A Time in Rome

Penguin Travel Library

by Elizabeth Bowen

Elizabeth Bowen's account of a time spent in Rome between February and Easter is no ordinary guidebook but an evocation of a city - its hisotry, its architecture and, above all, its atmosphere. She describes the famous classical sites, conjuring from the ruins visions of former inhabitants and their often bloody activities. She speculates about the immense noise of ancient Rome, the problems caused by the Romans' dining posture, and the Roman temperament, which blended 'constructive will with supine fatalism'. She envies the Vestal Virgins and admires the Empress Livia, who survived a barren marriage. She evokes the city's moods - by day, when it is characterized by golden sunlight, and at night, when the blaze of the moon 'annihilates history, turning everything into a get together spectacle for Tonight.

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction, Italy, History, Irish Literature, Classics, Memoir

256 pages, Paperback

First published June 5, 1990

About the author

Elizabeth Dorothea Cole Bowen, CBE was an Anglo-Irish novelist and short story writer and short story writer notable for her books about the "big house" of Irish landed Protestants as well her fiction about life in wartime London.

Reviews

[Violet wells · Rating 2 out of 5]

There was a time when I considered moving to Rome. A friend of mine needed a roommate and I had been in Florence five years. I decided to put it on trial for a week. However, I never managed to strike up a bracing intimacy with the eternal city, no matter how many long walks I took. Often Rome felt to me like a scrapbook of history. Or else a lot of provincial towns meshed together, a sensation perhaps brought about by the small town nature of the river. The Tiber isn't a big city river. Crossing the river at night or in the early hours of the morning in London, Paris, Prague or even Florence is to feel all the confusion within oneself lift, is to be given for a moment wings. On the other hand, it's possible to cross the Tiber without even noticing.

Early on, Bowen takes exception to the concept of the siesta. This surprised me. To my mind the siesta plays a big part in making Italian cities the least neurotic in all of Europe. The siesta often compels you to find nourishment from within. If all the shops are closed you're more likely to be more creative in your time-keeping. Siesta for me is often a time of intimacy, not least of all with oneself. Many of the more frivolous distractions of contemporary life are closed. When I first arrived in Italy the siesta made me realise how neurotic I was. Probably it had the same effect on Bowen except she didn't stay long enough to realise the fault was hers and not the culture's.

Another oddity was she doesn't mention Caravaggio once. (Neither does she mention Michelangelo). One of my top five attractions of Rome was coming across a Caravaggio in a dark dusty church - especially the Madonna in Sant'Agostino. Though Caravaggio had long since been out of favour when Bowen wrote her book here was an opportunity to take issue with one of history's damning and erroneous decrees. That said, neither Keats nor Shelley recognised Caravaggio's wild genius either.

We learn little about Bowen herself in this book. A shame. Instead she strives to be scholarly which mostly bored me. Rome is a place to share with a best friend, not a tour guide. There was a great eight-page magazine article in this book but Bowen was a long way short of inspiration to fill 230 pages.

[Daniel Etherington · Rating 1 out of 5]

Very dated. And not entirely convincing. She wrote this about Rome, with a nominally authoritative voice, after staying in a hotel in the city for a few months over Easter in the 1950s? Come on.

A strange stream-of-consciousness combination of tedious descriptions of her daily wanderings/hotel room/restaurant visits, dull descriptions of her reading a description of the Forum from a guide book, and various historical essays and musings.

I believe it's considered a classic in some quarters but I found it a real struggle.

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit rambling, but in a way I found pleasant--as if I were inside the writer's mind. This is the kind of book that makes me want to be friends with the author. She has the wonderful ability to imagine a place as it once must have been. A guidebook can tell you where to go, and even give you some history; but it doesn't transport you back in time. Highly recommended for leisurely reading before a trip to Rome.

[Alice · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lovely but challenging read. Having been to Rome myself, I enjoyed this evocation of it's atmosphere. However, this is not a story or even a journal. It is simply descriptive prose, ranging from retelling stories or lives of notable individuals, history of Roman society and Bowen's own impressions of great swathes of Rome. Difficult to get into, and maybe not everyone's cup of tea, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy it.

[Audrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok so if there was a possibilities to give this a 2.5 stars I would because that’s the energy it was giving. For me it started out slow but got interesting once the author actually started talking about Rome which I assumed would be the point of the book… unfortunately she completely lost me on her last few chapters where you could feel she was trying to go for something a bit too complicated leaving the reader more lost and perplexed than actually reflecting. But I do have to say once she got into the actually city part I could feel myself book g my ticket back to Rome. Interesting at times but a lot of wasted potential.

[whit · Rating 5 out of 5]

perfectly paralleled my trip as i read each section over my 5 day stay. felt like a companion in my solo trip. was very stream of consciousness and not all that cohesive which i understand why it got points off for others. i think i read it at the perfect time for myself and greatly enjoyed it

[Pete daPixie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my cup of tea dear. This one is away from my usual reading genre, but was a last minute grab off the local library shelf for holiday reading. Relevant only as my holiday destination was Roma.
Elizabeth Bowen's 'A Time in Rome' is a travelogue of the eternal city, where the author spent some considerable time in 1958. Her book was published in 1959.
Bowen was of Anglo/Irish descent, who wrote novels from the 1920's through to the late 1960's. The writing is very dated now, with it's terribly, terribly upper class clipped BBC style that one doesn't hear much today darling. However, the subject matter is still quite alive. I read this during my journey to Rome, and did gain some ideas of places to visit, what is more, the book is certainly written with intimate detail and provides a more personal portrait of the city that is not attainable from contemporary travel guides.

