about my travel companion also.

Everything you always wanted to know about my trip to Italy with Charles Dickens and his family* (*but were afraid to ask)

Frequently Unasked Questions

Why Italy?
Italy combines so many things I adore that the list would be endless. Charles Dickens sums up my awe concisely: 'Let us part from Italy, with all its miseries and wrongs, affectionately, in our admiration of the beauties, natural and artificial, of which it is full to overflowing, and in our tenderness towards a people, naturally well-disposed, and patient, and sweet-tempered.


Joseph Mallord William Turner, 'Modern Rome – Campo Vaccino' (1839) [Image source]

'Pictures from Italy', a travelogue written by Dickens in 1846, will presumably disappoint the readers who fancy a bath in a fountain of knowledge, 'full to overflowing' with dates and names. Wrong address, I'm afraid. But if you feel like inhaling sparkling loveliness effortlessly, you will enjoy this book a lot.

Please, be prepared to see Italy as it was in 1844. It may astonish you at times: 'More solitary, more depopulated, more deserted, old Ferrara, than any city of the solemn brotherhood! The grass so grows up in the silent streets, that any one might make hay there, literally, while the sun shines.' Sorry to disappoint you but making hay in the streets of Ferrara might be a challenge nowadays.

Dickens’ travelogue is a love letter to Italy but his infatuation isn’t blind. He complains about negligence and poverty he observes at times. It hurts him to notice that some works of art and buildings are falling into decay. However, he sees positive effects of this: 'In another place, there was a gallery of pictures: so abominably bad, that it was quite delightful to see them mouldering away.'

Jorge Luis Borges wasn't fond of Dickens' travelogue: 'he traveled to France, to Italy, but without trying to understand those countries. He was always looking for humorous episodes to recount.' Personally I wouldn't rate the author so severely but you may be deluded if you expect an in-depth social or historical analysis. Albeit there is much compassion behind all the enthralling descriptions.

Confucius advised, 'Wherever you go, go with all your heart'. Dickens seems to share this attitude. He travelled to Italy with all his heart indeed. Just look at his description of Coliseum: 'Its solitude, its awful beauty, and its utter desolation, strike upon the stranger the next moment, like a softened sorrow; and never in his life, perhaps, will he be so moved and overcome by any sight, not immediately connected with his own affections and afflictions.’


Angelo Inganni, 'Notturno di Piazza del Duomo a Milano' (1844) [Image source]

Why Dickens?
When my friend was reading a harrowing study on the Siege of Leningrad, she asked me to guess which author was appreciated most by people who lived in these inhumane conditions. Strangely enough, I suspected correctly. It was Dickens. In terms of giving comfort, his books are invincible.

My relationship with Charles Dickens has gone through two stages so far. The first phase was highlighted by books like 'David Copperfield', 'Oliver Twist' and 'The Christmas Carol'. I liked and appreciated all of them but it wasn't a crush. I perceived Dickens as an affectionate and clever but predictable uncle, who made me yawn at times. Then everything changed. Just one novel revolutionized the way I regarded and rated Dickens. It was 'Great Expectations'. Much more than a crush this time.

I didn’t find 'Pictures from Italy' as enchanting as 'Great Expectations' but I was pleasantly impressed by the writing style, the labyrinthine sentences, the onomatopoeia, the loose composition. I was astounded every time I realized the book was written in 1846. My fingers ached from highlighting hectares of passages I loved.

How come?
The aim of the book is explained very clearly. Dickens wants to share some glimpses of a trip he enjoyed immensely. Most of his observations and descriptions were written on the spot and come from the letters he sent to his family.

The title says it all. If he published the book today, it would be probably 'Selfies from Italy'.


James Holland, 'Piazza dei Signori in Verona with the Market Place' (1844). [Image source]

Your itinerary?
Quite breathtaking:
France – Genoa – Parma – Modena – Bologna – Ferrara - Venice - Verona – Mantua – Milan – Switzerland - Pisa – Siena – Rome - Naples – Paestum - Vesuvius – Pompeii – Monte Cassino – Florence.

And the weather?
Come on, when you explore a divine country with an entertaining companion, you don’t pay attention to prosaic things like the weather, do you?

'Pictures from Italy' turned out to be a perfect summer read. During ferocious heats Dickens' sardonic observations had a cooling effect on me. However, get ready for bloodcurdling scenes also: for example there is a detailed description of beheading.

Did you enjoy the Italian cuisine?
Of course, some eccentricities excluded: 'There is a stewed pigeon, with the gizzards and livers of himself and other birds stuck all round him.'

What was your travel companion like?
Truly amusing!

If you read any novels by Dickens, you wouldn’t be surprised, that he was much more interested in people he met on the way than in the monuments. No matter how hard he concentrates on picturesque places of interest, he ends up observing people: 'Crossing from these patches of thick darkness, out into the moon once more, the fountain of Trevi, welling from a hundred jets, and rolling over mimic rocks, is silvery to the eye and ear. In the narrow little throat of street, beyond, a booth, dressed out with flaring lamps, and boughs of trees, attracts a group of sulky Romans round its smoky coppers of hot broth, and cauliflower stew; its trays of fried fish, and its flasks of wine.'


Outdoor dress for men and women, Italy, 'Corriere delle Dame' (1844). [Image source]

Even the people who appear for a few minutes are portrayed masterfully, for instance: 'a monstrous ugly Tuscan, with a great purple moustache, of which no man could see the ends when he had his hat on' or 'a silly, old, meek-faced, garlic-eating, immeasurably polite Chevalier, with a dirty scrap of red ribbon hanging at his button-hole, as if he had tied it there to remind himself of something'.

As usual, Dickens' sense of humour is unbeatable: he can notice and point out ridiculous things in people but he describes them with such warmth and cordiality! The book beams with them. No traces of cynism, no patronizing. I know it’s irrational but it felt as if Dickens was smiling all the time, while writing his travelogue.

The thing that disappointed me a little was lack of information about Dickens’ wife and children who were accompanying him. He probably wanted to stick to the romantic image of a lonely traveller.

How much did it cost?
The peregrination with Dickens was completely free. Let me assure you that I didn’t board a pirate ship. The e-book is available in a few formats at the Project Gutenberg website.

Can I join you?
You are more than welcome. No worries if you don’t comply with any of the conditions Dickens lists below:
'And I have only now, in passport wise, to sketch my reader’s portrait, which I hope may be thus supposititiously traced for either sex:

Complexion Fair.
Eyes Very cheerful.
Nose Not supercilious.
Mouth Smiling.
Visage Beaming.
General Expression Extremely agreeable.'

Any plans for the future?
Friends for life.
I wholeheartedly agree with Borges, who stated, 'once one has read some of Dickens’s pages, once one has resigned oneself to some of his bad habits, to his sentimentalism, to his melodramatic characters, one has found a friend for life.'


Carl Spitzweg, 'English Tourists in Campagna' (circa 1845) [Image source]