A new translation of one of Italy's best-selling classics, a sumptuous portrait of the Sicilian aristocracy in their twilight days on the eve of unification In the dark heart of Sicily, the formidable Prince Fabrizio presides over his extensive kingdom. Known as "The Leopard" after his family shield, his power extends from opulent drawing rooms of the Villa Salina to his vast acres of land, and some say to the stars themselves. A towering patriarch able to bend spoons at his will, he is forced to confront the fast-dwindling ...
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A new translation of one of Italy's best-selling classics, a sumptuous portrait of the Sicilian aristocracy in their twilight days on the eve of unification In the dark heart of Sicily, the formidable Prince Fabrizio presides over his extensive kingdom. Known as "The Leopard" after his family shield, his power extends from opulent drawing rooms of the Villa Salina to his vast acres of land, and some say to the stars themselves. A towering patriarch able to bend spoons at his will, he is forced to confront the fast-dwindling fortunes of the family which threaten their accustomed opulence. Meanwhile, change is in the air. Garibaldi's red shirts march ever closer to Palermo, threatening to topple the aristocracy, and Fabrizio's own shrewdly calculating nephew defects to their cause. Fabrizio realizes he faces a choice: cling to the crumbling institutions of old or to welcome in a new Italy. Winner of the 1959 Strega Prize and told in a magisterial new translation, The Leopard memorialises the faded splendour of the Sicilian aristocracy on the eve of revolution. The only novel of Lampedusa, which posthumously catapulted him to fame and became Italy best-selling novel, The Leopard is steeped in the heady heat of its setting. It is both a ruthless portrait of a social class faced with its own extinction as well as a profound exploration of mortality, power and political change.
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Add this copy of The Leopard to cart. $0.99, good condition, Sold by ZBK Books rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Woodland Park, NJ, UNITED STATES, published 1991 by Pantheon.
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Used book in good and clean conditions. Pages and cover are intact. Limited notes marks and highlighting may be present. May show signs of normal shelf wear and bends on edges. Item may be missing CDs or access codes. May include library marks. Fast Shipping.
Add this copy of The Leopard to cart. $0.99, fair condition, Sold by Dream Books Co. rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Denver, CO, UNITED STATES, published 1991 by Pantheon.
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Fair. This copy has clearly been enjoyed-expect noticeable shelf wear and some minor creases to the cover. Binding is strong and all pages are legible. May contain previous library markings or stamps.
Add this copy of The Leopard to cart. $1.20, good condition, Sold by Goodwill of Greater Milwaukee rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Milwaukee, WI, UNITED STATES, published 1991 by Pantheon.
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Good. The cover has visible markings and wear. The book has a slight curve or bend to it. The pages show normal wear and tear. There is writing discoloration or markings on the edges of the pages. Codes or product keys that accompany this product may not be valid. Fast Shipping in a Standard Poly Mailer!
Add this copy of The Leopard to cart. $1.20, fair condition, Sold by Goodwill of Greater Milwaukee rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Milwaukee, WI, UNITED STATES, published 1991 by Pantheon.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Fair. The cover has visible markings and wear. The cover has curled corners. There is a crease or fold on the cover. The pages show normal wear and tear. Codes or product keys that accompany this product may not be valid. Fast Shipping in a Standard Poly Mailer!
Add this copy of The Leopard to cart. $2.19, very good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Atlanta rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Austell, GA, UNITED STATES, published 1991 by Pantheon Books.
Add this copy of The Leopard to cart. $2.19, good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Atlanta rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Austell, GA, UNITED STATES, published 1991 by Pantheon Books.
Add this copy of The Leopard to cart. $2.19, good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Reno rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Reno, NV, UNITED STATES, published 1991 by Pantheon Books.
Add this copy of The Leopard to cart. $2.19, good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Dallas rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 1991 by Pantheon Books.
Add this copy of The Leopard to cart. $2.19, good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Baltimore rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Halethorpe, MD, UNITED STATES, published 1991 by Pantheon Books.
Add this copy of The Leopard to cart. $2.19, fair condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Atlanta rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Austell, GA, UNITED STATES, published 1991 by Pantheon Books.
Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa's 1957 novel, "The Leopard" is set in Sicily in the early 1860s with concluding scenes in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The primary character is an aristocrat, Prince Don Fabrizio Corbera, Prince of Salina. At the opening of the book, Sicily is ruled by its own dynasty. The book tells of the reunification of all Italy under a single government through internal wars. Don Fabrizio, the heir of a long line, had acquired his position and great possessions and rank under the old regime. Di Lampedusa's novel explores his fate, fall, and decay through the political turmoil and under the new order.
The book is about both Don Fabrizio and Sicily. A man of aristocratic hauteur and an inveterate philanderer, the prince also is devoted to mathematics and astronomy, and has his code of honor together with a strong sense of pragmatism. Even before the regime change, he was losing a great deal of property as a result both of improvidence and of the rising middle class. Family plays a great role in this book, including Don Fabrizio's sexually-unresponsive wife with whom he has had seven children, the children themselves, the live-in priest that ministers to the family, Father Pirrone, and Fabrizio's apparently wastrel nephew, the young Tancredi. Tancredi has cast his lot with elements of the reunification movement. Much of the plot of this book involves Tancredi's marriage to the beautiful daughter of a rising, wealthy member of the middle class who, by Don Fabrizo's lights is almost inexpressively vulgar. Still Don Fabrizio promotes the marriage at the expense of his own daughter's possible marriage to Tancredi due to the political and financial consequences of the match. The two parties to the union also are driven more by the consequences advantageous to themselves from the marriage rather than from love and sex.
The novel offers an intimate portrayal of Sicily, including the lives of its few aristocratic families, the coastal areas, the mountains, and the poor interior. It shows the gradual change in Sicily resulting from the slow growth of the middle class. The legendary violence of Sicilian society is never far from attention and the poverty and squalor of much of the population also comes through the focus on the aristocratic and middle classes in most of the novel. The strong force of religion and of the Catholic Church also play a large role in the book.
The setting and subject matter of this book made it a difficult read as did di Lampedusa's writing style. The latter is heavily ornate with long, complex sentences. The book includes lengthy descriptive passages of palaces, cities, and sumptuous dinners, all of which are essential to the work but tend to slow it down. The book also includes many lengthy monologues and conversations among the characters. At first blush, the novel may seem long-winded in this regard. Di Lampedusa writes as an omniscient third-person narrator and the book has many extensive passages where he probes deeply into the characters' interior lives and thoughts.
While the book takes getting used to, it is an extraordinary work in its characterizations, portrayal of a society which most American readers will find unfamiliar, and thought. The book tells of change and loss. It probes questions of meaning and value under the seemingly shallow veneer of the dying aristocratic life. Di Lampedusa shows great sensitivity to subtleties of character and place with a certain irony for the old aristocracy mixed with reverence and seriousness. Readers will have different nuances on where the author stands on his characters and their history. I found the work movingly sympathetic to Don Fabrizio and to the spirit he finds in old Sicily.
In its eight chapters, "The Leopard" moves from scene to scene adding further difficulties in following the thread of the novel. There are scenes in the palace, in towns, in churches, with the army, and in poor rural communities. The climactic scene in chapter six is a lengthy description of a grand ball in the dying days of the aristocracy, one of many scenes where Don Fabrizio faces the decline of the old society and of himself and of the reality of death. Watching his nephew and his lovely fiance dance, Don Fabrizio reflects:
"The two young people moved away, other couples passed, less handsome, just as moving, each submerged in their transitory blindness. Don Fabrizio felt his heart thaw; his disgust gave way to compassion for all these ephemeral beings out to enjoy the tiny ray of light granted them between two shades, before the cradle, after the last spasms. How could one inveigh against those sure to die? It would be as vile as those fish vendors insulting the condemned in the Piazza del Mercato sixty years before. Even the female monkeys on the poufs, even those old baboons of friends were poor wretches, condemned and touching as the cattle lowing through the city streets at night on the way to the slaughterhouse; to the ears of each of them would one day come that tinkle he had heard three hours earlier behind San Domenico. Nothing could be decently hated except eternity."
I was immediately fascinated by this book even while realizing that much of the details had got away from me. I watched the 1963 film of this book directed by Luchino Visconti and starring Burt Lancaster. I found the film beautiful in its own right. It also helped me follow the novel I had just read. I went back and reread the novel after viewing the film and found I got far more out of the work than on my initial reading.
"The Leopard" is a difficult novel about a remote place and time but it has a sense of the universal and of meaning. I loved this book.
