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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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This anthology highlights seven centuries of Italian poetry that will help you learn the language as well. Included are 34 examples of Italian verse in the original with English translations on facing pages. Twenty-one poets are represented, from Saint Francis of Assisi, author of the first memorable Italian lyric, «Cancio delle creature,» to Salvatore Quasimodo, winner of the 1959 Nobel Prize for Literature. Also included are works by Dante, Petrarch, Ariosto, Tasso, and Montale, as well as such lesser known but significant poets as Compiuta Donzella and Cavalcanti. There are even important works by Boccaccio and Michelangelo.In addition to full Italian texts with expert literal translations on facing pages, this edition contains a wealth of biographical and critical commentary.

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Beginning students of Italian language and literature will welcome this bilingual anthology edited especially for their needs. Ranging from the fourteenth to the twentieth centuries, it features the works of Dante, Boccaccio, Pirandello, and fifty-two others in both the original Italian and expert English translations on the facing pages. Selections include excerpts from poetry, fiction, history, and philosophy.This is a «first reader» in the sense of its introduction to Italian literature from the 1300s to the 1920s. A solid background in Italian grammar is necessary for the fullest appreciation of the original text. The excerpts are unadulterated, not retold or simplified. Readers can sample the works of men renowned for other talents, such as Michelangelo and Galileo, and discover the original language of The Decameron, The Prince, and even Pinocchio. This self-contained anthology can be used with or without an instructor. It will thrill anyone seeking a fast-paced survey of a vital body of literature from one of the world's greatest cultural legacies.

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Begun about 1307 and completed in 1321, Dante's sublime poetic masterpiece, <I>The Divine Comedy,</I> is one of the world's great works of literature. It comprises an extraordinarily vivid and imaginative account of the poet's allegorical journey through the afterlife. Complementing its depiction of the world beyond, the poem's abundant allusions to earthly history and politics, vivid portrayals of Dante's friends and enemies, and many references to contemporary Italian affairs make it an intensely human, realistic portrait of life on earth. <BR>Led in his travels by the classical poet Virgil, Dante descends through the nine circles of Hell, where punishment is determined by the gravity of the sinner's transgressions. He then ascends the mountain of Purgatory, encountering souls atoning for their misdeeds, and, at the summit, is met at the entrance to Paradise by Beatrice, his beloved. Throughout his pilgrimage, he meets characters drawn from ancient Roman and medieval times (philosophers, heroes, emperors, popes, and politicians, among others) as well as numerous personalities from the Italy of his day. <BR>This dual-language edition includes the complete texts of 33 of the original 100 cantos or «songs»; each omitted canto is summarized in its proper place to provide continuity. The selection of cantos and the excellent line-for-line translations from Italian into English are by Stanley Appelbaum, who also has provided an informative Introduction and useful notes.<BR>

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Winner of the 1934 Nobel Prize for literature, Luigi Pirandello (1867 – 1936) is best known for such landmark plays as Six Characters in Search of an Author. One of the great literary figures of the twentieth century, he also distinguished himself in a vast outpouring of short stories, poetry, novels, and essays. The stories often provided the seeds for later novels and plays.The 11 tales included in this collection are among his best. Presented in the original Italian with excellent new English translations on facing pages, they offer students of Italian language and literature a unique learning aid and a treasury of superb fiction by a modern master.The stories range in time from the earliest known tale, «Little Hut,» a study of rural passions written in 1884, to «Mrs. Frola and Mr. Ponza, Her Son-in-Law,» a quintessential Pirandello story about the relativity of truth and the impossibility of penetrating other people's minds. Published in 1917, it formed the basis of Pirandello's first major play, Right You Are If You Think You Are. In addition to these narratives, the volume also includes «Citrons from Sicily,» «With Other Eyes,» «A Voice,» «The Fly,» «The Oil Jar,» «It's Not to be Taken Seriously,» «Think it Over, Giacomino!,» «A Character's Tragedy,» and «A Prancing Horse.»Accompanying the stories are a biographical and critical introduction to Pirandello and his work, brief introductions to each of the stories and explanatory footnotes.

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