Novel
The Little World of the Past
Piccolo mondo antico
Antonio Fogazzaro · 1895
Opening lines
Soffiava sul lago una breva fredda, infuriata di voler cacciar le nubi grigie, pesanti sui cocuzzoli scuri delle montagne. Infatti, quando i Pasotti, scendendo da Albogasio Superiore, arrivarono a Casarico, non pioveva ancora.
A cold breva was blowing over the lake, furious in its wish to drive off the grey clouds that weighed on the dark peaks of the mountains. Indeed, when the Pasottis, coming down from Albogasio Superiore, reached Casarico, it was not yet raining.
Translation by Erostrate
Text quoted from it.wikisource.org
Synopsis
In the Valsolda, on the shore of Lake Lugano, under Austrian rule, in the early 1850s, Franco Maironi, a young nobleman with liberal ideas, wants to marry Luisa Rigey, a patriotic young woman. His grandmother, the Marchesa Maironi, firmly attached to Austria, opposes the marriage. With the help of Luisa's uncle, Piero Ribera, the young couple marry nonetheless, and a daughter is born to them, Maria, whom everyone calls Ombretta.
Context
Conceived as early as 1885, the novel appeared in 1895; it is generally regarded as the author's masterpiece. According to the Treccani, the author's father inspired the character of Franco Maironi. In French, the novel was translated by A. M. Gladès under the title “Un petit monde d'autrefois”, then by Henriette Valot, in 2000, under that of “Petit monde d'autrefois”; in English, W. J. Strachan translated it in 1962 under the title “The Little World of the Past”.
Who it is for
A long novel with many characters, which combines the intimate story of a couple with that of the Risorgimento.
Prizes and reception
The film that Mario Soldati made from it in 1941 was extremely popular.
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