Customer Reviews
Interesting, hampered by obscure writing style - By: Andres C. Salama, 10 Aug 2008 
Italian historian Carlo Ginzburg traces the story of one Menocchio, a peasant from northern Italy who was put on trial (and eventually burned at the stake) for heresy by the Italian inquisitionin the 16th century. He puts forwards parts of the transcription of the trial, & we realize that Menocchio has some quite heterodox (and not totally consistent) views on theology & cosmology, suggesting a number of eclectic sources for his ideas. For example, he viewed the Earth as a sort of giant cheese & the angels as worms coming out of the cheese (hence the book's title). How an Italian peasant, without presumably much access to books, would get such views, Ginzburg asks. He traces the bookshelves of Menocchio, but he is unable to come up with a clear answer. For example, even though his cosmology seems to have been influenced by a reading of the Koran, that was not among the books he possessed. Ginzburg finally suggests that Menocchio was a recipient of an ancient oral tradition, perhaps going back to the prechristian past, that was not totally suppressed by the churchin rural areas. The book deals with an interesting subject, but is unfortunately hampered by Ginzburg's deliberately obscure writing style. A more conventional storytelling would have helped.
A miller's tale ... - By: , 20 Jun 2002 
One of my favorite books of all time. An account of the worldview of a medieval miller based on Inquisition records may not sound promising, but the evocation of how strange & different, yet how similar medieval men were is astonishing. In an age which thinks it has invented "pick & mix" religion, this acts as an important corrective. Ginzburg never abandons his miller completely, & you will be touched by his humanity as well as surprised by his views.
As a history graduate, I can honestly say that I have never enjoyed a history book more than this.
Terrific insight! - By: , 10 Jul 1999 
In the cheese & the worms, ginzburg gives terrific insight into how ones social status defines their belief system. It shows the interperative filters one uses based on what they know & are able to comprehend.
Historiography at its best! - By: , 10 Dec 1998 Carlo Ginzburg was one of the first historians to put into practice anthropological ideas about culture as a historically transmitted system of meaning. These ideas were developed by Clifford Geertz, Victor Turner, & ultimately, Michel Foucault. In using Menocchio, Ginzburg makes a statement about making history from the point of view of the excluded, the liminal characters of society. In this sense, Menocchio's story ceases to be an anecdote & becomes a reflection & a statement about the way Italian society was constructedin the 16th century. All this from the point of view of those upon whom power was imposed.
phenomenal - By: , 19 Nov 1998 expertly intriguing, unparalleled, & remarkably spell-binding.........."The Cheese & The Worms" is a must-read book for everyone & anyone who loves great literature & is the best novel I've ever read.
