Holocaust

Alfredo OrianiProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.4

Word count: 264K words
Chapters: 27

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. Olocausto by Alfredo Oriani. Author: Oriani, Alfredo, 1852-1909. Language: Italian. Class: PQ: Language and Literatures: Romance literatures: French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese. Release Date: Nov 29, 2008

Editor's review

Olocausto is an Italian-language work by the Italian writer Alfredo Oriani (1852–1909), released by Project Gutenberg as a public-domain ebook. Oriani was a writer and thinker active in Italy from the late nineteenth to the early twentieth century, and his writing is often marked by intense historical reflection and spiritual inquiry. The book is short, and its language belongs to nineteenth-century written Italian; its sentence patterns and vocabulary are somewhat distant from today's readers, but precisely for that reason it gives a direct sense of the texture of Italian literary and intellectual discourse in that era. The value of reading this work lies not in intricate plotting but in following the author into a textual space charged with argument and introspection, and in experiencing the concerns and anxieties of an intellectual during a period when the old order was loosening. For readers studying the history of Italian literature or the intellectual currents of nineteenth-century Europe, it is primary material for close reading as a sample; for general readers, it is more like a language and thought exercise that requires a slower pace.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers studying the history of Italian literature and following late-nineteenth-century intellectual currents
Language learners with Italian reading ability who want to engage with public-domain primary texts
Readers who enjoy essayistic, idea-driven texts and are willing to read slowly and closely
Collectors of public-domain ebooks and enthusiasts of primary Italian-language sources

Not a good fit for

General readers without Italian who hope to read a Chinese translation
Casual readers seeking strong plot and fast-paced narrative
Beginners lacking patience for nineteenth-century written style and argumentative prose

Reading tips

First learn about Oriani's life and historical context, then enter the text with an understanding of its intellectual setting.
Read slowly chapter by chapter; when encountering long sentences, first identify the main clause, then review the modifiers.
Keep pen and paper to note recurring keywords and arguments and trace the direction of the author's thought.
Read in comparison with works by contemporary Italian writers to sense differences and similarities in style and themes.

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 there a Chinese translation of this book?

The available information only indicates that this is an Italian-language public-domain ebook released by Project Gutenberg; no Chinese translation is mentioned. Readers without Italian will find direct reading very difficult, so it is advisable first to confirm whether a reliable translation exists, or to use a bilingual edition or annotated edition for support.

What level of language proficiency is needed to read this book?

The text uses nineteenth-century written Italian, with long sentences and rather literary vocabulary, distant from contemporary everyday Italian. It is suitable for readers with intermediate or higher Italian reading ability who are willing to look up words and repeatedly work out sentence meaning; beginners should first read introductory materials before attempting the original.

Why is it recommended to learn about the author's background first?

Oriani's writing carries a distinct tone of historical reflection and intellectual argument, and many of his discussions respond to the problems of his own time. Grasping his life and the intellectual atmosphere of late-nineteenth-century Italy can help readers judge the text's orientation and avoid misreading time-bound judgments as universal conclusions.

Comments

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About the author

Alfredo Oriani Author · Italian · 1852–1909

Alfredo Oriani (1852–1909) was an Italian novelist, historian and social critic, born in Faenza in 1852 and died in Casola Valsenio in 1909. His writing spanned the novel, history and political commentary. Thirteen of his works are held in this collection, including the multi-volume La lotta politica in Italia, the two volumes of Il Nemico, and works such as La disfatta, Olocausto, No: Romanzo and Al di là: romanzo. His novels often concern the entanglement of individual lives with historical change, while his historical and political writings trace the course of Italian political life, and his thought carries a nationalist tinge. Public information is limited and few details of his life survive, yet his extant works show that he holds a place in Italian literary and intellectual history, with wide-ranging subjects and a style that combines narrative with argument.