This outstanding selection of 12 short stories from the Italian verismo (realist) school features tales from the author's Vita dei campi (Rural Life) and Novelle rusticane (Rustic Stories). Selections include the celebrated "Cavalleria Rusticana" (Rustic Chivalry), "Nedda," "L'amante di Gramigna" (Gramigna's Mistress), "Reverie," "Jeli the Herdsman," "Nasty Redhead," and 6 others.
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17 of 19 people found the following review helpful
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Nonno had a point
29 April 2007
By Old Dog
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Set in the period soon after Garibaldi's conquest of Sicily and the island's subsequent absorption into the Piedmont kingdom of Victor Emmanuel (II), these stories, combining stark social realism with psychological determinism, vividly document the necessity for mass emigration. Several of the stories have provided rich thematic material for 20c artists: Visconti's film La Terra Trema (1948) derives from Verga's great novel, I Malavogli (The House by the Medlar Tree), which derives from the author's story "Fantasticheria." Of course, "Cavalleria rusticana," made into a drama by Verga himself, would morph into Mascagni's resplendently poignant opera (a far better story on the same theme is Verga's "Jeli il pastore"). And "The History of St Joseph's Donkey" would be wonderfully realized in Bresson's cinema masterpiece, Au Hasard Balthazaar (also drawing on the poems of Verga's French contemporary, Francis Jammes). This bilingual edition should be most useful to students of the Italian language (you will not need a dictionary of Sicilian words; the Introduction and notes offer a useful summary of relevant island protocols). Verga wrote for the letterati of Milan and Florence; these tales of Catanian folk customs (namely, miseries and duplicities) began their appearance in the northern magazines of the 1870s. For all students of Italian literature, especially the short story. For readers seeking roots, read it and weep; Verga makes Bicycle Thief seem like an MGM musical. For an antidote, or the other side of the story, read Lampedusa's The Leopard (1958), also made into a film by Visconti (1963) (altho the aristocratic Lampedusa can be as grim as Verga); and for updates read Silone's Bread and Wine (1936, 1955) and Sciascia's The Owl (set in the 1950s). For a contemporary view read Camilleri's Inspector Montalbano Mysteries series.
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Nonno had a point
29 April 2007
By Old Dog
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Set in the period soon after Garibaldi's conquest of Sicily and the island's subsequent amalgamation into the Piedmont kingdom of Victor Emmanuel (II), these stories vividly document the necessity for mass emigration. Several of these stories have provided rich themes for 20c artists: Visconti's film La Terra Trema (1948) derives from the author's great novel, I Malavogli (The House by the Medlar Tree), which derives from the author's short story, "Fantasticheria." Of course, "Cavalleria rusticana," made into a drama by Verga himself, would morph in Mascagni's resplendently poignant opera (a far better story on the same theme is Verga's "Jeli il pastore"). And "The History of St Joseph's Donkey" would be wonderfully realized by Bresson's cinema masterpiece, Au Hasard Balthazaar (also drawing on the poems of Verga's French contemporary, Francis Jammes). This bilingual edition should be most useful for students of the Italian language (you will not need a dictionary of Sicilian words; the Introduction and subsequent notes offer a useful summary of island protocols). Verga wrote for the letterati of Milan and Florence; these tales of Catanian folk customs (that is, miseries) first
appeared in northern magazines in the 1870s. For all students of Italian literature, a basic text. For readers seeking roots, read it and weep; Verga makes Bicycle Thief seem like a MGM musical. For an antidote, or the other side of the story, read Lampedusa's The Leopard (1958), also made into a film by Visconti (1963)(altho the aristocratic Lampedusa can be as grim as Verga); and for the 20c scene read Silone's Bread and Wine (1936) and Sciascia's The Owl (set in the 1950s). For a contemporary view, read Camilleri's Inspector Montalano Mysteries series.
appeared in northern magazines in the 1870s. For all students of Italian literature, a basic text. For readers seeking roots, read it and weep; Verga makes Bicycle Thief seem like a MGM musical. For an antidote, or the other side of the story, read Lampedusa's The Leopard (1958), also made into a film by Visconti (1963)(altho the aristocratic Lampedusa can be as grim as Verga); and for the 20c scene read Silone's Bread and Wine (1936) and Sciascia's The Owl (set in the 1950s). For a contemporary view, read Camilleri's Inspector Montalano Mysteries series.
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
If You are "Working on Your Italian" ...
22 Jan 2012
By Giordano Bruno
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
... and that's your reason for choosing a bilingual edition of these eleven stories by Giovanni Carmelo Verga (2 September 1840 - 27 January 1922), you're in for both a disappointment and a delight. Verga's style is pure 19th C; reading him to learn contemporary spoken Italian is equivalent to reading Henry James to learn 2012 English. Since all the stories are set in Sicily, you'll have to deal with some bits of dialect -- not many, really -- especially in the direct speech character-to-character. If your Italian is still "intermediate", reading back and forth from the text to the translation will probably be tiresome and not very productive. If your Italian is good enough not to refer to the translation more than once or twice a page, well then, lucky you! and the only value of this bi-lingual edition will be its availability.
Now the delight. These are very potent stories, both grim and noble, Verga is credited with being the pioneer of Italian "realism". Most of the stories are 'realistic' chiefly in the portrayal of lower-class poverty and isolation; don't expect 'realism' in any more modern style. Melodrama died slowly in Italian literature. The best known of the stories is "Cavalleria Rusticana" -- Rustic Chivalry -- from which the popular "verismo" opera of the same title was drawn.
If you know your Italian isn't quite "there" yet, but if you want to read the works of Italy's best 19th C story teller:
Cavalleria Rusticana and Other Stories (Penguin Classics)
Now the delight. These are very potent stories, both grim and noble, Verga is credited with being the pioneer of Italian "realism". Most of the stories are 'realistic' chiefly in the portrayal of lower-class poverty and isolation; don't expect 'realism' in any more modern style. Melodrama died slowly in Italian literature. The best known of the stories is "Cavalleria Rusticana" -- Rustic Chivalry -- from which the popular "verismo" opera of the same title was drawn.
If you know your Italian isn't quite "there" yet, but if you want to read the works of Italy's best 19th C story teller:
Cavalleria Rusticana and Other Stories (Penguin Classics)
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