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Little Novels of Sicily (Italia) Paperback – February 1, 2000

by Giovanni Verga (Author), D.H. Lawrence (Translator)
4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 43 ratings
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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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Previous page
  1. Print length
    160 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Steerforth
  4. Publication date
    February 1, 2000
  5. Dimensions
    5.45 x 0.39 x 8.43 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    188364254X
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1883642549
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"The Little Novels of Sicily have that sense of the wholeness of life, the spare exuberance, the endless inflections and overtones, and the magnificent and thrilling vitality of major literature." -- The New York Times

"In these stories the whole Sicily of the 1860s lives before us . . . and whether his subject be the brutal bloodshed of an abortive revolution or the simple human comedy that can attend even deep mourning, Verga never loses his complete artistic mastery of his material." -- The Times Literary Supplement

From the Back Cover

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.
"The Little Novels of Sicily have that sense of the wholeness of life, the spare exuberance, the endless inflections and overtones, and the magnificent and thrilling vitality of major literature."-- "The New York Times
"In these stories the whole Sicily of the 1860s lives before us . . . and whether his subject be the brutal bloodshed of an abortive revolution or the simple human comedy that can attend even deep mourning, Verga neverloses his complete artistic mastery of his material.""-- The Times Literary Supplement

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Steerforth; 3rd ed. edition (February 1, 2000)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 160 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 188364254X
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1883642549
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 8.4 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.45 x 0.39 x 8.43 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 43 ratings

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  1. Giovanni Verga

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Customer reviews

4.1 out of 5 stars
4.1 out of 5
43 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Good Read, especially if you are Italian !
Reviewed in the United States on May 19, 2014
Verified Purchase
I, really enjoyed this book, I am Italian, and it brought back many memories, for me, I am now giving it to my Mother to read, and I am sure she will enjoy it, as much as I have.
One person found this helpful
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Angelina
5.0 out of 5 stars Short Stories of Sicily in an Earlier Time
Reviewed in the United States on July 13, 2015
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This book delivered what I seek in reading books originally written in Italian or Sicilian dialect about Sicily -- more insight into my heritage. I enjoyed it and read it in one day.
One person found this helpful
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Paul Pellicci
3.0 out of 5 stars an eye opener
Reviewed in the United States on June 8, 2014
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This book, although roughly written or translated, tore at my heart....the poverty and the inhumane treatment of the peasants...shocking. Sicilians should read this book.
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Michael I.
4.0 out of 5 stars How the Altro Half Lives
Reviewed in the United States on January 5, 2014
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In 1883, when LITTLE NOVELS OF SICILY was first published, literacy remained a mark of privilege, which is why so much 19th century literature focused on the upper class. In Giovanni Verga’s LITTLE NOVELS OF SICILY those gilded trappings are peripheral, and the reader is immersed in hard scrabble slivers of Sicilian peasant life. Verga’s Sicily is rife with gossip, poverty, violence, brutality, and sheer, moving beauty.

All of these stories swell with originality and heart. The people are small, but the emotions and conflicts are incisive. Each story contains the best quality of good fiction - the ability to sweep you away. Take “Malaria,” a story about a village devastated by the disease where the trains still pass through the blighted railroad station, trains filled with healthy, wealthy people. “The Gentry” is a tale that could have been written by Cormac McCarthy as it unflinchingly describes Garibaldi’s Expedition of the Thousand and the bloody purges it inspired.

The final story in this collection is “Across the Sea.” This is the story that shows why DH Lawrence loved LITTLE NOVELS OF SICILY. It’s that perfect dirge of love unrequited and love interrupted - the love that continues to orbit even when the star has died. The supple descriptions of scenery are redolent of Lawrence’s best work.

A recurring flaw shows itself when too many characters are packed into one story, with very little to differentiate them other than a name. It’s a confusing technique that results in some overcrowding.

Despite its age, there is nothing genteel about the characters in this volume. It’s a revolving cast of corrupt clergy, backstabbing neighbors, and striving heroes, all united by the haunted speck of land on which they make their lives.

LITTLE NOVELS OF SICILY is truly a forgotten gem.
8 people found this helpful
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Mr Joe
5.0 out of 5 stars Very nice
Reviewed in the United States on November 4, 2007
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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.
9 people found this helpful
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Lenore Chicka
5.0 out of 5 stars Little Novels of Sicily
Reviewed in the United States on January 26, 2010
Verified Purchase
Via Amazon - Excellent service, prompt delivery, excellent condition
as described, packaged well.
Would use again.
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Vito Caserta
5.0 out of 5 stars The whole world is a small town
Reviewed in the United States on October 5, 2000
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.
84 people found this helpful
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Gordon Hay
4.0 out of 5 stars It is a wonderful art to be able to write short stories in ...
Reviewed in the United States on February 16, 2016
Verified Purchase
It is a wonderful art to be able to write short stories in which there is a depth of thought, real life and characters that come alive.
Giovanni Verga achieves this with distinction. one gets a real insight into the time and circumstances of the people described.

I highly recommend this book!

Gordon Hay
3 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Carmel Attard
5.0 out of 5 stars Good book
Reviewed in Australia on August 8, 2020
Verified Purchase
I enjoyed the stories about sicily
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MS UK
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 7, 2015
Verified Purchase
Great book. Glad I bought it.
One person found this helpful
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David Thompson
4.0 out of 5 stars Like Lawrence, love Verga
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 21, 2013
Verified Purchase
If you're comfortable with the writing of D H Lawrence, you'll be at home with the subject and attitude of these short, poetic tales, rustic and humane. The author and his translator were active at the same time, and it's well known that Lawrence traveled in Italy, feeling an affinity for its people.
The style bears the patina of its age, but casual readers needn't be put off by that in this short-form example. The stories read like parables, and reflect sometimes very explicitly on common humanity and justice. They're easy to pick up for brief moments.
'The Story of St Joseph's Ass' follows the succession of owners of an animal gradually being worked to its death, with special reference to the declining price each time it changes hands.
The opening of 'The Gentry' is a warning against the literalism of the modern age, and 'Liberty' illustrates the disillusionment of simple people after their proclaimed emancipation, incisive still now.
It might not be the finest translation for today's readership, but I think Verga would have approved of his contemporary's voice.
3 people found this helpful
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dalgleish
1.0 out of 5 stars Not one for animal lovers
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 2, 2018
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"Funny, gentle little stories" ? I must be missing something ! The "Story Of The Saint Joseph's Ass" is one of the most distressing unpleasant stories I have had the misfortune to read. A graphic account of unrelenting animal cruelty and exploitation, with detailed descriptions of every injury this poor animal receives. I would highly recommend not reading this story. I wish I hadn't .
I guess Verga intended the animal to represent the harsh life of the improvised sicilian peasantry of that era, but as it's the same peasantry who in this story are inflicting this heartless cruelty on the donkey as it passes from one family to another the result is counter productive. So instead of feeling empathy towards them I hated them. Surely not what the author intended or was it ?Maybe he despised this class and wanted to manipulate his readers in to feeling the same coldness with this gratuitously unpleasant little story ?
One person found this helpful
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Middle Sister
4.0 out of 5 stars Quaint stories
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 16, 2014
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These are funny, gentle little stories, old fashioned but fun to read. They are atmospheric - you get a real feel of Sicily in days gone by.
One person found this helpful
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