Customer Reviews

Little Novels of Sicily

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The whole world is a small town is a sicilian phrase that means no matter where you travel, people will be basically the same. Reading this work by G. Verga gave this saying a whole new meaning for me. I learned that people in Sicily are basically the same today as they were 120 years ago. Giovanni Verga was born and lived in a small town in Sicily called Vizzini. This is the same town that my parents are from. I have spent many summers with my grandmother there. The distant past was always portrayed as somehow better by my grandmother. According to her, our ancestors did not succomb to petty human weaknesses. After enjoying these short stories I realize that my grandmother remembered her youth more with nostalgic fantasy than historic accuracy. This work wonderfully portrays human motivations, strenghts and weaknesses. It was a wonderful revelation to realize that the whole world is a small town, not only in the dimension of space but also in the dimension of time.

This is a wonderful little collection of short stories by the Sicilian author Giovanni Verga. I had never read any Sicilian literature before Verga, and I'm so glad that I started with this book! It has further piqued my interest in Sicilian culture and the Sicilian language. Verga uses his words very carefully in order to paint the pictures of the sorrows, joys, sufferings and moments of rejoicing in eastern Sicily. This is definitely worth the money for anyone who is interesed in Sicilian or Italian literature.

I am doing historical research on Italy and Sicily and this book gives a wonderful view into the lives of ordinary people of the Sicilian countryside. Very frank accounts that are not sugar-coated.

Verga's Little Novels of Sicily, originally titled Novelle rusticane, or Country Stories, was translated by D.H. Larwrence who no doubt saw in Verga's characters and themes an echo of his own early fiction. The small Sicilian towns of Verga's stories are going through the pain of moving from a feudal rural life to an uncertain modern one; in the process, all the corruptions of southern Italian society are exposed. The peasantry is preyed upon by the priests and gentry and even by their own kind, the growing class of rich peasants. Verga's stories capture a unique time and place in Sicily's history. The stories are rich in loving detail and color even as they are scathingly honest and critical.

The perfect book for the avid reader, these are well written and enjoyable. These tales bring a flavor of life to the reader that is rare in writing today.

Reading this collection of stories about rural Sicily (in the last few years before Italian unification) was a sobering reminder of how difficult life used to be for so many. The farmers and peasants are beaten down and battered almost endlessly. The culprits could be the landlords and the local priests who exploit them or the weather which determines the outcome of their farm labors. But along with that you also see the steadfast determination and courage of a people who refused to give up; they were determined to survive and most of them did, passing down the same rugged qualities to their own offspring. Giovanni Verga grew up in this world and his admiration and love for those people he knew is evident in these stories.

Darkhorse86

Being Sicilian, I can relate to these charming stories. Easy to read, short and sweet.
I recommend this book to anyone who loves Sicily and Italy

Via Amazon - Excellent service, prompt delivery, excellent condition
as described, packaged well.
Would use again.