[Italian Books] The Perfect Book To Start Reading in Italian

If you are studying a foreign language and love reading books, it comes a time when you want to start reading books in that language.

However, finding the right book can be a problem. Sometimes teachers recommend classics but those books can often be quite difficult. And even some contemporary novels can be a struggle if you are not a fluent reader yet.

Although I love reading and have written many blog posts about Italian books, I am always quite nervous when it comes to recommending an Italian book to a student. As a matter of fact, if the book is not “right”, it can ruin the wonderful experience of reading a book in a foreign language, the great satisfaction of being able to read in a language one has been working so hard on.

Over the years, I heard many students say that they stopped trying to read in Italian because it was too frustrating. They usually thought it was their fault when probably the only reason was that the book they chose was too difficult for their language level. I am aware that finding a good book for lower intermediate students can be hard, so I am really happy I finally found one!

Actually, it was a student who recommended the book to me. To be more precise, she told me she really loved the books by Lorenza Gentile and that they helped her to improve her Italian a lot. So I immediately went ahead and picked a title with a storyline that seemed particularly interesting. Then I read it with a student and she loved it too, so I feel quite confident saying that I have found a good book to start reading in Italian!

This book is La felicità è una storia semplice and, as I mentioned, it is by Lorenza Gentile, a young writer from Milan who has already written a good number of successful books. Her most popular book is Le piccole libertà, a novel inspired by the author’s work experience at Shakespeare and Company, the famous Parisian library, and it seems a lovely and joyful read.

However, I selected La felicità è una storia semplice because I thought that the plot might be more interesting for Italian students. In fact, the book follows the story of Vito, a 40-year-old who is living in London and is unhappy with his life, so much so that he decides to commit suicide. But when he is about to hang himself, the phone starts ringing and doesn’t stop.

He immediately realizes that it’s his grandmother who is calling, an old lady who doesn’t take a NO for an answer. So he picks up the phone and learns that his beloved nonna wants him to return to Italy and take her to Gibellina, the place where she comes from and that she wants to visit for the last time. So the two embark on a road trip from Milan, where his grandmother is living, to Sicily, the place where she belongs.

During their trip, Vito and his grandmother have all sorts of adventures. Vito, in particular, is a bit clumsy and unlucky, so all sorts of little misfortunes happen to him.  While reading the book, we readers laugh a lot but also sympathize with him because he is going through some very hard times. Both Vito and nonna are two great characters, very vividly depicted, and the same can be said of the other minor characters they meet along the way.

When I first started reading the book, I thought it was a superficial story and wasn’t sure whether I liked it or not (I do not like funny books). However, while reading, I realized that the meaning of the book goes way deeper and gives the reader prompts to reflect on human feelings, family ties, and relationships. It is a lighthearted book that has a profound meaning as well and I really liked it for that.

Regarding the language, I think it is a good read because the sentence-building and vocabulary are not too difficult. The chapters are short and there is a lot of dialogue, which makes the reading experience way easier and flowing. This is why I think La felicità è una storia semplice is a great book to start reading in Italian.

And you? What is the first Italian book you read and how was your experience?