Books from Italy
72 popular italian books
Travel the world without leaving your chair.
The target of the Read Around The World Challenge is to read at least one book written by an author from each and every country in the world.
All books that are listed here as part of the "Read Around Europe Challenge" were written by authors from Italy.
Find a great book for the next part of your reading journey around the world from this book list. The following popular books have been recommended so far.
41.
The Baron in the Trees by Italo Calvino EN
Description:
"Cosimo di Rondó, a young Italian nobleman of the eighteenth century, rebels against his parents by climbing into the trees and remaining there for the rest of his life. He adapts efficiently to an existence in the forest canopy he hunts, sows crops, plays games with earth-bound friends, fights forest fires, solves engineering problems, and even manages to have love affairs. From his perch in the trees, Cosimo sees the Age of Enlightenment pass by and a new century dawn. Long considered one of Calvino's finest works, The baron in the trees exemplifies this brilliant writer's gift for fantasy."... continue
42.
The Betrothed : I Promessi Sposi by Alessandro Manzoni EN
Description:
“The great plague novel.” —The New Yorker Set in Lombardy during the Spanish occupation of the late 1620s, The Betrothed tells the story of two young lovers, Renzo and Lucia, prevented from marrying by the petty tyrant Don Rodrigo, who desires Lucia for himself. Forced to flee, they are then cruelly separated, and must face many dangers including plague, famine and imprisonment, and confront a variety of strange characters—the mysterious Nun of Monza, the fiery Father Cristoforo and the sinister "Unnamed"—in their struggle to be reunited. A vigorous portrayal of enduring passion, The Betrothed... continue
44.
The Children's Train by Viola Ardone EN
Description:
“The innocence of childhood collides with the stark aftermath of war in this wrenching and ultimately redemptive tale of family, seemingly impossible choices, and the winding paths to destiny, which sometimes take us to places far beyond our imaginings.” – Lisa Wingate, #1 New York Times Bestselling Author of Before We Were Yours and The Book of Lost Friends "Ardone’s beautifully crafted story explores the meaning of identity and belonging...recommended to fans of Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan novels." – The Library Journal “[The Children’s Train] leaves you with a great sense of the importance ... continue
45.
The Chimera by Sebastiano Vassalli EN
Description:
Offering a study of hypocrisy and evil, a comic novel of religious corruption and witchcraft in seventeenth-century Italy chronicles the fate of a young orphan named Antonia, who is burned at the stake in the town of Novara in 1610.
46.
The Days of Abandonment by Elena Ferrante EN
Description:
"This novel that shocked audiences in Europe with its unsentimental and unyielding depiction of motherhood, marriage and solitude, tells the story of one woman's headlong descent into what she calls an "absence of sense" after being abandoned by her husband. Olga's "days of abandonment" become a desperate, dangerous freefall into the darkest places of the soul as she roams the empty streets of a city that she has never learned to love. When she finds herself trapped inside the four walls of her apartment in the middle of a summer heat wave, Olga is forced to confront her ghosts, the potential ... continue
47.
The Description of the World by Marco Polo EN
Description:
Composed in a prison cell in 1298 by Venetian merchant Marco Polo and Arthurian romance writer Rustichello of Pisa, The Description of the World relates Polo's experiences in Asia and at the court of Qubilai, the Great Khan of the Mongol Empire. In addition to a new translation based on the Franco-Italian "F" manuscript of Polo's text, this edition includes genealogies of the Mongol rulers and nine maps of Polo's journey, as well as thorough annotation and an extensive bibliography.
48.
The Divine Comedy : The Inferno, the Purgatorio, and the Paradiso by Dante Alighieri EN
Description:
For the first time, John Ciardi's translations of Dante's three soaring canticles have been gathered together in a single volume.
49.
The Divine Comedy : Volume 1: Inferno by Dante Alighieri EN
Description:
An acclaimed translation of Dante Alighieri's The Divine Comedy Volume 1: Inferno that retains all the style, power and meaning of the original A Penguin Classic This vigorous translation of Inferno preserves Dante's simple, natural style, and captures the swift movement of the original Italian verse. Mark Musa's blank verse rendition of the poet's journey through the circles of hell recreates for the modern reader the rich meanings that Dante's poem had for his contemporaries. Musa's introduction and commentaries on each of the cantos brilliantly illuminate the text. For more than seventy yea... continue
50.
The Drowned and the Saved by Primo Levi EN
Description:
Levi wrote of the moral collapse that occurred in Auschwitz and the fallibility of human memory that allows such atrocities to recur. Levi's last book published before his death in 1987.