Casta Diva

Rovetta, Gerolamo, 1854-1910Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.3

Word count: 336K words
Chapters: 34

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Casta diva by Gerolamo RovettaAuthor: Rovetta, Gerolamo, 1854-1910,Language: Italian, Class: PQ: Language and Literatures: Romance literatures: French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Release Date: Mar 22, 2013

Editor's review

Casta diva is a novel by the Italian writer Gerolamo Rovetta (1854–1910), released here as an electronic edition by Project Gutenberg in Italian and classified under PQ (Romance literatures). Rovetta was active in the Italian literary world from the late nineteenth to the early twentieth century; his work tends to focus on social reality and human psychology, and this novel likewise continues a careful portrayal of human nature and circumstance. The title "Casta diva" comes from the famous aria in Bellini's opera Norma, suggesting that music, faith, and emotional entanglement may play a part in the narrative. For Chinese readers, this is a work that requires some ability to read Italian in order to engage with it directly; it is suitable as supplementary reading for understanding nineteenth-century Italian popular literature and operatic culture. When reading, it is worth considering the Italian social context of the time and noting how the author handles the tension between personal feeling and external norms. The electronic edition is freely available, making it convenient for language study or literary research against the original text, though it is not recommended as an introductory Italian reader.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers with Italian reading ability who want to expand their reading of nineteenth-century Italian fiction
University students and researchers studying Italian literature or operatic cultural background
Collector-type readers interested in Project Gutenberg public-domain e-book resources

Not a good fit for

Ordinary readers with no knowledge of Italian who hope to read a Chinese translation
Readers who prefer fast-paced plotting and lack patience for nineteenth-century realist style
Researchers who need a scholarly edition with detailed annotations and a full introduction

Reading tips

First learn about the background of the "Casta diva" aria in Bellini's opera Norma; this helps in understanding the cultural reference of the title.
Read alongside an Italian dictionary or bilingual reference tools to lower the threshold of understanding the original text.
While reading, pay attention to the author's portrayal of characters' psychology and the social environment, and appreciate the narrative rhythm of nineteenth-century Italian fiction.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book a Chinese version or the original Italian?

According to the Project Gutenberg catalog information, the language of this book is Italian; it is a public-domain e-book released by that platform, not a Chinese translation. Chinese readers who wish to read it need some foundation in Italian or must rely on translation tools for assistance.

What does the title "Casta diva" mean?

"Casta diva" means "chaste goddess"; it is the famous aria of the heroine in Bellini's opera Norma. Rovetta uses it as the title, suggesting that the work may be related to music, faith, or a female figure, though the specific connection must be judged from the original text.

Who is Rovetta?

Gerolamo Rovetta (1854–1910) was an Italian writer active in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. His works often deal with social reality and human psychology and form part of modern Italian literature. This book is one of his novels, edited and released by Project Gutenberg.

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About the author

Rovetta, Gerolamo, 1854-1910 Author

Gerolamo Rovetta (1854–1910) was an Italian author, with fourteen of his works held in this collection. Because public information is limited, the details of his life are difficult to describe at length, yet the surviving titles give a fair picture of his writing: he produced both novels and plays, and his representative works include Mater dolorosa, Casta diva, La baraonda, La moglie di Sua Eccellenza, L'idolo, La Signorina: Romanzo, Sott'acqua: racconto, and the three-act comedy La trilogia di Dorina. These works mostly take social reality and family ethics as their themes, unfolding their plots with care and giving their characters a marked dramatic tension, which shows that he was skilled in both narrative and stage writing. In this collection his works are classified under inspirational growth, suggesting that in the Chinese context they are regarded as reading with an edifying quality.