A literary stroll around Rome

Open Door Bookshop

On a recent trip to Roma, I’d planned to visit an English bookstore to pen a review for this site, the Open Door Bookshop in Via della Lungaretta. However, I was caught up in the history of the Eternal City. I managed to conquer all the major sights but ran completely out of time.

The Spanish Steps

Fortunately, I came across a hidden find on a pilgrimage to the Spanish Steps. I headed to this area to re-trace the steps of the fictional character Mrs. Stone in the magnificent short story by Tennessee Williams, The Roman Spring of Mrs Stone. The Steps are atmospheric and full of tourists and singing troupes of European school children. Think a punk version of the Von Trapps from The Sound of Music. It is here that the poet John Keats died of consumption in 1821, at the age of just 26, in a tiny room overlooking the steps.

Caffe Greco

But alas, I digress. I stumbled into Caffe Greco for an espresso fix impressed by the charms of its shop front. I was indeed pleasantly surprised to find a cove of autographed portraits, busts and statues, for the café has been a favourable haunt of writers and artists since 1760. It boasts a customer list that has included Goethe, Baudelaire, Casanova, Gogol and Hans Christian Anderson. The Piazza di Spagna has been a magnet for artistic souls, with Byron, Balzac, Wagner and Liszt also exploring this rich area.

Borri Books

I did need a literary fix during the holiday though, as I quickly got through Helen Walsh’s The Lemon Grove, a kind of twist on the Lolita myth with a Mum having a complete infatuation on her stepdaughter’s 17-year-old boyfriend. Shades of Anais Nin and lush descriptions of the Mediterranean setting. So I visited the international bookshop, Borri Books at Termini, close to my hotel, where I picked up a copy of a Philip Roth that I had not read, Deception. (Had to pay a striking 15 Euros, but when in Rome and all that). A clever dialogue between two adulterers before and after their meetings, sheer debauched, intelligent and humane. I can always rely on Roth to challenge and entertain at the same time. The cashier, who served me without making eye contact, appeared to be engrossed in a book under the counter, hence her lack of acknowledgement.  Sadly, she was busy texting. Damon Albarn sings it quite rightly in his latest offering,

We are everyday robots on our phones.

Street Market

I found myself wandering around open book stalls that sold volumes of Italian novels. I recognised authors translated into Italian by their cover artwork. The little market-like emporium also sold vinyl LPs (long player records) and grossly explicit pornographic DVDs with front covers on full display. Bizarre indeed! I did chuckle to myself thinking, I may not have made it to the bookshop I had planned to, but I had managed to experience a literary café, a literary supermarket and fall upon an alternative type of entertainment centre during my impromptu literary stroll around Rome.

Photo by Jorgen Hendriksen on Unsplash

If you have enjoyed this literary stroll around Rome and are in the UK, you can buy a copy of the books mentioned from an independent bookshop near you via the affiliate links on the book titles. This site may earn a small commission if you do.