Signori, si cambia: In viaggio sui treni della vita

by Beppe Severgnini

Il viaggio più affascinante è un viaggio antico, graduale, privato e sociale il viaggio in treno. I treni sono teatri, caffè, bazar. L’unico talk-show che non conosce crisi è quello che si replica quotidianamente sulle rotaie. La confidenza genera libertà: ci ha messo insieme il caso, ci dividerà una stazione. I treni aiutano a pensare. Tutti i grandi viaggi – dai pellegrinaggi cattolici al Grand Tour, dalla prima partenza con gli amici al viaggio di nozze – sono, in fondo, una scoperta di se il panorama che c’interessa sta dentro di noi. Il treno esenta da responsabilità, consente di restare passivi senza sentirsi pigri. Possiamo lavorare e riposare. Possiamo parlare, quando siamo stanchi di leggere. E sognare, quando siamo stanchi di parlare. L’autore ha un nome per tutto la terapia dei binari. Dopo il bestseller La vita è un viaggio Beppe Severgnini ci conduce attraverso gli USA dall’Atlantico al Pacifico (due volte, passando da nord e passando da sud); segue le rotaie da Mosca a Lisbona; taglia l’Europa in verticale (da Berlino a Palermo) e l’Australia in orizzontale (da Sydney a Perth). Tra tutti – confessa – il viaggio più emozionante e istruttivo è quello che apre il volume. Gli USA attraversati col figlio ventenne, Antonio. Da Washington DC a Washington State, 8.000 km in treno, in bus, in automobile. “Un figlio, un papà e l’ e nessun altro che disturba.”

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction, Memoir, Trains, Audiobook, Adventure

224 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 20, 2015

About the author

Giuseppe "Beppe" Severgnini (born December 26, 1956) is an Italian journalist, writer and columnist.

Reviews

[Tim · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book makes me want to embark on a long distance train adventure. "It's nice to travel in a self-propelled bedroom, with a documentary streaming past outside the window.". Beppe Severgnini

[Jeimy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the wry observations, the author’s voice, and the book’s tone. However, I am weary of his book recommendations. I am not a fan of the authors he lists as his favorites.

[Darius Ostrowski · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like the idea, and Mr. Severgnini is quite qualified as a writer to execute this premise. My biggest issue was that everything was too short - very little description, very little discussion with the characters he meets, we only seem to get glimpses of the larger stories. I'd like to find these larger stories...

[Onceinabluemoon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loved the humor, but the travel was the most non travel commentary I have ever read! Husband loves train travel, we have taken numerous holidays in trains, trains all felt incidental to his book... Good thing I had loads of laughs!

[Stefanie Daun · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nothing happens in this book.

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

An enjoyable book about train travel and philosophy

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have never travelled by train yet. It’s on my hundreds list. This book has convinced me that it’s something I would love, slow travel, watching the landscape pass and all of the characters to meet. It was a nostalgic read for me, a remembering of future memories.

[Kathleen]

