Scan barcode
A review by tomleetang
The Leopard by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa
4.0
Long, languid sentences frame the opulent world of a fading aristocratic family, one that is largely helpless in the face of changes wrought by the Risorgimento. I loved many things about this novel: the richness of the descriptions, the palpable heat of the Sicilian climes, the introspection of the grand old Prince.
Art is given personality, sculptures and paintings anthropomorphised into amused observers of the human condition. There is a lusciousness to these descriptions of the aesthetic that resembles a warm bubble bath, effervescent and comforting.
For all the wit and satire though, one is ultimately left with the desire to cry, to mourn for lost youth and lost opportunities.
This is a book about politics and religion, love and heartache, unity and separatism, all run through with wry commentary and resignation, a resignation that centres on realising one is obsolete, whether as a class, as a leader, as a lover or as a man.
Art is given personality, sculptures and paintings anthropomorphised into amused observers of the human condition. There is a lusciousness to these descriptions of the aesthetic that resembles a warm bubble bath, effervescent and comforting.
For all the wit and satire though, one is ultimately left with the desire to cry, to mourn for lost youth and lost opportunities.
This is a book about politics and religion, love and heartache, unity and separatism, all run through with wry commentary and resignation, a resignation that centres on realising one is obsolete, whether as a class, as a leader, as a lover or as a man.