Benevenuto/Roman Hours reading response

In Roman Hours, the author makes himself much more accessible in the way that he portrays himself as weaker and more flawed. He speaks of how awestruck he was as a boy by such a lavish apartment, and how that apartment still has a hold over him now, which shows a human characteristic with a sense of fragility, whereas The Life of Benevenuto seemed a lot more like an attempt to impress. Something about his tone and the anecdotes he uses makes Cellini’s piece seem like an attempt at proving himself and asserting his skill and abilities. I think both are equally conscious of the reader’s presence, as each one is portraying an important feeling, but Cellini’s piece seems more like an attempt to impress the reader. I think because of this Aciman’s piece is more believable. As I said before, it’s more accessible and personally, I can relate to his feeling of awestruck wonder walking around Rome. I loved Aciman’s piece and I thought it was a more pleasant read, but part of that was the relation I felt to it because it was written in more present times about very familiar places.