I probably heard of this book through the New York Times Book Review highlighting travel books for the summer. The author is Italian. And, my friend Roberta (lives in northern Italy) has read his books and enjoys reading his books. Her husband does not. I'm guessing her husband, like my husband, would rather travel by airplane than to ever travel by train (we are not going to mention buses, which my husband will never never get on; I just took a bus trip to DC from NYC - cheaper than Amtrak. Trains are pricey and they are not fast.) So, this book is like being on a slow (regional Italian train) train and reading a very relaxing - not requiring a lot of attention/concentration - book. The book is a collection of essays over the past 35 years. In 1986, he and his wife took the train for their honeymoon (Chapter 4) Trans-Siberian Express: Honeymoon for Four. So, they were not alone! The 1st Chapter - From Washington to Washington: With Antonio Across America - he travels with his son, Antonio from Washington DC to the state of Washington (in case you are mixed up with Washington to Washington!). My first experience with trains was Europe, not America. We could have taken the train from my hometown to Boston, but why would you - we drove! Much later - living in NJ, I would take the bus to South Station in Boston and then the train to Fitchburg. It really was an all day affair as one had to coordinate the bus and train. Trains to Fitchburg were only scheduled in the morning and then late afternoon/evening. Yup, I can drive to Fitchburg in 4 hours! So, I later skipped the bus/train and drove the car - listened to a book on CD. My junior year abroad in Scotland. I took trains all the time - to see my cousin in Glasgow, my Aunt/Uncle in Rothesay, friends in Edinburgh and also trains to London. Then, I bought a Eurail Pass to travel the continent of Europe. It was GREAT! And, one had very different train experiences in Germany versus Italy. Yup, the trains ran on time in Germany, not Italy. I'm not alone, as many people find riding on trains soothing. I don't know if I ever had to book a sleeper cabin. Beppe Severgnini has travel days/weeks on trains, so he's an "expert"! In NJ, one gets a senior citizen discount on NJ Transit. I asked where I could go on the train, hoping to go to DC (the train is pricey), and he paused and suggested Atlantic City and back. MMMMMMHHHHHHHHH! Maybe I should try it. And, I need to put this book into action - ride the train! And the other book, I need to finish Don't Make Me Pull Over! An Informal History of the Family Road Trip by Richard Ratay. 50 years ago, my father to us (my mother, sister and brother) on a 5-week road trip across America! Gas at the time was about 29 cents a gallon! Like trains, many people (not all) are not interested in traveling by car. Because of time, people want FAST, so airplanes are the way to travel. But, still there is a rich experience traveling by train - meeting/talking to people and relaxing - the rhythm of the train and the hypnotic view of staring out the window. One more note, train stations! Many have been renovated (in NYC, there is great lament that they tore down the "old" Penn Station; Grand Central Terminal is beautiful!) - Washington DC -Union Station.... Last year, I stayed at the Crawford Hotel in Union Station in Denver, CO. I didn't rent a car. Took the light rail from the airport to Union Station - the cost, less than $10.00 - and my friends came down to see me. It was WONDERFUL. Someday, I would like to take the train from Denver to Park City, UT!

[Soobie has fog in her brain · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ho voluto tenere Severgnini come ultima lettura dell'anno 2015. Siccome si parla di viaggi, spero che possa portarmi fortuna nella scoperta di nuove mete. La Fernweh comincia a farsi sentire: nel 2015 mi son mossa dal Friuli solo per andare all'Expo. Che sì, equivale ad un giro del mondo ma era comunque provincia di Milano.

Come tanti libri di Severgnini, anche questo raccoglie articoli che sono apparsi prima sul CorSera. Avevo spesso la sensazione di già letto. Comunque. Si divide in sei parti più un epilogo finale.

Ogni parte descrive un viaggio che Beppe ha fatto nel corso degli ultimi anni. Il primo è forse quello più interessante. Quello più sentito probabilmente. Beppe e il figlio Antonio in vacanza in treno per gli Stati Uniti, da Washington D.C. allo stato di Washington. Un po' d'invidia c'è da parte mia, anche se non lo farei più con mio papà il viaggio. Ci siamo allontanati parecchio negli ultimi anni.

Il secondo, al contrario, è quello meno interessante. È il viaggio che Beppe ha fatto per testare le opinioni degli italiani prima delle elezioni di x anni fa. Si parla tanto di politica e quindi poco interessante per la sottoscritta. Come al solito, però, belli i ritratti della varia umanità.

Le tratte Berlino-Palermo, Mosca-Lisbona e Portland, ME-Portland, OR me le ricordavo dai reportage sul Corriere con tanto di video. Quella australiana, forse, ne aveva già parlato da un'altra parte.

In conclusione, una lettura per far desiderare di prendere il primo treno e partire. La destinazione non è importante. Anche se andrei volentieri a trovare il mio fratellone a Göttingen...

Il treno mi piace. Ho fatto la pendolare per tre anni tra PN e Conegliano e sei anni tra PN e UD. Quindi forse non ho lo stesso sguardo romantico del Beppe quando si tratta di Trenitalia. Ho imparato ad aspettare, ad avere sempre scorte di cibo e acqua nello zaino, ad ascoltare quello che succedeva intorno a me. È bello leggere e guardare fuori e vedere il mondo che ti passa davanti. E non bisogna nemmeno guidare...

