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I. Emma, Book Around the Corner – The Island of Souls by Piergiorgio Pulixi
II. Emma, Book Around the Corner – The Day Will Come by Giulia Caminito
III. The Moon and The Bonfire by Cesare Pavese – ★★★★
IV. Six Characters in Search of an Author by Luigi Pirandello – ★★★★
V. A Day in the Life of Ancient Rome by Alberto Angela – ★★★★
VI. La Vita Nuova by Dante Alighieri – ★★★★★
VII. The Siren: A Selection of Short Stories by Dino Buzzati – ★★★1/2
VIII. Arturo’s Island by Elsa Morante – ★★★★
IX. Accidental Death of an Anarchist by Dario Fo – ★★★★★
X. Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan – ★★★★★
XI. Catastrophe & Other Stories by Dino Buzzati – ★★★★
XII. The Garden of the Finzi-Continis by Giorgio Bassani – ★★★★
For this challenge, I also compiled a list titled “Italian Literature Recommendations for Each Zodiac Sign“, as well as talked about Italian children’s literature to celebrate the International Children’s Day.
This is a complex challenge. Congratulations. I have bought Le Grand Meaulnes to read but have not started it yet. Definitely like the sound of the Finzi-Contini one.
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I am in total awe, Diana. I’d like to think I’d tackle at least a couple of these titles, even if the categories in toto are beyond me, and the Finzi-Contini novel perhaps will be in the vanguard!
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Congratulations on completing your Italian reading challenge!
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Thanks!
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You’re welcome!
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Wow, that’s a lot of Italian books. They have wonderful literature!
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Well done!
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Very well done, what a great idea for a challenge and a terrific achievement!
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Thank you, Jane!
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Congratulations! Reading on a theme is always a good experience, I find, since each book feeds into one’s appreciation of the others. Will you be starting a new challenge?
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Thank you! I Challenges like this one are great, of course, and for many reasons, but are also rather taxing, to be honest, so I think I am taking a break from them this year, and how about you?
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Yes, after finishing my Spanish Civil War challenge I’m taking a break too before deciding on another themed challenge. As you say, it can be quite hard work!
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Brava and congratulations, what an accomplishment! I haven’t read any of these books and appreciate having some intriguing titles to look into.
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Congratulations for completing this challenge! It’s great that you got a great variety of genres and regions! Are you going to do a challenge with another country for 2023?
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Thank you! I am thinking of taking a break from challenges this year. I plan to read some very long books this year, so I guess that would be a sufficient challenge for me 🙂
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Congratulations! But no Italo Calvino?
I’m addicted to this author, so much so that I decided to learn Italian to read hin in the original text. Currently reading his book on Why Read the Classics?
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Thanks! Calvino is great. Like Umberto Eco, I think he is one of the better known, if not the best known, author(s) outside of Italy, and I wanted to draw attention to other writers. I’ve heard good things about this non-fiction of his, and I absolutely love Invisible Cities, too.
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Yes, and they say Calvino is better known outside than inside Italy! My favorite is If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler
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