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Elsa Morante
Elsa Morante (; 18 August 1912 – 25 November 1985) was an Italian novelist, poet, translator and children's books author. Her novel '' La storia'' (''History'') is included in the Bokklubben World Library List of 100 Best Books of All Time. Life and career Elsa Morante was born in Rome in 1912, the daughter of Irma (née Poggibonsi), a schoolteacher, and Augusto Morante. Her mother came from a Jewish family in Modena. When she was a teenager Morante discovered that Francesco Lo Monaco, a family neighbour, was her biological father. Except for a brief period during World War II, she resided in Rome until her death in 1985. Morante started writing at an early age. Without having much support from her parents, she relied mostly on self-education. She began writing short stories in the mid-1930s. Some were published in various publications and journals, including periodicals for children. Her first book, a collection of short stories called ''Il Gioco Segreto'' (The Secret Game), ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
House Of Liars
House of Liars (Italian ''Menzogna e sortilegio'') or Lies and Sorcery (2023 translation) is a novel by the Italian writer Elsa Morante published in 1948, set in Southern Italy at the turn of the 20th century, describing a family's escape from increasingly dire financial and social circumstances into wishful thinking and delusions. The narrative covers three generations of a family in decline, blending elements of the fairy tale as well as the social novel and the coming-of-age-story. In the year of its publication the novel received the Premio Viareggio. Plot Elisa, a young woman from Southern Italy, lives as a recluse with her cordial, but fickle adoptive mother, the courtesan Rosaria, who loves but frequently neglects her. Her only company are the ghosts of her past, populating her lively imagination. After Rosaria's death Elisa tries to free herself from these ghosts by writing down her family's history. When Elisa's grandfather, the nobleman Teodoro, marries the signif ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Novelist
A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire to support themselves in this way or write as an avocation. Most novelists struggle to have their debut novel published, but once published they often continue to be published, although very few become literary celebrities, thus gaining prestige or a considerable income from their work. Description Novelists come from a variety of backgrounds and social classes, and frequently this shapes the content of their works. Audience reception, Public reception of a novelist's work, the literary criticism commenting on it, and the novelists' incorporation of their own experiences into works and characters can lead to the author's personal life and identity being associated with a novel's fictional content. For this reason, the environment ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pier Paolo Pasolini
Pier Paolo Pasolini (; 5 March 1922 – 2 November 1975) was an Italian poet, film director, writer, actor and playwright. He is considered one of the defining public intellectuals in 20th-century Italian history, influential both as an artist and a political figure. He is known for directing The Gospel According to St. Matthew (film), ''The Gospel According to St. Matthew'', the films from Trilogy of Life (''The Decameron (film), The Decameron'', ''The Canterbury Tales (film), The Canterbury Tales'' and ''Arabian Nights (1974 film), Arabian Nights'') and ''Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom''. A controversial personality due to his straightforward style, Pasolini's legacy remains contentious. Openly Homosexuality, gay while also a vocal advocate for heritage language language revival, revival, cultural conservatism, and Christian values in his youth, Pasolini became an avowed Marxist shortly after the end of World War II. He began voicing extremely harsh criticism of Italian petty ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The New York Review Of Books
''The New York Review of Books'' (or ''NYREV'' or ''NYRB'') is a semi-monthly magazine with articles on literature, culture, economics, science and current affairs. Published in New York City, it is inspired by the idea that the discussion of important books is an indispensable literary activity. ''Esquire (magazine), Esquire'' called it "the premier literary-intellectual magazine in the English language". In 1970, writer Tom Wolfe described it as "the chief theoretical organ of Radical Chic". The ''Review'' publishes long-form reviews and essays, often by well-known writers, original poetry, and has letters and personals advertising sections that had attracted critical comment. In 1979 the magazine founded the ''London Review of Books'', which soon became independent. In 1990 it founded an Italian edition, ''la Rivista dei Libri'', published until 2010. The ''Review'' has a book publishing division, established in 1999, called New York Review Books, which publishes reprints o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tim Parks
Timothy Harold Parks (born 19 December 1954) is a British novelist who has lived in Italy since 1981. He is also an author of nonfiction, a translator from Italian to English, and a professor of literature. Early life and academic career Parks was born in Manchester, the son of Harold Parks, an Anglican vicar and missionary, and his wife Joan.Crown, Sarah (27 July 2012)"A life in writing: Tim Parks" ''The Guardian''. Retrieved 26 June 2023. He grew up in Finchley, and was educated at Westminster City School and Downing College, Cambridge, where he read English. Following graduation in 1977 he spent a further period at Harvard University studying for a doctorate, which he did not complete. During his time in the United States, he wrote introductions for the dramatisations of novels on behalf of the Boston public radio station WGBH. Upon returning to Europe, Parks was employed initially as a marketing executive for a translation company before working as a freelance translator a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ann Goldstein (translator)
