Zibaldone: The Notebooks of Leopardi (Penguin Hardback Classics)

Z is the title of this magnificent volume of writing.,It would, if you do consider reading this book,behoove you to love antiquity and ancient languages;it is an elaborate and lengthy exploration of human expression and poetry dating back to antiquity. The reader should, it would seem, gird himself or herself for a passionate display of love of language and its origins on the part of this author. This volume is a translation from the Italian, labor of love.

It's difficult to review such a book as this translation of Leopardi's hodge podge of notes, diary entries, conversational remarks and massive digressions touches on seemingly every topic which crossed the great poet's mind. I have been waiting thirty years to see an English translation and this is one of the most useful, elegant books to be published by any academic or commercial publisher in a generation. FSG receives high praise for releasing this almost 2000 page edition, finally making available this great pathfinder's inner thoughts and everyday remarks. Leopardi was a man of all times, of a modern as well as classically trained sensibility whom we would do well to study and rediscover our civilizing roots in today's civil maelstrom. Patrick Sulaiman Cole

Leopardi's Zibaldone deserves a whole cosmos of stars. This publisher's choice of paper, however, warrants barely a glimmer. They would have done well to follow the lead of various publishers' paper choices for hardback versions of Proust or Montaigne. Still, since it is the only version available in English translation, it gets five stars because—difficult though the pages be to turn precisely, and as much as they may make a marginalia maniac's life a struggle—it should be bought and read and reread, and, if owing to the shoddy paper, bought again and reread again. Alas, as Leopardi wrote: "In this respect, pleasure is similar to peace of mind. The more it is sought and desired in itself and alone, the less it is to be found and enjoyed . . . The very desire for peace of mind necessarily excludes it, and is incompatible with it."

This book has a reputation for making people depressed. Not because it's badly written (not by a long shot), but because the author who wrote it was often a depressed person. I have browsed many of the pages, and I'm having trouble locating the perfect quotation I found when I first browsed the book. This text offers a wealth of materials, particularly for classicists, but some of the content is (still) surprisingly modern.

I own two editions in Italian of the Zibaldone, but this one is now my first resource. The patient creation of a whole raft of scholars and translators, this massive volume is simply indispensable. Why study Leopardi? Well, not only was he a major lyrical poet, but also a thinker of the caliber of Montesquieu, Rousseau, Vico, Jaspers and a (very few) others. He deals acutely with such issues as the relation between nature and culture, the interaction of poetry and science, and the destiny of nations and cultures. In the Zibaldone (or miscellany) these penetrating reflections are interrupted here and there by dry philological notes on Latin and Greek words. It is easy just to skip over these and proceed to the ideas--though those concerned with ancient languages will find the philological matter interesting also.

Leopardi is one of the greatest of the Western Romantics, up there with the early Goethe, Shelley, Hugo and Novalis. And this publication of his notebooks has got to be the publishing event of this millennium. I never thought they'd finally get translated in toto and have waited for more than a decade for this. The Zibaldone, which I have finally finished reading, reveals a mind infinitely sensitive to its own processes and confirms for me my suspicion that Leopardi is one of the greatest of Western writers.

This book reminds me of Pascal's "Pensee." But without the severe Calvinism. So many ideas. Leopardi explores unhappiness, boredom, illusion, nature, distraction, writing, language etc... A lot packed into two thousand+ pages. One entry/thought could be meditated on for a long time... There are about five pages near the beginning that were rather pedantic in which the author criticizes various writers. Besides these entries, it has been an amazing reading experience.

Thin paper. Immense work of astounding fecundity. Not a book to be read from cover to cover - rather it rewards adventuresome forays, much like an undiscovered chamber of multifarious treasures

I purchased the hardback version and I am very pleased. The authors have made an excellent job of translating Leopardi's biblical Zibaldone in English. Having gone through some sections of the original Italian version I soon realized that the enchanting aspect of Leopardi's style had not been lost. His contrived arguments still provoke a subtle need to unravel and unlock his most intimate thoughts on an infinite variety of subjects, from classical to modern literature, science and philosophy, all wrapped up in a melancholic veil characteristic of the anticipation of the postmodern era. The index provides the necessary information to navigate through the 2000 pages of writings, by classifying each of Leopardi's entries by subject (e.g. Love, Life, War, Homer, etc.).

Finally in English anybody can read this famous magnificent work from Leopardi. I am so thankful for this book. I great job from the publisher too.

Good translation. It helps to understand Leopardi’s thought.

I was rather daunted by the price when I first saw this reviewed and then saw a copy in a bookshop. £50 did seem rather a lot even for 2.5k pages. However, when Amazon brought the price down by about £20 I took the plunge. On dipping in and out of this book I can now say that the original price was still worth it. This is a marvellous insight into a great mind which flows over so many different topics with grace and confidence. Even the sections where the sentences are long and rambling are revealing of Leopardi working through a particular train of thought in a diverting way. The publishers are bringing out a paperback in September 2014, but I would advise that you seriously think about buying the hardback. The paper is very thin, but of good quality, and I had the feeling that such a large paperback would begin to fall apart after some reading (although Penguin may decide on a two volume edition to cope with this, I wouldn't bet on it.) Buy and enjoy.

Obra esquecida e fundamental. Um desses trabalhos para se ler em pequenas doses ao longo da vida. Ou enlouquecer tentando ler em sequência.