The Leopard

Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa · 1896–1957 · Italy

Originally Il Gattopardo (Italian) · translated by Archibald Colquhoun

Why it matters

A Sicilian prince presides with weary clarity over the death of his own aristocratic world as Italy unifies. Published posthumously, it became the great Italian novel of change and resignation: 'everything must change so that everything can stay the same.'

At a glance

Ornate, elegiac sentences and a leisurely pace built for reflection over incident.