That refuge turned into her highly anticipa...In sun-drenched Sicily, among the decadent Italian aristocracy of the late 1950s, Giuseppe Tomasi, the last prince of Lampedusa, struggles to complete the novel that will be his lasting legacy, In sun-drenched Sicily, among the decadent Italian aristocracy of the late 1950s, Giuseppe Tomasi, the last prince of Lampedusa, struggles to complete the novel that will be his lasting legacy, The descriptions of Sicily in here are genuinely transporting, and this is one of those rare books that earns its sentimentality.
Canlit books also tend to be quite inward looking, impressionistic, and lacking in plot; this is not. He only wrote one novel, The Leopard, which wasn't published until after his death but was celebrated as one of the greatest Italian works of literature.
In 1959, it won Italy's highest award for fiction, the Strega Prize. When a friend told me about the novel, pre-publication, I was eagerly looking forward to it, as an admirer of both Lampedusa’s novel and the film. I love his writing which I find so elegant, and he is a master at creating setting and atmosphere. A novel partly about another writer writing a novel would seem a hard test of perspicacity and art. Read 95 reviews from the world's largest community for readers.
For getting me thinking in this vein, I thank the author. Read more. He only wrote one novel, The Leopard, which wasn't published until after his death but was celebrated as one of the greatest Italian works of literature.
An added pleasure was the favourable mentions of Luchino Visconti in the last chapter. I was moved by the way Lampedusa’s love for Licy is described. Perhaps that isn't practical, or very readable, but it's one reason I rarely read historical fiction.
The book chronicles the changes in Sicily during the Risorgimento, when revolutionaries as Garibaldi and Mazzini unified Italy and created the country as it still is today. The thoughts and feelings of this man nearing the end of his life were well written - memories of the past, regrets, failures, traumas, and some triumphs - things we all think about as we age. Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read.
I was fascinated that an American wrote about such an obscure subject. But the Lampedusa in this book is not a spoiled jerk, but a sensitive, dying writer, who looks at his life without flinching. This novel is shortlisted for the Canadian Giller Prize to be awarded in the fall of 2019. This novel is shortlisted for the Canadian Giller Prize to be awarded in the fall of 2019. I found it lugubrious and maudlin, meaning, slow and unnecessarily romancing melancholy. Lampedusa is one of the reading hi-lights of my year.I had such a hard time getting into this story, not sure why. I ended up liking it a lot, but it took me a while to accustom myself to the musings of an “old” man (he was only in his 50s) who recognizes that the world has changed dramatically and he is redundant.
I suspect that there are many similarities of style between the two and must go back and re-read the book I fell in love with so long ago.
TI enjoyed the book. Giuseppe was also the last Prince of the island of Lampedusa, situated south of Sicily. The book chronicles the changes in Sicily during the Risorgimento, when revolutionaries as Garibaldi and Mazzini unified Italy and created the country as it still is today. I suspected it might be based on a real man but I wasn't sure until I looked it up after finishing and holy shirtballs it was all true!I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The prince of Lampedusa and the author of "the Leopard" the top selling novel in Italian history that was published posthumously and won the 1959 Strega Prize.