Old Love Stories

Adolfo AlbertazziProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.0

Word count: 169K words
Chapters: 17

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.Vecchie storie d'amore by Adolfo AlbertazziAuthor: Albertazzi, Adolfo, 1865-1924,Language: Italian, Class: PQ: Language and Literatures: Romance literatures: French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Release Date: Jan 20, 2012

Editor's review

Vecchie storie d'amore is a collection of short stories by the Italian writer Adolfo Albertazzi, released free as an ebook by Project Gutenberg. Albertazzi was active in Italian literary circles from the late nineteenth to the early twentieth century, and his work often depicts emotions and human relationships with delicate strokes. Written in Italian, the book gathers several short stories around the theme of "old loves" and is suited to readers interested in Italian literature, especially Italian narrative prose of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. As a public-domain ebook, the text is easy and cheap to obtain, but it lacks modern translation notes and an introduction, so reading requires some knowledge of Italian or a willingness to consult dictionaries and compare with translations. For intermediate and advanced learners of Italian, it can also serve as supplementary material for experiencing literary language style. Overall, this is a free reader suited to slow, attentive reading and to gaining a sense of modern Italian short narrative.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers with some Italian reading ability who want to encounter modern Italian short stories
Students and enthusiasts studying or researching Italian literature, with an interest in late nineteenth-century narrative prose
Literary readers who enjoy love-themed short stories and are willing to read public-domain originals
Self-learners who want to use free ebook resources to expand their Italian reading

Not a good fit for

Readers with no Italian at all who need a Chinese translation
Readers hoping for modern annotations, an introduction, or detailed background analysis
Readers who prefer long, complete plots and have little interest in the short-story collection form

Reading tips

First read one of the shorter stories to get used to the author's narrative rhythm and vocabulary, then gradually expand.
Keep an Italian-Chinese dictionary or an electronic dictionary on hand; mark unfamiliar words first, then look them up together after finishing a passage.
Choose one story to read alongside a Chinese or English translation to help with difficult sentence patterns.
After each story, write two or three sentences summarizing the plot and your impressions, building up a sense of the author's style.

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

What level of Italian is needed to read this book?

The stories are written in Italian, in the literary language of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, so the sentence patterns and vocabulary are somewhat difficult. Intermediate or higher Italian reading ability is recommended, or a willingness to read with a dictionary and compare with translations. Beginners may find reading the original directly quite challenging.

Is this a translation or the original? Is there a Chinese translation?

According to the information, the book is in Italian and is the original-language ebook released by Project Gutenberg, not a Chinese translation. If you need a Chinese translation, you will have to find another edition or use translation tools to assist your reading.

What are the features of Project Gutenberg ebooks?

Project Gutenberg is a provider of free ebooks, founded by Michael Hart in 1971. Its ebooks are mostly public-domain works, easy to obtain and free of charge, but they usually lack modern editorial annotations, introductions, or proofreading notes, so readers need to fill in background knowledge themselves.

How should one plan reading for a short-story collection?

It is best to read in installments of one or two stories at a time to avoid fatigue from the language difficulty. Before reading, glance at the length of each piece and start with the shorter ones; after reading, briefly retell the plot to reinforce understanding and appreciate the author's way of expressing emotion.

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About the author

Adolfo Albertazzi Author · Italian · 1865–1924

Adolfo Albertazzi (1865–1924) was an Italian writer and literary critic, born in Bologna on September 8, 1865, and died in the same city on May 10, 1924. A student, friend and biographer of the poet Giosuè Carducci, he taught successively in Mantua, Foggia and Bologna. His output includes novels, short stories, literary criticism and children's literature. His short stories, influenced by Maupassant, often draw on everyday life and social manners, with an emphasis on dramatic incident and psychological portrayal. His style is notable for precision and concision, and he was a central figure in Bologna's Carducci literary circle. Representative works include Novelle umoristiche, Parvenze e sembianze, Vecchie storie d'amore, Il diavolo nell'ampolla, In faccia al destino and Top; six of his works are held in the collection.