Great Italian Stories: 10 Parallel Texts

by Various, Jhumpa Lahiri (Editor)

A spellbinding selection of short stories in the original Italian alongside their English translations


This new dual-language edition of ten stories selected from The Penguin Book of Italian Short Stories celebrates some of the very best twentieth-century literature from Italy. Each story appears in the original Italian alongside an expert English translation, providing unique cultural insight and literary inspiration for language learners. Ranging from a spellbinding tale of the supernatural to a powerful portrait of post-war Italy, this revelatory collection includes works from beloved authors, Italo Calvino, Fausta Cialente, Alba de Céspedes, Grazia Deledda, Natalia Ginzburg, Elsa Morante, Lalla Romano, Umberto Saba, Alberto Savinio, and Elio Vittorini.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Italian Literature

175 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 11, 2024

About the author

Various is the correct author for any book with multiple unknown authors, and is acceptable for books with multiple known authors, especially if not all are known or the list is very long (over 50).

If an editor is known, however, Various is not necessary. List the name of the editor as the primary author (with role "editor"). Contributing authors' names follow it.

Note: WorldCat is an excellent resource for finding author information and contents of anthologies.

Reviews

[Jorden Kuijper · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even though the stories weren't overwhelmingly great or anything, they often had a calm simplicity to them. Nice way to learn Italian, that's for sure.

[Paula · Rating 1 out of 5]

no em torno a llegir un llibre que no té ni portada al goodreads. algunes històries estaven bé, però overall m'ha fet un pal increïble acabar-me'l. porto una ratxa nens...

[Nicoleta-Letiția · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un libro davvero utile.
Alcuni racconti non me hanno piaciuto, ma ho arricchito il mio vocabolario e anche ho letto altri racconti interessanti.
Da cuesta antologia credo che i migliori racconti sarebbero quello di Elio Vittorini e Italo Calvino.

[Lovrenc · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is good from perspective that you can read 10 stories in italian and simultaneously in english. 90% the translation in precise but sometimes as it is expected the translation differs because of each languages grammar.
Stories are mostly about difficult topics of life like death, cheating in relationships and life as can be difficult itself.

It's not my cup of tea but was interesting nonetheless to learn and practice both languages simultaneously.

[Abigail · Rating 3 out of 5]

ha ammazzato la gallina ?!

[Diana · Rating 4 out of 5]

A while ago, Penguin published their anthology of Italian short stories, and some years later they made another selection. 10 bestest short stories, published in a dual-language edition: Italian original and English translation. It is a treasure for readers who are learning Italian and for readers like me who would just like to get the feeling of how a great short story sounds in the original words it was written. All 10 authors published here are huge names of Italian literature, among them Strega Prize and Nobel Prize winners, such as Italo Calvino, Natalia Ginzburg and Grazia Deledda. The collection is useful as a starting point to continue exploring these writers, but also to just enjoy the best Italy has to offer in terms of short story writing.

https://leseriana.blog/2025/01/22/gre...

[Rita P Smits · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful little peek into the essence of Italy. Some of the stories might not be very memorable, but I would still recommend this book.

[Wej · Rating 3 out of 5]

Picked this up at Foyles on impulse. It's part of Penguin’s bilingual series, which I rate highly as a language learning tool. Having the Italian original on one page and the English translation on the facing page makes it much easier to work through unfamiliar texts without constantly reaching for a dictionary.

There’s plenty to recommend here. The language is often demanding, which makes it useful for intermediate to advanced learners, and the range of authors offers a good mix of vocabulary and tone. I found myself underlining a lot, which is always a good sign when reading in a second language.

The downside is the content itself. While the stories are by respected authors, I didn’t find many of them particularly engaging. A few felt flat or dated, and none left much of a lasting impression. Writing this review some weeks later, I can barely recall the plots or characters.

Still, as a structured way to build vocabulary and familiarity with literary Italian, it works well. If you’re learning the language, it’s worth your time even if the stories themselves don’t always deliver.

[Ralph Tyrell · Rating 3 out of 5]

I racconti in questo libro erano semplice in natura ma un po’ difficile di leggere per me. Mi piace la differenza da le prose dell’inglese e l’italiano.

[Jasmin Vu · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked some stories more and some less, which is expected for a collection of short stories.

However, I wish that there had been some introduction or interpretation guide to each story. Especially the more abstract stories were difficult to understand without context and unfortunately I couldn’t find any information on the internet since these stories are not particularly well known. I assume that the editor chose these stories because they were deemed particularly representative of the Italian experience, but that connection was completely lost to me.

Overall, I feel like I didn’t get the most out of the book.

[Plain Butter Croissant · Rating 3 out of 5]

Because of this book I realize… I don’t like short stories collection!

The stories are definitely interesting and of high quality. But short stories to me always feel too abrupt, too experimental, too in short slices, too demanding. 😆

[Livia Monica · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,5/5 ⭐️

Decided to read this since I'm learning Italian.

All of the stories are somehow dark in a way... but my favorite would be Mio marito by Natalia Ginzburg