Italian Folktales

Written by Italo Calvino

Narrated by Edoardo Ballerini

Chosen as one of the New York Times's ten best books in the year of its original publication, this collection immediately won a cherished place among lovers of the tale and vaulted Calvino into the ranks of the great folklorists. Introduction by the Author; illustrations. Translated by George Martin. A Helen and Kurt Wolff Book

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Apr 5, 2019
• ISBN: 9781501963629

Italo Calvino

Italo Calvino nació en 1923 en Santiago de las Vegas (Cuba). A los dos años la familia regresó a Italia para instalarse en San Remo (Liguria). Publicó su primera novela animado por Cesare Pavese, quien le introdujo en la prestigiosa editorial Einaudi. Allí desempeñaría una importante labor como editor. De 1967 a 1980 vivió en París. Murió en 1985 en Siena, cerca de su casa de vacaciones, mientras escribía Seis propuestas para el próximo milenio. Con la lúcida mirada que le convirtió en uno de los escritores más destacados del siglo XX, Calvino indaga en el presente a través de sus propias experiencias en la Resistencia, en la posguerra o desde una observación incisiva del mundo contemporáneo; trata el pasado como una genealogía fabulada del hombre actual y convierte en espacios narrativos la literatura, la ciencia y la utopía.

Reviews for Italian Folktales

[browner56 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

In the middle of the last century, celebrated Italian novelist Italo Calvino set about to accomplish a remarkable task: he would scour the entire country to gather all of the folk stories usually conveyed in the oral tradition and transcribe them into a printed volume that would rival the great anthologies by other folklorists, such as Aesop or the Brothers Grimm. That effort soon became more challenging than imagined as many of the folktales he encountered had myriad regional variations that differed from one another in significant ways. Consequently, a big part of Calvino’s job was spent assimilating diverse renditions of the same tale into a unified version and then putting that amalgam down on paper, an effort that required frequent embellishments from his own imagination. The result of his work is Italian Folktales, a collection of 200 quintessential stories intended to capture the very essence of the Italian character and culture.This book represents an impressive job of scholarship. In addition to gathering and adapting the stories themselves, Calvino provides an extensive appendix in which he gives a historical background and context for each tale. (Incidentally, the author originally produced all of this in Italian; the volume was translated into English by someone else a few decades later.) I found these explanations to be quite useful and occasionally illuminating as I made my way through the collection. On the other hand, I thought that the stories themselves were underwhelming and, far too often, not particularly interesting. In fact, there was a real sameness to the tales that made it seem like far fewer than 200 unique tales were being told. Also, none of these tales was especially memorable in the way that the classic fables from other sources are (e.g., ‘The Tortoise and the Hare’, ‘Hansel and Gretel’, ‘Rumpelstiltskin’). So, I have to offer Italian Folktales a mixed recommendation, with considerable kudos for the author’s research but low marks for the unengaging nature of the source material.

[leslie398 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

These fairy tales were very enjoyable. Not too surprisingly, there was some repetition - different regions of Italy having various versions of basically the same story - but that didn't bother me. It was interesting to see a few tales that were clearly variations of Homer!

[allyofthedawn · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

While I understand that there are many different versions of various folktales out there, it would have been nice to know in advance that I would be reading basically the same 10 tales over and over again, with slight variations.

[electrascaife · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Does just what it says on the tin: a collection of folktales from Italy. Fun, if you like that sort of thing (and I do).

[calabrom2 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This was a book my grandfather had and would read to me when I was younger. All of the folktales in this book are great but I especially enjoyed "The Three Castles."

[josephj_530382 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Awesome book. I ordered through Abe books and received a paperback first edition from 1988 with a gorgeous picture of pink flowers stuck between its pages--probably a book mark for its previous owner. As if that gem wasn't magical enough, the stories never disappoint. Many follow the fairy tale formulas and some are even very similar, but that does not detract from the wondrous nature of these tales.I can not wait to read some other works by Mr. Calvino. For now, though, his Italian Folktale collection offers me a new nugget of gold every time I pick it up. I can not wait to have kids and share these yarns with them.

[weeksj10 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Wow!! It's a must have if you like folktales even in the least. It's the perfect book. Read a story every night, read one story over and over again, leave it on your table to pick up whenever you feel like a fresh story, it doesn't matter. Its wonderful whatever you do with it.

[neutiquam_erro · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This collection of Italian folktales, collected and rewritten by Italo Calvino, is a cornucopia of tiny tales. The 200 stories (twice the number in that other great collection of Italian tales - the Decameron) of this 700 page book sparkle with wit and provide insight into the minds of the poorer classes of medieval and premodern society.The tales are, according to the introduction, from previous collections made by folklorists, mostly during the 19th century, when people still made a hobby out of collecting such things. The stories come from all around Italy and each has, at its conclusion, the name of the region from which it was drawn. I am under the impression that Italo Calvino rewrote them from their original dialects into standardized Italian. He also added his own special touch, distilling, trimming and rewriting them as only a master could. The English translation by George Martin is taut and clean and makes the read all the more enjoyable.The book includes an introduction by the author, somewhat scholarly in nature. It also has a note for each story discussing technical issues and origins. It could be used as a scholarly reference for folklore studies but it is a delight to read just for pure pleasure. If you are looking for a book of fairytales for your children this collection is probably on par with the Grimm Brothers or the Red Fairy Tale Book. It was written, however, considerably later, in 1956. The book shares with these collections (their unexpurgated versions at least) a certain earthiness, an occasional tendency towards brutality and a distinct lack of political correctness. If you are offended by golden donkey dung, witches defenestrated, tarred and burned at the stake, or princesses killed by their husbands later resurrected and remarried to their repentant murderers, you might want to avoid this book. At the very least you might want to pick and choose which tales you read to your children. Not that the tales dwell on these things in detail but you will encounter them. You will also encounter the three little pigs (as geese), little Red Riding Hood as herself, a Snow White who falls in with thieves, a Sleeping Beauty awakened not by a prince but by her newborn child, and Aladdin, Ali Baba and Ulysses dressed up as merchants, peasants and monks. One can also hear vague echoes of celtic mythology, prehistoric magical rites and even a plot I find reminiscent of Gogol.Two hundred stories is quite a few and while there are occasional variations on a theme, on the whole they remain remarkably fresh. Just when you think you've seen everything, a new plot twist comes along to enchant and amuse.

[ljstahlhut · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I love this book. So does my beloved firstborn. As such, I no longer have custody of the book. It moved to Berkeley with my beloved firstborn, John-Paul, his girlfriend, Blair, John-Paul's best friend, Kenny, the only cat I ever loved, Mr. Bigglesworth, and Mr. Bigglesworth's sidekick, Rick James.So, the book has a life of its own.I think, however, that the borrowing of my copy of the book, helps to demonstrate the book's intrinsic value and worthiness.