Delightful. English people vacationing and living in Italy. Outrageous cast of characters. Peculiar goings on. Vanishing water. A murder!! The BBC mini series is great, and includes a few scenes with Feodor Chaliapin Jr. as the old Prince, Tosti. It is not possible for me to convey his utterly wonderfully demented delivery of the spider speech, but here it is as it appears in the book: 'I was staying with Andrew Spratling at Porto Ercole,' the Prince piped up in a small, precise voice as though he were adding some useful information to what Nancy had told them, ‘and I awoke at about two in the morning. I couldn’t get back to sleep so I turned on the light to read and what should I see but a large spider hanging from the ceiling by means of a string produced from its own body! I did not hesitate. I got out of bed stealthily and dressed as quietly as possible so as not to disturb the insect. I packed all my clothes and shut my case; the spider was still hanging there as I tiptoed out of the room. It seemed to me that it's awful little eyes were upon me. I went down the stairs and let myself out of the front door. Then I walked to the hotel where luckily there was a porter on duty and a vacant room. Early the next morning I returned to my own home in Milano. I shall not stay there again. I become nervous of spiders and of omosessuali, and at Andrew Spratling’s house one finds both.' Oddly, on TV, the spiders are at Peter Pergolesi's house. Then again, it's way more fun to say Peter Pergolesi than Andrew Spratling.
Do You like book Summer's Lease: Tie In Edition (1991)?
