Amalfi Coast Reading List: 10 Books to Read
““For the people of Amalfi, who will go to heaven, judgement day will be a day like any other...””
As the winter unfolds, there is nothing better than a good book. Except perhaps, dreams of the sun dappled cliffs of the Amalfi Coast. Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, many important global literary figures including Gore Vidal and Henrik Ibsen lived and wrote in the region. Whether you are day dreaming or trip planning, the list below will capture your imagination. Get into the Amalfi Coast state of mind, reading the notable works below.
1) The Talented Mr. Ripley, Patricia Highsmith
In recent years the movie has become more famous than the original book by the impishly dark Patricia Highsmith. That’s too bad. While the cinematography is beautiful (shot mostly in the islands of Ischia and Procida), the book is also sinister delight. The sordid con-man Tom Ripley poses as an old Ivy League chum of wealthy playboy Dickie Greenleaf who lives in the fictional Italian cliffside town of Mongibello. Highsmith modeled the town after Positano. Literary figures, ex-pats, cons and robber baron progeny all flounce in and out of Mongibello’s bougainvillea drenched villas A psychological thriller set in paradise, The Talented Mr. Ripley will keep your winter time blues at bay and call you like a siren to Positano.
2) The Story of A New Name, Elena Ferrante
This New York Time’s bestseller is famous the world over now. While it mostly unfolds in the grimy post-WWII industrial slums of Naples, there are several memorable scenes set on the Amalfi Coast. Lila and Stefano take a honeymoon to the town of Amalfi. most likely they stay at the Hotel Santa Caterina (Ferrante never explicitly says). Here, Stefano viciously beats Lila before taking her out to dinner on the piazza of Amalfi. As Ferrante writes, “They reached Amalfi in the evening. Neither had ever been to a hotel, and they were embarrassed and ill at ease.” For fans of Ferrante, the scene is a chilling reminder of this stark collision of worlds and classes. Slummy post-war Naples and sun dappled Amalfi could not be more different.
3) Positano, Steinbeck
“Positano bites deep. It is a dream place that isn’t quite real when you are there and becomes beckoningly real after you have gone,” writes John Steinbeck in the opening lines of his short narrative Positano, published in 1954 by Harper’s Bazaar. He writes of traffic conditions, linguistic conundrums and the blue Tyrrhenian with humorous aplomb. Steinbeck famously stayed at the spectacular Sirenuse hotel while in Positano. The hotel still hosts a writer’s workshop, Sirenland every spring in Steinbeck’s honor.
4) Dancer, Collum Mccann
The Russian ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev owned the one of a kind Galli islands off the coast of Positano and a short boat ride from Capri. This same location is where Odysseus encountered the dangerous sirens on his ten year mythic voyage from Troy back home to Ithaca. Millenia later, after reaching worldwide success, Nuryev bought the islands in 1989 and transformed them into a quirky Indian inspired island abode--- you can see here. Colum McCann documents Nuryev’s life in the novel, Dancer. While the book is largely set in France and New York, it provides welcome insight into the wonderful mind of this dancing genius, former owner of the mythic Galli Islands, which one can now rent for 150,000 Euro per week.
5) The Story of San Michele, Axel Munthe
Friend and personal physician to the Queen of Sweden, Axel Munthe bought and lovingly restored a crumbing villa in the town of Anacapri on the island of Capri. Munthe’s memoirs of the villa are charming vignettes covering his time in Capri and his prior life as a physician aiding cholera patients in Napoli. To date this is one of the most translated books in the world and a vital read for anyone planning a trip to Capri. As Munthe writes, ''My house must be open to the sun, to the wind, and the voice of the sea, just like a Greek temple, and light, light, light everywhere!” It is now also open to the public: check visiting hours here.
6) South Wind, Normal Douglas
By the early 20th century, Capri had become adopted home to a variety of international literary figures, business tycoons and public intellectuals including Oscar Wilde, Fredreich Krupp and Compton Mackenzie. At this center of this world was British writer Norman Douglas whose most successful novel South Wind, eruditely captures this strange island world of natural beauty, peasants, clergy and international literary icons. It is a work of fiction—Douglas calls the island Nepenthe, but all is modeled after his time on Capri. Published in 1917 after the horrors of WWII, South Wind became an instant escapist hit. For many reasons (later critics said the book lacked a compelling plot), the book faded from international literary prominence in the latter half of the twentieth century. What a shame. Read it and fall in love with Capri before you have arrive. Douglas writes, “We of the South are drenched in volatile beauty. And yet one never wearies of these things.” What a treat.
7) The Exile of Capri, Roger Peyrefitte
In this curious biography, Peyfritte writes of the unlikely and highly unconventional life of French millionaire and minor literary figure, Jacques d'Adelswärd-Fersen. After some misbehaving in France that involved amorous escapades with young high school boys, Fersen lived in exile on Capri at the turn of the century. Here he built the magnificent Villa Lysis and later formed a romantic relationship with a seventeen year old Roman lad named Nico. Peyrefitte documents Fersen’s eccentric life in Capri. The real gems here are passages covering Oscar Wilde’s temper tantrums at the Hotel Quisisana and Friedrich Krupp’s insistence that his male stewards wear matching tasseled uniforms. It was the Capri of yesteryear before it became the easily reached international destination it is today.
8) A Doll’s House, Henrik Ibsen
Henrik Ibsen, the lauded Norwegian playwriter wrote his most famous work, A Doll’s House from his beloved home on the Amalfi Coast. The play centers on the relationship between Nora and Torvald Helmer, a middle class typically Scandinavian husband and wife. None of it actually takes place on the Amalfi Coast. Ibsen hints at his fondness for the region when Nora fondly recollects a year she one spent with Torvald in Italy when they were young and poor and hoping the sunny weather would cure Torvald of a persistent illness. It is easy to imagine Ibsen working away at his desk overlooking the dramatic cliffs and deep azures of the Amalfi Coast. No wonder he considered Amalfi his favorite place in the world.
9) Palimpsest, Gore Vidal
Another famous writer who frequently called the Amalfi Coast home was Gore Vidal. He lived on and off in Ravello at his villa, La Rondinaia, which literally means ‘perch.’ High above the coast and nestled on the edge of a cliff, La Rondinaia is one of the most beautiful villas in the world. From this perch, Vidal wrote astutely of American politics and the Kennedys. Jackie and Vidal shared a step-father, Hugh D. Auchincloss, and she once visited Vidal in Ravello while her husband was stlll in office. (She also met Ari Onassis on this trip and took an Italian lover, Gianni Agnelli!) Vidal wrote his memoirs from a cherished mahogany desk at La Rondinaia- which he said was, “a wonderful place from which to observe the end of the world.”You can now stay at La Rondinaia for roughly 70,000 euro per week!
10) Greene on Capri, Shirley Hazzard
Greene never wrote about Capri. In fact, at times he displayed open frustration with the island. But one thing was indisputable. He wrote A LOT from Capri. His spartan study at his villa in Anacapri, Il Rosaio was his workshop. With great discipline he pledged to write at least 350 words per day here. On Capri, Greene notes, “in four weeks I do the work of six months elsewhere.” Shirley Hazzard’s book, Greene on Capri documents Greene’s time on Capri, a period of great industriousness.
Time to get reading and plan your next trip to the Amalfi Coast!