Ann Goldstein (born June 1949) is an American editor and translator from the Italian language. She is best known for her translations of Elena Ferrante's '' Neapolitan Quartet''. She was the panel chair for translated fiction at the US National Book Award in 2022. She was awarded the PEN Renato Poggioli prize in 1994 and was a Guggenheim Fellow in 2008. Early life Ann Goldstein grew up in Maplewood, New Jersey. She attended Bennington College, in Vermont, where she read Ancient Greek. She then studied comparative philology at University College, London. Career After her graduation, in 1973, Goldstein began work at ''Esquire'' magazine as a proof-reader. In 1974, she joined the staff of ''The New Yorker'', working in the copy department and becoming its head in the late 1980s. She retired from ''The New Yorker'' in 2017. From 1987, Goldstein edited John Updike's literary reviews contributed to ''The New Yorker''. During her time at ''The New Yorker'', Goldstein, along with some ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Isabel Quigly
Elizabeth (Isabel) Madeleine Quigly (17 September 1926 – 14 September 2018) was a British writer, translator and film critic. Early life and education Quigly was born in Ontaneda, Spain, younger daughter of Richard Quigly, a railway engineer of Irish descent, and his wife Clarice, for whom her elder sister, usually known as "Cita", was named. Quigly was named "Elizabeth" by her parents- under this name being registered with British authorities- but the Catholic priest who baptised her insisted Elizabeth was not a real name and named her "Isabel". Although initially raised in considerable material comfort- boarding at the exclusive Assumption Convent on Kensington Square in London, accompanied by her beloved Spanish nanny, Tuki- her father was financially ruined; although she and her sister were kept on at the convent with fees waived, they were "made to feel socially inferior". Quigly was subsequently educated at Godolphin School, Salisbury and, having "won scholarships from ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jenny McPhee
Jenny McPhee (born c. 1962) is an American novelist and translator. A 2020 Guggenheim Fellow, she has worked as a translator of Italian literature to English and wrote the novels '' The Center of Things'' (2001), '' No Ordinary Matter'' (2004), and '' A Man of No Moon'' (2007). Biography Jenny McPhee was born circa 1962 to writer John McPhee and photographer Pryde Brown and raised in suburban New Jersey. She attended Princeton High School, before obtaining her BA in Williams College. In 1984, she was granted a Saint Andrew's Society of the State of New York Fellowship to continue her graduate studies in Scotland. Originally a translator, she began in the 1990s with Italian-English translations such as Pope John Paul II's '' Crossing the Threshold of Hope'' (which she did alongside her sister Martha McPhee), as well as works from authors such as Natalia Ginzburg, Primo Levi, Giacomo Leopardi, Curzio Malaparte, Paolo Maurensig, Anna Maria Ortese, and . In 2020, she was awarded ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Simone Weil
Simone Adolphine Weil ( ; ; 3 February 1909 – 24 August 1943) was a French philosopher, mystic and political activist. Despite her short life, her ideas concerning religion, spirituality, and politics have remained widely influential in contemporary philosophy. She was born in Paris to an Alsatian Jewish family. Her elder brother, André, would later become a renowned mathematician. After her graduation from formal education, Weil became a teacher. She taught intermittently throughout the 1930s, taking several breaks because of poor health and in order to devote herself to political activism. She assisted in the trade union movement, taking the side of the anarchists known as the Durruti Column in the Spanish Civil War. During a twelve-month period she worked as a labourer, mostly in car factories, so that she could better understand the working class. Weil became increasingly religious and inclined towards mysticism as her life progressed. She died of heart failure in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hamlet
''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (theatre), play depicts Prince Hamlet and his attempts to exact revenge against his uncle, King Claudius, Claudius, who has murdered Ghost (Hamlet), Hamlet's father in order to seize his throne and marry Gertrude (Hamlet), Hamlet's mother. ''Hamlet'' is considered among the "most powerful and influential tragedies in the English language", with a story capable of "seemingly endless retelling and adaptation by others." It is widely considered one of the greatest plays of all time. Three different early versions of the play are extant: the Hamlet Q1, First Quarto (Q1, 1603); the Second Quarto (Q2, 1604); and the First Folio (F1, 1623). Each version includes lines and passages missing from the others. Many works have been pointed to as possible s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Don Quixote
, the full title being ''The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha'', is a Spanish novel by Miguel de Cervantes. Originally published in two parts in 1605 and 1615, the novel is considered a founding work of Western literature and is often said to be the first modern novel. The novel has been labelled by many well-known authors as the "best novel of all time" and the "best and most central work in world literature". ''Don Quixote'' is also one of the List of literary works by number of translations, most-translated books in the world and one of the List of best-selling books, best-selling novels of all time. The plot revolves around the adventures of a member of the lowest nobility, an Hidalgo (nobility), hidalgo from La Mancha named Alonso Quijano, who reads so many chivalric romances that he loses his mind and decides to become a knight-errant () to revive chivalry and serve his nation, under the name . He recruits as his squire a simple farm labourer, Sancho Panza, wh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Iliad
The ''Iliad'' (; , ; ) is one of two major Ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Odyssey'', the poem is divided into 24 books and was written in dactylic hexameter. It contains 15,693 lines in its most widely accepted version. The ''Iliad'' is often regarded as the first substantial piece of European literature and is a central part of the Epic Cycle. Set towards the end of the Trojan War, a ten-year siege of the city of Troy by a coalition of Mycenaean Greek states, the poem depicts significant events in the war's final weeks. In particular, it traces the anger () of Achilles, a celebrated warrior, from a fierce quarrel between him and King Agamemnon, to the death of the Trojan prince Hector.Homer, ''Iliad, Volume I, Books 1–12'', translated by A. T. Murray, revised by William F. Wyatt, Loeb Classical Library 170, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press, 1924.Hom ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
