In the Dream

Neera, 1846-1918Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.3

Word count: 99K words
Chapters: 10

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.Nel sogno by NeeraAuthor: Neera, 1846-1918,Language: Italian, Class: PQ: Language and Literatures: Romance literatures: French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Release Date: Mar 4, 2006

Editor's review

"Nel sogno" is a work by the Italian woman writer Neera, whose original Italian text is freely available from Project Gutenberg. Neera, born Anna Radius, was an important woman novelist in late nineteenth-century Italy; her works often revolve around women's education, marriage, and inner life. The title means "In a Dream," and the text is strongly introspective, suited to readers interested in women's psychological writing and the social changes in post-unification Italy. As a public-domain eBook, it is easy to access at any time, but it lacks translation notes and an introduction, so readers need to fill in the background themselves. While reading, pay attention to shifts in narrative perspective and the use of dream imagery, and consider how the author uses personal emotion to reflect the era's expectations and constraints on women. If your language foundation is limited, you may first read relevant Chinese research materials before entering the original text for a smoother reading experience.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in Italian women's literature and psychological writing
Literature enthusiasts with some foundation in Italian
Readers studying nineteenth-century European ideas of women's education and marriage
Readers who enjoy introspective narratives and gently paced works

Not a good fit for

Readers with no Italian foundation who are unwilling to use tools
Readers of popular fiction seeking strong plot and suspenseful twists
Beginners seeking detailed annotations and an introduction

Reading tips

First learn about Neera's life and creative background; reading the main text afterward makes the themes easier to understand.
Pay attention to the imagery of "dream" in the title, marking passages related to dreams and memories as you read.
You may read alongside chapters of a Chinese-language history of Italian literature to lower the difficulty of understanding.
After finishing, sort out the female characters' choices and dilemmas and form your own reading notes.

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 Neera the author's pen name?

Neera is a pen name; the author's real name was Anna Radius, a nineteenth-century Italian woman writer whose works mostly focused on women's circumstances and family life, and who had some influence in the Italian literary world of her time.

What language level does this book require?

The original is in Italian; intermediate reading ability is recommended, or use a dictionary and translation tools. The Gutenberg version has no annotations, so cultural background and allusions must be looked up on your own.

Is this book suitable as literature course material?

It can serve as supplementary reading for courses on Italian literature or women's writing, but teachers need to supply background materials and annotations. It is better suited to thematic discussion than to a beginner's textbook.

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About the author

Neera, 1846-1918 Author

Neera (1846–1918) was an Italian woman writer, born Anna Radius Zuccari, who published under the pen name Neera. Public information about her is limited, and her biographical details remain sparse in Chinese-language sources, but she is confirmed to have been active in Italian literary circles from the late nineteenth to the early twentieth century. Four of her works are held in the collection, including L’Amuleto, Nel sogno, La vecchia casa, and L’indomani. These works mostly focus on family life, women’s emotions, and everyday ethics, with a delicate style that blends realism and sentiment. Her writing often begins from ordinary circumstances and attends to women’s situations within marriage and social expectations, using plain and sympathetic language; she occupies a place in the traditions of Italian popular fiction and women’s writing.