[Kate Parr · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was a huge slog, barely making it through 2 or 3 pages at a time. If ever something was going to put me off returning to Rome it will be this book. I was hoping there would be some historical context (she's writing in the 1950s) that might contrast with my own memories of the city but there's just endless paragraph after endless paragraph of descriptions of what direction all the roads run in and how the Palatine was expanded by X emperor and I can't even remember what most of those 200+ pages were filled with, it was just mind-numbingly tedious. I'm sorry to not be able to at least appreciate what is considered a classic, even if I don't enjoy it, but I was so happy to finish this one and it's going straight to the charity shop.

[Hester · Rating 2 out of 5]

After a sublime few months reading Bowen's novels this is a disappointment . I'd hoped for some insightful character portraits , people she got to know and their understanding of the huge history of this city . But Bowen deserts this , her secret weapon of prose , for a discursive ramble through the streets of Rome , heavy on historical detail and architecture , but lacking the human foil to her vast and wandering intellect so that it reads like a lecture . Maybe if you've been to Rome it makes more sense but , not having done so , I hold little affection for this travelogue.

[Todd Ewing · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book from the 1960 bestseller list is part travelogue, part reverie. It takes one on a tour of Rome, which then expands on a travel through time. There are at times a nostalgic element that also reflects on the many ghosts of civilization that still inhabit the city. Yet, it is a book that is well crafted linguistically and thus not a simple history read through. It is a piece of literature that should be read slowly and many of the phrases savored. Not a book for everyone, but it was an interesting read as I work through the bestseller lists of my life.

[Alice · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lovely but challenging read. Having been to Rome myself, I enjoyed this evocation of it's atmosphere. However, this is not a story or even a journal. It is simply descriptive prose, ranging from retelling stories or lives of notable individuals, history of Roman society and Bowen's own impressions of great swathes of Rome. Difficult to get into, and maybe not everyone's cup of tea, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy it.

[JMJ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some beautiful phrases, such as Bowen’s description of Rome as a spiderweb stretching out glistening between it’s hills, and especially her descriptions of light towards the end. Yet they were too few and far between.

[Anubha · Rating 3 out of 5]

A delightful read but there were a lot of references to specific locations (totally expected in a travel book) that will make sense only if you have already explored the region on Google a little.

Loved the descriptions of long, languid, Roman afternoons.

[Fahad Khan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The writing is old-fashioned and sometimes distractingly so, but this works pretty well as a guide book for anyone visiting the Eternal City and feeling a bit overwhelmed by the prospect of everything there is to see.

[Katie Fellows · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful blend of history, travel writing and biography all blended into one. To me it brought my favourite city in the world to life perfectly!

[Melanie Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is emphatically NOT a guidebook of Rome - it is a personal response to Rome, together with some interesting historical and cultural details. It is beautifully written and a pleasure to read.

[Piper Winchester · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting look at present Rome and the history.
Nice one sitting read where you can get lost in Italy 🇮🇹

[Tammy]

Never finished reading.

[Leah Agirlandaboy]

This was mostly pretty boring. I wanted it to be more about her vacation days, but she used most of the pages to recap history. I’m glad to know about Bowen now, though!

[Derek Henderson · Rating 2 out of 5]

A great deal of Elizabeth Bowen is in this book. Boy, does she love the sound of her own voice. Overwritten and mannered, purplish prose make for a rough read. Gave up after a couple of sessions.

[Noah Goodman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just not the biggest fan of travel writing

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5*

[Victoria Hope · Rating 1 out of 5]

Honestly, didn't finish it. I struggled to get through more than a couple of pages at a time. I think I can agree with most of the other reviewers that the language Bowen uses to describe the city is beautiful; but the execution is poor. This book doesn't make me want to go to Rome. Don't look up Bowen's history or reason for writing this book either. If you're having trouble sleeping, however...

[Kate · Rating 1 out of 5]

non-fiction, An Irish woman spends a month in Rome and writes about it. Some history, some practical advice, some walking tours...
I think that it's possible that this book will be more interesting immediately after or while one is in Rome. I didn't have the picture of the city in my head vividly enough in order to follow what she was saying a lot of the time.

[Maria · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoy Bowen's writing style but this was perhaps a little more idiosyncratic than I expected. Musings, impressions & descriptions of a short stay in Rome bring the city to life but I could have done without the interminable emperors' genealogy & the passages on St Paul. You'll be left with a burning desire to consult a map of the city!

[kymdotcom · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book made me realise that I've forgotten almost everything I learnt about classics at high school and university, and reminded me of the time at the British Museum where I almost cried because I could only identify one vase. Messalina is my new favourite Roman though.

[Michael Waldron · Rating 5 out of 5]

Less travel log and more impression of Rome's history, character, atmosphere and inhabitants... and all the better for it. Through her layering of anecdote, fact and conjecture Bowen gives the reader a sense of the city and truly offers up a time in Rome.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

1959 memoir/travel book

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perfect Rome companion... recommend while drinking an aperol spritz near the Forum!

[Will · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s fine enough but Bowen is no Eleanor Clark. Read Rome and a Villa instead.