Leopard - Outside of a Dog

English language

Published May 12, 1960 by Pantheon.

OCLC Number:: 234245372

in 1860s Sicily, Don Fabrizio Corbera, Prince of Salina, remains skeptical and stoic as he faces civil war and his family's loss of wealth and status. The prince's favorite nephew, Tancredi, who opportunistically supports the unification efforts, marries Angelica, a beautiful woman from a lower social class, to secure his future. This marriage symbolizes the shifting social order and the decline of the aristocracy. As Don Fabrizio struggles to adapt, he retreats into his love of astronomy, finding solace in the unchanging stars while his world crumbles around him. Ultimately, he must decide to resist the forces of change or come to terms with them.

Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, the last in a line of Sicilian princes, drew inspiration from his own family's decline to write this novel in the 1950s. The dramatic sweep and richness of Lampedusa’s observation, his seamless intertwining of public and private worlds, and his …

in 1860s Sicily, Don Fabrizio Corbera, Prince of Salina, remains skeptical and stoic as he faces civil war and his family's loss of wealth and status. The prince's favorite nephew, Tancredi, who opportunistically supports the unification efforts, marries Angelica, a beautiful woman from a lower social class, to secure his future. This marriage symbolizes the shifting social order and the decline of the aristocracy. As Don Fabrizio struggles to adapt, he retreats into his love of astronomy, finding solace in the unchanging stars while his world crumbles around him. Ultimately, he must decide to resist the forces of change or come to terms with them.

Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, the last in a line of Sicilian princes, drew inspiration from his own family's decline to write this novel in the 1950s. The dramatic sweep and richness of Lampedusa’s observation, his seamless intertwining of public and private worlds, and his sure grasp of human frailty imbue The Leopard with beauty and power.

4 editions

mark reviewed The Leopard by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa

A Perfect Novel - Tradition, Change and Mortality

5 stars

I first tried reading this a few years ago and it didn't find much traction - I loved the writing but moved on to something else. Part of my impetus for using Bookwyrm was to catalogue the books I already own and want to read, so I will, you know, get around to reading them - and I'm very glad I picked up the ancient and dog-eared copy of The Leopard from my bookshelf before leaving on a short holiday to see family. Set during the Unification of Italy, The Leopard follows Don Fabrizio Salina, a Prince of Sicily, as he essentially watches the world that he knows fade away, and catalogues his wildly ranging responses to this historical event. A really fantastic novel, with the most incredible final chapters - I hope I will one day remember to read the penultimate chapter when I am nearing death myself.