It is a city of seemingly irreconcilable opposites, simultaneously glorious and ghastly. And it is Ben Taylor’s remarkable ability to meld these contradictions into a whole that makes this the exciting and original book it is. He takes his stroll around the bay with the acute sensitivity of a lover, the good humor of a friend, and the wisdom of a seeker who has immersed himself in all aspects of this contrapuntal culture. His curiosity leads him to many byways, both real and metaphoric, and his passion for this ancient city and its people becomes, in his graceful prose and amusing anecdotes, irresistibly contagious.

Listening Length

5 hours and 55 minutes
Author

Benjamin Taylor
Narrator

Edoardo Ballerini
Audible release date

Nov. 23 2012
Language

English
Publisher

Audible Studios
ASIN

B072BLBSSV
Version

Unabridged
Program Type

Audiobook
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Product details

Listening Length	5 hours and 55 minutes
Author	Benjamin Taylor
Narrator	Edoardo Ballerini
Audible.ca Release Date	November 23 2012
Publisher	Audible Studios
Program Type	Audiobook
Version	Unabridged
Language	English
ASIN	B072BLBSSV

Customer reviews

4.1 out of 5

53 global ratings

5 star		53%
4 star		23%
3 star		9%
2 star		8%
1 star		6%

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Top review from Canada

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Bored Me

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on January 11, 2021

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Lost interest half way forced myself to finish speed reading it. It does have some interesting mentions but overall the book bored me. I would have liked to have learned more about Naples as a traveler .

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

G. H

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on September 3, 2015

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A great read when we were in Naples

Fernando Miranda

Terrible

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on August 14, 2013

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Terrible indeed. First time I read a book about a city which doesn' t give one the slightest desire to go there. The author tries to pull a Colin Thubron, but he has neither the erudition nor the writing skills to pull it off; he just talks at random of this and that. Worse, he talks about Naples as if it's a dead city: there is no sense of the life or the people of Naples, it seems he's talking about a painting. Couldn't finish it, feared I would never be able to go to Naples if I did. Probaly would have died of boredom anyway if I kept trying to read the thing.

J. Rothfield

A truly wonderful travel narrative

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 8, 2022

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I sat on this book for a long time and only brought it out when we had arrived in Naples for a visit. It turned out to be a beautifully written and personal account of a wondrous city where change and impermanence are the norm. In the same vein as R.W.B Lewis' account of life in Florence, or Jan Morris on Venice or Trieste. I had not known much about Ben Taylor the author, but one could not have a warmer, more engaging and erudite describer of a city, its bay and the islands as he. As he says ... "Naples the glorious and Naples the ghastly have always been one place", and his narrative brings out these contradictions. Or his quote from Walter Benjamin ... "The traveling citizen who gropes his way as far as Rome from one work of art to the next, as along a stockade, loses his verve in Naples." Brilliant and personal descriptions of past rulers of the city, as well as Capri, Ischia and the places along the Circumvesuviana line, Benjamin is also peerless in describing chance encounters with regular locals. This book instantly goes into my top five of the 'travel narrative' genre and I also want to find and read some other of the author's works.

One person found this helpful

Noel C. Ice

Delightful

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on June 5, 2013

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Naples Declared must rate among the top travel journals ever written. The author gives the reader a nice tour of the more interesting sites in Naples, so for that reason alone the book can be read by anyone thinking of traveling there. However, you also get a get some well-informed and sometimes philosophical observations about the city, its inhabitants, and all that city has to offer.

You cannot understand Naples without having some vague idea of its history. Italian politics are complicated and convoluted generally, only more so in the case of Naples. Only Sicily can compete with it on that score. The politics of Italy right before and just after the renaissance is daunting to learn, but Italian history, particularly in the south, began long before that efflorescence. If you are not already familiar with the history of southern Italy, you will be surprised to learn who ruled its various parts in the past. The first were the Greeks, who had established ports and cities by the eighth century BCE (some say as early as the second millineum BCE). Greek culture, we are reminded by the book, persisted for a long time after Greek hegemony ended.
Naples and its culture, art and architecture, were influenced to some extent, sometimes more, sometimes less, by all who came from afar to dominate it at any point in time: Romans, Saracens, French, Spanish, Germans, Papal, Sicilians and other Italic intruders, etc., as Prof. Taylor will inform us. He deftly weaves the history of Naples and its various cultures into his narrative.
The Greek language was the lingua franca of Naples and its neighbors, including Sicily—just across the bay from Naples—and most of the rest of southern Italy, for over 1000 years, and continues to be spoken, in a dialect called Griko, in parts of Calabria and Salento today. Most of Southern Italy was called Magna Graecia at one time. It was conquered by the Romans in the third century BCE after having previously been captured by the Samnites. Naples was then captured by the Ostrogoths, one of the migrating German tribes, and was briefly a part of the Ostrogoth Kingdom. Naples was sacked by the Saracens around 850 CE, whose stay was not lengthy. However, the Saracens did rule most of neighboring Sicily, and continued to influence Naples for many years before and after Naples’ sacking. Next—as Naples Declared tells us—came the Normans (who were originally from Scandinavia, as the name suggest). Yes, these were the same Normans who conquered England in 1066. After that came the Hohenstaufens, from Germany of all places. Next came the Angevins (from Anjou in modern France), originally a Frankish tribe, who, if you are familiar with English history, succeeded the Plantagenet Kings of England, beginning with Henry II--do you remember the movie, The Lion in Winter. After that, Naples became part of the Spanish Kingdom of Aragon. Next came the Austrian Habsburgs and the Spanish Bourbons. Napoleon’s brother Joseph was crowned King of Naples for a while. It is safe to say that the city of Naples had a colorful history, and Naples Declared gives you tangible glimpses of that history, reflected in modern Naples through the author’s discussions of its art, architecture, and society, all of which are a product of the the varied peoples and cultures with whom Naples came in contact over its more than 2500 years as a city. See the very “brief” synopsis above.

Naples Declared is not a history book, but because each succeeding ruling class influenced modern Naples, the author tells you the least you need to know to give his observations a suitable context. He does this adroitly. We get to experience the author’s personal reflections on Naples, along with his ruminations about various episodes of his life, spurred to consciousness by the city. These are delightful, and not only offer a respite from the direct immediacy of Naples itself, but also we get a context in which to place the author’s interpretation of Naples. The "death of the author," though the literary debate continues in the case of a novel, is a concept antithetical to a memoir, of which Naples Declared is in part. A memoir has to tell you something about the author. That is part of what makes it interesting. The interior life of this particular traveler/reporter/author is what makes this more than just a travel book, though it is both. Often we would just as soon not be exposed to a writer's inward thoughts, but in this case, the author’s interior life is very interesting, and the reader feels grateful to be invited in.

10 people found this helpful

JEDrury

brilliant, challenging, a superb read.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on September 23, 2016

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Ben Taylor’s “Naples Declared,” is a brilliant, challenging read; part history, part art lesson, part memoir, part travel guide unlike any guide read. This is his Naples after eleven visits; the City of four Europes, Greek, Roman, Byzantium and “this strong smelling tribesmen, nations from the back and beyond, hell bent on conquest.” Here is Vico, the philosopher, dinner with Shirley Hazzard, Capri and remembrances of Norman Douglas and Tiberius, Camus on German war atrocities. He ends with an art lesson comparing Jusepe de Ribera, follower of Caravaggio, and his painting of Prometheus, “as a just metaphor for” Naples. The photos are in color and the bibliography extensive.

2 people found this helpful

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Naples Declared: A Walk Around the Bay Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

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