The House by the Medlar Tree

(Three generations of fishermen conduct an epic struggle a...)

Three generations of fishermen conduct an epic struggle against nature, fate, and society in this moving tale by acclaimed realist writer Giovanni Verga. Written in 1881 and set in the Sicilian village of Aci Trezza during the 1860s, the novel recounts an impoverished family's attempts to pay off a crushing debt, to reclaim their lost boat and ancestral home, and to reunite their scattered clan. This groundbreaking work of fiction offers a revealing look at the social and political climate in post-revolutionary Italy. Verga combines lyrical prose and inspiring social commentary to chronicle the poverty suffered by provincial Sicilian communities after Garibaldi's conquest. Rich in character and starkly honest, The House by the Medlar Tree offers a life-affirming story of misfortunes endured with humor and courage.

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Cavalleria Rusticana and Other Stories (Penguin Classics)

(The stories of Giovanni Verga (1840-1922) are wonderful e...)

The stories of Giovanni Verga (1840-1922) are wonderful evocations of ordinary Italian life, focusing in particular on his native Sicily. In an original and dynamic prose style, he portrays such eternal human themes as love, honour and adultery with rich and colourful language. The inspiration for Mascagni's opera, 'Cavalleria Rusticana' depicts a young man's triumphal return home from the army, spoilt when he learns that his beloved is engaged to another man. Verga's acute awareness of the hardships and aspirations of peasant life can be seen in stories such as 'Nedda', 'Picturesque Lives' and 'Black Bread', while others such as 'The Reverend' and 'Don Licciu Papa' show the dominance of the church and the law in the Sicilian communities he portrays so vividly.

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Sicilian Stories: A Dual-Language Book (Dover Dual Language Italian)

( With his novels, short stories, and plays, Giovanni Ver...)

With his novels, short stories, and plays, Giovanni Verga (1840–1922) achieved renown in the Italian verismo (realist) school of writing. This outstanding selection of 12 short stories — most from the Sicilian writer's Vita dei campi (Rural Life) and Novelle rusticane (Rustic Stories) — attests to his storytelling skills. Selections include "Nedda," a short story that initiated Verga's naturalistic depictions of Sicilian peasant life; the much-celebrated "Cavalleria Rusticana" (Rustic Chivalry), a tale of flirtation, jealousy, and a deadly duel; and "L'amante di Gramigna" (Gramigna's Mistress), a fascinating psychological study. The collection also features "Reverie," "Jeli the Herdsman," "Nasty Redhead," "The She-Wolf," "Pestilential Air," "Possessions," "The History of St. Joseph's Donkey," "Dark Bread," and "Liberty." For this dual-language book, the editor has provided excellent new English translations on pages facing the original Italian text, as well as an informative Introduction and notes.

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Tutte le novelle (Italian Edition)

(Giovanni Carmelo Verga è stato uno scrittore e drammaturg...)

Giovanni Carmelo Verga è stato uno scrittore e drammaturgo italiano, considerato il maggior esponente della corrente letteraria del verismo. La novellistica raccolta in questo volume si misura con tutte le tematiche tipicamente verghiane con una intensità non inferiore alla prova dei Malavoglia e di Mastro don Gesualdo: la lotta incessante e disperata per la sopravvivenza, il conflitto per il bisogno e per il possesso della roba, il dibattersi impotente dei vinti.

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Under the Shadow of Etna Sicilian Stories from the Italian of Giovanni Verga (Classic Reprint)

(Giovanni Verga was born at Catania, in Sicily, in 1840. H...)

Giovanni Verga was born at Catania, in Sicily, in 1840. His youth was spent in Florence and Milan. He afterwards lived in Cataniaagain, where he had an opportunity of studying those types of the Sicilian peasantry which he introduces so effectively, and with such dramatic suggestion, into many of his stories and sketches. After experiencing grievous family losses he returned to Milan, where he now resides. In EA mante di Gramigna Verga gives, in the form of a letter to his friend, the novelist, S. Farina, a sort of brief exposition of his literary Creed. Much of the drama is left to the imagination of the reader, who sees through the lines the action hinted at in a word or a phrase. Thus, in the story just mentioned, no definite time-limit is assigned. (Typographical errors above are due to OCR software and don't occur in the book.) About the Publisher Forgotten Books is a publisher of historical writings, such as: Philosophy, Classics, Science, Religion, History, Folklore and Mythology. Forgotten Books' Classic Reprint Series utilizes the latest technology to regenerate facsimiles of historically important writings. Careful attention has been made to accurately preserve the original format of each page whilst digitally enhancing the aged text. Read books online for free at www.forgottenbooks.org

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Giovanni Verga: novelle scelte (Italian Edition)

(Giovanni Verga è universalmente conosciuto per i suoi due...)

Giovanni Verga è universalmente conosciuto per i suoi due capolavori, "I Malavoglia" e "Mastro Don Gesualdo". Ma lo scrittore catanese durante la sua lunga vita letteraria è stato anche autore di un numero straordinario di novelle, con cui ha sperimentato nuovi modi di scrittura, nuovi linguaggi per costruire storie caratterizzate da criteri molto rigidi. Una vera e propria finestra sulla vita dell'Ottocento italiano, presentata in questa selezione di sei piccoli gioielli: La coda del diavolo; Il bastione di Monforte; In Piazza della Scala; L'ultima giornata; Primavera; Semplice storia. L'ebook è arricchito inoltre da una biografia su Giovanni Verga, che racconta le fasi salienti della sua vita.

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Little Novels of Sicily

(First Published in a single volume in 1883, the stories c...)

First Published in a single volume in 1883, the stories collected in Little Novels of Sicily are drawn from the Sicily of Giovanni Verga's childhood, reported at the time to be the poorest place in Europe. Verga's style is swift, sure, and implacable; he plunges into his stories almost in midbreath, and tells them with a stark economy of words. There's something dark and tightly coiled at the heart of each story, an ironic, bitter resolution that is belied by the deceptive simplicity of Verga's prose, and Verga strikes just when the reader's not expecting it. Translator D. H. Lawrence surely found echoes of his own upbringing in Verga's sketches of Sicilian life: the class struggle between property owners and tenants, the relationship between men and the land, and the unsentimental, sometimes startlingly lyric evocation of the landscape. Just as Lawrence veers between loving and despising the industrial North and its people, so too Verga shifts between affection for and ironic detachment from the superstitious, uneducated, downtrodden working poor of Sicily. If Verga reserves pity for anyone or anything, it is the children and the animals, but he doesn't spare them. In his experience, it is the innocents who suffer first and last and always.

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MASTRO DON GESUALDO (European Classics)

(Mastro Don Gesualdo)

Mastro Don Gesualdo

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Malavoglia (I)

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