Quotes by Tobias Jones

Anyone who has lived here for long enough has seen it all before: opposing sides of the political spectrum ferociously criticising each other, getting hot under the collar about this and that, bringing up all sorts of allegations and innuendos. Then just as it looks as if the argument is about to get physical, harmony breaks out. A dialogue is opened, an accord or a compromise is found. And suddenly, just as quickly as it came, all that fiery rhetoric subsides and everyone realizes it was all synthetic, put on for show when all along some deal was imminent anyway. Its as if every politician is merely an actor in a little theatre, and as soon as the curtain falls and the public cant see them any more they all slap each other on the back, tot up the takings and go out for an expensive meal.

I realise I have become something I never thought possible: patriotic and proud about being an adopted Italian. In more honest moments, I realise that I might never quite be able to leave the country. That longing to leave, and the inability to pull yourself away from the bel casino, the fine mess, has been written about for centuries. Using the usual prostitution metaphor, one of the countrys most important patriots, Massimo DAzeglio, wrote: I cant live outside Italy, which is strange because I continually get angry with Italian ineptitude, envies, ignorance and laziness. Im like one of the people who falls in love with a prostitute. That, in fact, is precisely the feeling of living here: it is infuriating and endlessly irritating, but in the end it is almost impossible to pull yourself away. Its not just that everything is troppo bello, too beautiful, or that food and conversation are so good. Its that life seems less exciting outside Italy, the emotions seem muted. Stendhal wrote that the feeling one gets from living in Italy is akin to that of being in love, and its easy to understand what he meant. Theres the same kind of enchantment and serenity, occasionally insecurity and sadness. And writing about the countrys sharp pangs of jealousy and paranoia, Stendhal knew that they exist precisely because the countrys joys are far more intense and more lasting. You cant have one without the other.

...they were no more than steaks served up to portly politicians who controlled the personnel departments of the TV stations. (Showgirls in Italy)