Reading Journal 1, Week 5

Well, Gomorrah. What has this story accomplished using Italy without making me paranoid of every train ride and motorcycle or without putting the fear of God (and Naples) to mine? It's a hefty read, jam-packed with a great deal of information. I guess what I'm drawn to is the inevitable distancing the book provides while still expecting me to be engrossed and invested in its details. In fact, Gomorrah almost asks me to take a closer look at my own involvement in the criminal developments and that could be the most intimating and dissociating factor. For example, the first chapter investigates the shipment and creation of illegally-produced clothing goods and how we, as Americans seeking out Italian name-brands, add to the demand for these familiar and luxurious, though often false brands. It brings a bit of self-inquisition to light--am I buying these clothes? How many of my jeans and shoes were made in the heart of the Italian crime center? It's a little disconcerting, and the constant heart-breaking details only add to my guilt--Pasquale's suffering, the death of Emmanuele, and so on. In a sense, I feel just as much condemnable and involved in the lives of these people as I feel like I do not want to know them. If that is what's going on in Naples, I surely don't want to be a part of it. Sad, but true.