A Vittorini Omnibus: Twilight of the Elephant, In Sicily, La Garibaldina (New Directions Books)

ISBN: 0811204995

Author: Vittorini, Elio

Condition: New

This representative collection of works by the late Elio Vittorini (1908-1966) brings under a single cover three short novels. The Twilight of the Elephant (II Sempione strizza locchio al Fréjus, 1946) is a haunting, mythlike tale bearing strong affinities with music and abstract art. It is the story of a poverty-stricken family and its extraordinary grandfather--a veritable elephant of a man. One of the recognized classics of modern literature, In Sicily (Conversazione in Sicilia, 1937) recounts a city mans rediscovery of himself and the basic values of life when he returns for a visit to the primitive Sicilian village where he was born. Included in this edition is an introduction written in 1949 by Ernest Hemingway, who greatly admired Vittorini. The third novella, La Garibaldina (1950), is a vivid portrait of an eccentric old woman, a former camp follower of Garibaldis army, and her encounter with a young soldier on a night-train journey across Sicily.