Certain authors have a knack for taking potentially interesting topics and creating from them remarkably uninteresting novels. Tackling issues that include the difficulties of immigrant life, racial conflict, aging, and marital infidelity, Rita Ciresi's Sometimes I Dream in Italian is surprisingly nondescript. Despite the potential to be awe-inspiring, it falls disappointingly short of impressive.
Divided in two parts, 'Ragazza' and 'Donna,' Sometimes I Dream in Italian is the story of Italian sisters Lina and Angel Lupo who grow up in the strict household of their immigrant parents in New Haven. Angel wishes she could be more like her older sister - glamorous, beautiful, strong-willed, and defiant. When Lina stands up to her mother's old-fashioned demands and expectations, Angel merely averts her eyes. As the more vulnerable of the two, Angel often suffers punishment for the both of them. Nonetheless, they form a unique alliance against Mama and Babbo, conjuring up fantasies to make their lives seem anything but ordinary or Italian. They make a concerted effort to not learn the language of their ancestors because they are, as Lina points out, Americans.
Angel's jealousy continues as an adult as she lusts after Lina's husband, children, extravagant home and clothes. She is dissatisfied in her own life- unmarried and pushing 30, her biggest accomplishment is her job writing Catholic greeting cards. In an effort to put an end to the drudgery of her life- or at least make it easier to bear- she answers a personal ad and meets Dirk Diederhoff, a teacher at Vassar. He's a far cry from Italian and certainly not the source of thrills Angel had hoped he would be.
Nor is this novel, for that matter. While some moments are moderately humorous and others mildly touching, not one of them is especially compelling or poignant. When Ciresi is confronted with complex issues in the novel, she appears to brush them off and deal with them so simplistically that the reader is left unsatisfied. Character development is weak, such that the Lupo family -with the exception of the outspoken and opinionated Mama- seems superficial and unbelievable in its expressions of any kind of emotion. Events like Mama's death and Lina's suicide attempt don't make as much of an impact as they should as a result of Ciresi's simplistic approach to description to such complex and heart-wrenching events in the novel.
Especially disappointing is the underdeveloped conflict between the immigrant generation and its American-born children. The tension between the sisters and their parents is apparent, but Ciresi deals with it the same way in which she deals with every other potential conflict in the novel- she doesn't. She makes an effort to ensure that the reader is aware of it and then leaves him hanging. Her development of conflict is as flawed as her character development, leaving many unanswered questions for the unsatisfied reader.
To Ciresi's credit, she does an impressive job of interspersing common Italian euphemisms throughout the novel, adding an interesting and pleasant cultural flavor to the novel. This is a surprisingly creative move given the apparent lack of enthusiasm and insight that pervades the rest of the novel. But don't hold your breath; this is about as creative as Sometimes I Dream in Italian gets. Whether Ciresi is writing about coming of age or death, the language is trite, forced and awkward.
Despite its shortcomings, Sometimes I Dream in Italian is fairly innocuous as poorly written novels go these days. The conclusion is exactly what you might expect from a novel that feels as though it's following some kind of formula. By the time the reader turns the last page, there's not much for him to do but shrug his shoulders. A far cry from stellar, it's still a tolerable read if you're looking for something lacking in complexity or depth.
