Book synopsis The first book I will review in my blog is The Leopard, written by Sicilian nobleman Giuseppe Tomasi, Prince of Lampedusa. The book is a semi-autobiographical novel set at the end of the 19th century and depicts the death throes of the great feudal nobility of Sicily at the time of invasion by Garibaldi. This book has a wide renown as a 20th century classic, and one of my husband's favourites. I decided to finally read it after watching a very favourable review of it on Australian TV.
Ups
I don't normally like books translated into English from another language, as I often find the original meaning and prose gets 'lost in translation', and what may well be a jewel of a book in its native language is all too often ruined by an incompetent translator. Happily, in this case the translator has done a magnificent job and The Leopard does not seem to have lost of any of the charm of its original in the process.
The book is quite small - and yet in 190 pages very vividly depicts a very hot, sleepy, never-changing Sicily and the life of the local landowner aristocracy in late 1800s, at the time of invasion by Garibaldi and Sicily's eventual annexation into a new united Italy. It's a great example of historical writing, recapturing the essence of a bygone period and all the class politics of that day with the aristocracy being replaced by rising middle class 'gentry'. Sadness, melancholy and impending death permeates the whole book from beginning to end.
The language is very sensual, full of ideas and new ways of looking at things that makes you pause and think. In particular I found myself moved by the author's depiction of his life ebbing away in his old age, likening it to 'grains of sand lining up unhurried, unceasing, before the narrow neck of an hourglass'. In earlier chapters he refers to marriage and love as '1 year of fire, 30 years of ashes' and describes two young and naive lovers as 'unknowing actors set to play the parts of Juliet and Romeo by a director who had concealed the fact that tomb and poison were already in the script'. Also watch out for a description of the gorgeous Italian food throughout the book - especially the macaroni pie and the desserts - absolutely mouthwatering and got me heading straight for the fridge. Great writing, to evoke all these senses and emotions in the reader.
Downs
While some people may not mind, I did not enjoy the overuse of the semicolon - a few too many paragraph-long sentences. I also thought the book was a little untidy in places and would have preferred a little more continuity in the story. Though it does not by any means diminish the overal impact of the book, I found the big jumps between chapters in both subject and time somewhat annoying, as if big chunks were removed from the book by an overzealous editor.
Rating
Language & Style - 8 / 10
Memorability - 7 / 10
Re-readability - 6 / 10
Pageturner factor - 4 / 10
Overall - 7 / 10 (Yes, I know it is harsh but I have high expectations of a book that is a 20th century classic, and this book fails to deliver on a few accounts)
I thought it was a beautiful book, richly allegorical and moving. I loved the love stories and how it showed the decline of aristocratic society and the rise of the middle class as a force to be reckoned with. I thought the film adaptation was also very good, by Visconti and starring Burt Lancaster and Alain Delon.
ReplyDeleteDi Lampedusa's shrewd characterisations extend from Don Fabrizio to his wife and daughters, his household, and the broader community; the social ties of the old order and their psychological underpinnings are brought to life. There are also some vivid descriptions of landscapes and houses. The Leopard is an elegiac account of a way of life and its passing: its final chapters describe Don Fabrizio's death in 1883 and the end of the special relationship between his family and the Catholic Church in 1910.
Possibly the best known Italian novel of all time, The Leopard stands out for its sympathetic portrayal of human failings and of the feudal aristocracy of Sicily.