The leopard

mark reviewed The Leopard by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa

A Perfect Novel - Tradition, Change and Mortality

5 stars

I first tried reading this a few years ago and it didn't find much traction - I loved the writing but moved on to something else. Part of my impetus for using Bookwyrm was to catalogue the books I already own and want to read, so I will, you know, get around to reading them - and I'm very glad I picked up the ancient and dog-eared copy of The Leopard from my bookshelf before leaving on a short holiday to see family. Set during the Unification of Italy, The Leopard follows Don Fabrizio Salina, a Prince of Sicily, as he essentially watches the world that he knows fade away, and catalogues his wildly ranging responses to this historical event. A really fantastic novel, with the most incredible final chapters - I hope I will one day remember to read the penultimate chapter when I am nearing death myself.

Liberamente reviewed Il Gattopardo by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa

La Storia in un racconto

4 stars

Siamo in Sicilia, all’epoca del tramonto borbonico: è di scena una famiglia della più alta aristocrazia isolana, colta nel momento rivelatore del trapasso di regime, mentre già incalzano i tempi nuovi (dall’anno dell’impresa dei Mille di Garibaldi la storia si prolunga fino ai primordi del Novecento). Accentrato quasi interamente intorno a un solo personaggio, il principe Fabrizio Salina, il romanzo, lirico e critico insieme, ben poco concede all’intreccio e al romanzesco tanto cari alla narrativa dell’Ottocento. L’immagine della Sicilia che invece ci offre è un’immagine viva, animata da uno spirito alacre e modernissimo, ampiamente consapevole della problematica storica e politica contemporanea.

Dave Slusher - Books reviewed The leopard by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa

Review of 'The leopard' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

I read this book because it was one of Bowie's 75 Books to Read Before You Die and thus was covered on the 75 Reads podcast. A lot of people rant and rave about this book, and after I started I heard of more than one person for whom this is their favorite book.

And yet.

It was well written, the language in the translation I read was evocative and beautiful. I got the story of the tragedy of being a monarch in an era that needs them less and less. It was a skilled book but I never really connected with it. I'm glad I read it but now that it is done, it will sink into my past reading without a ripple.