Ho fatto una versione light dell'Interrail quando avevo sedici anni. Parigi-Amsterdam-Berlino-Copenhagen. Uno dei ricordi più belli è una corsa pazza tra macchine e carrozze nella pancia del traghetto che ci stava portando a Copenhagen. Ho preso treni in Olanda, negli Stati Uniti (Boston - Salem, MA), in Francia, in Germania e sono arrivata in treno fino a Budapest e poi a Vienna. Ho visto carrozze svedesi e australiane e belghe. E grazie ai treni ho scoperto piccole gemme nascoste nell'Italia del Nord. Ed è sempre piacevole leggere i resoconti di altri viaggiatori. Specie se si tratta del Beppe, con il suo stile semplice e fresco.

[Derek (FoCoBuzz) · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Off the Rails" ends by saying it's not a travel book, it's a book about travels. I think this really captures the spirit of this book. I picked it up one day in Barnes & Noble because it is about train travel. Beacause I LOVE train travel, especially in Europe, this book looked like a perfect fit for me. For the most part, I was not disappointed. Severgnini documents numerous train trips across four continents in multiple decades.

He writes about three journeys across America. It was fascinating to read a European's take not only on Amtrak - which pales compared to European trains - but American culture in general. He writes about a trip through Italy which resonated with me after I traveled several Italian train routes two years ago. He also writes about trips across the 1980s Soviet Union as well as behind the Iron Curtain in the waning days of communism. These chapters into the totalitarian past was part travel story, part history of a bygone era that is hard for most of us to relate to in 2019.

Only the journey across Australia did little for me as I have not been Down Under nor do I have a great desire to visit there at this point. Also, the last chapter is a somewhat bizarre discussion on creativity and writing technique that seemed largely out of place and an odd way to end the book. However, despite these shortcomings, I really enjoyed this book and want to look into other books by Beppe Severgnini.

[Jessica (thebluestocking) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ultimately, this collection of essays about train travel was not for me. While I enjoyed some tidbits here and there, the author’s voice came off as too snarky, and I found myself wanting different details of the journeys. I did enjoy the glimpses into train life, and I might read another book by this author at some point.

[Il Filo di Arianna · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5
Severgnini per me è una garanzia: ogni volta che pubblica qualcosa, devo leggerlo.
Non è il suo libro migliore, ma è stato comunque piacevole.
Ho adorato il viaggio con il figlio e le avventure del pulcino!

[Sheila · Rating 3 out of 5]

3:5 stars. Some really good quotes and insights but I didn’t love this book as much as I did Ciao America. Some parts dragged for me. I understand that he is a journalist but I just don’t care very much for politics.

[Dogsandbooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fabulous idea, but not quite living up to promise. Amtrak journey interrupted by a lot of other modes! Eastern Europe before USSR fell, and last chapter esp interesting. I do love trains and stories about trains. DPL book 910.4 S

[Brian Angle · Rating 1 out of 5]

Glib, boring, author has nothing to say

[Lee · Rating 2 out of 5]

First I love train and train travel. This author was just to narcissistic for me. However the last chapter was very useful

[JudithCollins · Rating 2 out of 5]

The presentation of Americans in this book was odd.

[RaeAnne · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was being featured at our local library and I thought it looked interesting. I've always wanted to take a cross-country trip on a train and I thought I might live a little vicariously through this book. It falls short of transporting me anywhere. I liked the author's observations about people and stations and accommodations. He is obviously well travelled and down to earth. But I wanted so much more from the experience. I wanted it to read more like a story. Like an adventure. It felt more factual than magical. I think I was just looking for something else. I think the biggest allure of a train trip is that you can take your time and you can explore as much as you wish. There are so many opportunities to stop and pause. To get off and board again when you are ready. I think I would really enjoy a trip like that. But I definitely want to get off and stay awhile. Sleeping and bathing on the train do not sound appealing!

[Alicebv · Rating 4 out of 5]

..come facilmente intuibile, è il treno che fa da filo conduttore ai 6 racconti di viaggi personali/professionali dell'autore attraverso America, Europa e Australia..
..in generale mi è piaciuto..scorrevole, ironico.. ..non ho apprezzato un granché il primo viaggio, quello in America col figlio: mi è sembrata una carrellata super-veloce di tutti i luoghi toccati: se lo scopo voleva essere dare l'idea della velocità (!?) di treni/macchine/autobus USA in una visione quasi futurista..beh..poteva quasi starci, ma se lo scopo (peraltro dichiarato) è raccontare il viaggio col figlio..non so..non mi sembra che sia stato raggiunto appieno!
..avrei anche evitato il capitolo finale..soprattutto la parte sulle idee..questo farsi portavoce di "verità assolute" mi sembra un po' da spocchiosetti..

[Laurel · Rating 4 out of 5]

For travelers -- whether train aficionados or not -- this collection of Severgnini's stories will expose you to a different kind of journalism. In taking a number of long, remarkable voyages by train, Severgnini pulls no punches and asks the unusual questions in connecting with his fellow passengers.

Having lived in Italy, my take is that his Italian point-of-view is spot on whether he is speaking of America or his native Italy. Amusing in parts, touching in others, worth the time for this quick read.

[Riccardo · Rating 3 out of 5]

È un libro strano di cui ho apprezzato, curiosamente , solo il capitolo finale, in cui l'autore si sbottona un poco dando un po' di consigli su come guardare la vita da un altro punto di vista tenendo in conto il tema del viaggio, in particolare del viaggio in treno. Ma a parte questo capitolo finale trovo il resto del libro non molto bello. Mi sembra di leggere dei frettolosi appunti di viaggio che non raccontano quasi nulla ne dei luoghi, ne delle persone ne dell'autore.

[Amberwench · Rating 3 out of 5]

"We are the consequence of those who went before us. Lie is borrowed and the world is borrowed. Not stolen, though. Imitation and inspiration lead to invention by being tuned in. A writer reads to find the right frequency. One phrase suggests other phrases; an image suggests other images; a place other places. That’s normal. Those who write have to read; those who sing or play an instrument have to listen; those who paint have to look. Beware of cooks with no appetite."

[David Ellis · Rating 3 out of 5]

While witty and a fun read, the separate travel essays did not add up to a cohesive whole for me. One takeaway: train travel is a better way to learn about different people than different places. Another takeaway concerns the suggestion that travel is important for (or even critical to?) creativity.

[Joan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The audio book was the perfect Covid companion, a trip around the world by train, from the comfort of my bed. Read by Eduoardo Ballerini (my favorite narrator) with rich detailed descriptions of trains and memorable train trips from a talented Italian journalist. Makes me want to get out bed asap and go travel somewhere, anywhere, by rail.

[elena · Rating 2 out of 5]

Non mi piace proprio. Lo abbandono secondo il codice dei diritti del lettore di Pennac.
Il contenuto è irrilevante. Lo stile affannoso: mi manca il respiro con tutte queste lapidarie frasi corte che caratterizzano lo stile di Severgnini e che in altri libri funzionano.
Abbandonato a pagina 126 (ho tenuto duro, ma ho dovuto mollare)

[Lindsey · Rating 3 out of 5]

A light hearted read about the author's experience traveling railways around the world. I found his travels aboard trains in Cold War-Era Eastern European and just before the fall of the Soviet Union fascinating. This was the perfect palette cleanser.

[M · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a quick read. Gives you a little flavor for train travel around the world. Would have liked more in depth stories. Perhaps, a series of books with one dedicated to each journey would have been a bit better. Stories were a bit all over the place.

[Diane Madlon-Kay · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Took me far longer to finish than I care to admit. I enjoyed the subject matter, but not the writing. There are many other suggestions in the book that May be worth checking out.

[Evelyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a collection of articles, some repetition that gets a little tedious. Interesting perspective, but also a bit hard to get through.