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Sparrow, Temptation and Cavalleria Rusticana
Italy has a long history of short story writing -going back to Boccaccio (d. 1375) - and most of Italy's major writers produced collections of novelle. One of the greatest exponents is Giovanni Verga. The themes of his major novels are to be found in his short stories. Verga embraced verismo, the Italian form of French naturalism, where authorial comment and description is at a minimum. He creates an atmosphere and emotions in his writing which transcend the world of his characters, mainly Sicilian fishermen and peasants, and which give it a lyrical almost epic character. Although Verga writes about a small enclosed world, his work has universal appeal, touching the heart without lecturing or sentimentalising. This volume offers a wider and more varied selection of Verga's prose than has been published in English before and has been taken from four collections published between 1876 and 1887.
100 pages, Paperback
Published February 25, 2015
8 people want to read
About the author
Giovanni Verga
411 books195 followersGiovanni Verga was an Italian realist writer, best known for his depictions of life in Sicily, and especially for the short story Cavalleria Rusticana and the novel I Malavoglia.
The first son of Giovanni Battista Catalano Verga and Caterina Di Mauro, Verga was born into a prosperous family of Catania in Sicily. He began writing in his teens, producing the largely unpublished historical novel Amore e Patria (Love and Country); then, although nominally studying law at the University of Catania, he used money his father had given him to publish his I Carbonari della Montagna (The Carbonari of the Mountain) in 1861 and 1862. This was followed by Sulle Lagune (In the Lagoons) in 1863.
Meanwhile, Verga had been serving in the Catania National Guard (1860-64), after which he travelled to Florence several times, settling there in 1869.
He moved to Milan in 1872, where he developed his new approach, characterized by the use of dialogue to develop character, which resulted in his most significant works. In 1880 his story collection Vita dei Campi (Life in the Fields), (including Fantasticheria, La Lupa, and Pentolacchia) most of which were about rural Sicily, came out; it included the Cavalleria Rusticana, which was adapted for the theatre and later the libretto of the Mascagni opera. Verga's short story, "Malaria", was one of the first literary depictions of the disease.
He then embarked on a projected series of five novels, but only completed two, I Malavoglia and Mastro-Don Gesualdo (1889), the latter of which was the last major work of his literary career. Both are widely recognized as masterpieces.
In 1894 Verga moved back to the house he was born in. In 1920 he was elected a senator. He died of a cerebral thrombosis in 1922.
The Teatro Verga in Catania is named after him.
In the book by Silvia Iannello Le immagini e le parole dei Malavoglia (Sovera, Roma, 2008), the author selects some passages of the Giovanni Verga' novel I Malavoglia, adds original comments and Acitrezza' photographic images, and devotes a chapter to the origins, remarks and frames taken from the immortal movie La terra trema (1948) directed by Luchino Visconti.
The first son of Giovanni Battista Catalano Verga and Caterina Di Mauro, Verga was born into a prosperous family of Catania in Sicily. He began writing in his teens, producing the largely unpublished historical novel Amore e Patria (Love and Country); then, although nominally studying law at the University of Catania, he used money his father had given him to publish his I Carbonari della Montagna (The Carbonari of the Mountain) in 1861 and 1862. This was followed by Sulle Lagune (In the Lagoons) in 1863.
Meanwhile, Verga had been serving in the Catania National Guard (1860-64), after which he travelled to Florence several times, settling there in 1869.
He moved to Milan in 1872, where he developed his new approach, characterized by the use of dialogue to develop character, which resulted in his most significant works. In 1880 his story collection Vita dei Campi (Life in the Fields), (including Fantasticheria, La Lupa, and Pentolacchia) most of which were about rural Sicily, came out; it included the Cavalleria Rusticana, which was adapted for the theatre and later the libretto of the Mascagni opera. Verga's short story, "Malaria", was one of the first literary depictions of the disease.
He then embarked on a projected series of five novels, but only completed two, I Malavoglia and Mastro-Don Gesualdo (1889), the latter of which was the last major work of his literary career. Both are widely recognized as masterpieces.
In 1894 Verga moved back to the house he was born in. In 1920 he was elected a senator. He died of a cerebral thrombosis in 1922.
The Teatro Verga in Catania is named after him.
In the book by Silvia Iannello Le immagini e le parole dei Malavoglia (Sovera, Roma, 2008), the author selects some passages of the Giovanni Verga' novel I Malavoglia, adds original comments and Acitrezza' photographic images, and devotes a chapter to the origins, remarks and frames taken from the immortal movie La terra trema (1948) directed by Luchino Visconti.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
July 10, 2013
This is a collection of a novella (THE SPARROW) and an already published short story collection and a not yet published in English short story collection. The already published short story collection was then translated by D. H. Lawrence and the novella and the other short story collection are translated by another one.
About the novella:
An young girl is forced into a cloistered convent and once on a vacation she is out in the house and falls in love with a young man. Later even after she has returned to the convent she can not forget him. And what happens next is told in a most heart rending narration that will choke the reader. If you are a sentimental person this novel can provoke and dry out all your tears. But as far as the Sicily of the late 1880s and the early 1990s are concerned we get to know few things and that is very interesting.
About the Short Story Collections:
The short story collections contain some of the best short stories. I did not find much difference between the translation of D. H. Lawrence and the other one. What is important is hat both offer good literary experience. And it is in short stories, we get the real world of Sicily (at least a part of Sicily, Catania). The characters of his short stories are the ordinary villagers and the back ground of many of their stories are closely linked to the professions of the people of this region. The stories as they explore the nuances in the greatest of all great mysteries (i.e. Life) also offer the reader the simple beliefs of the villagers, some minute observations about their professions, satirical remarks on many of the established conventions and a simple guided tour into the unknown small villages of Sicily.
There are few stories that deserve special mention: They are: La Lupa, Rosso Malpelo, War of the Saints, and Garminga's Lover. The best of all is: ROSSO MALPELO.
A lovely read.
About the novella:
An young girl is forced into a cloistered convent and once on a vacation she is out in the house and falls in love with a young man. Later even after she has returned to the convent she can not forget him. And what happens next is told in a most heart rending narration that will choke the reader. If you are a sentimental person this novel can provoke and dry out all your tears. But as far as the Sicily of the late 1880s and the early 1990s are concerned we get to know few things and that is very interesting.
About the Short Story Collections:
The short story collections contain some of the best short stories. I did not find much difference between the translation of D. H. Lawrence and the other one. What is important is hat both offer good literary experience. And it is in short stories, we get the real world of Sicily (at least a part of Sicily, Catania). The characters of his short stories are the ordinary villagers and the back ground of many of their stories are closely linked to the professions of the people of this region. The stories as they explore the nuances in the greatest of all great mysteries (i.e. Life) also offer the reader the simple beliefs of the villagers, some minute observations about their professions, satirical remarks on many of the established conventions and a simple guided tour into the unknown small villages of Sicily.
There are few stories that deserve special mention: They are: La Lupa, Rosso Malpelo, War of the Saints, and Garminga's Lover. The best of all is: ROSSO MALPELO.
A lovely read.
December 17, 2021
Giovanni Verga was able to write about Sicilian life masterfully, depicting all its beauty and tragedy, interweaving elements of humour to bring to life these wonderful short stories.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews