The Leopard
by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa
First published 1958 · English · 223 pages
- Novels
- Historical fiction
The Leopard is a historical novel set in Sicily during the 1860s, when Garibaldi's campaign and the unification of Italy overturn the old order. Its centre is Don Fabrizio, Prince of Salina, a proud, intelligent and weary aristocrat who sees that his class is fading. His lively nephew Tancredi adapts quickly to the new age, and the family looks for ways to keep its place through marriage and money. The book mixes sharp social comedy with deep melancholy, and with fine descriptions of the island's landscape and heat. It matters as a great meditation on change, power and the passing of time.
Quotes
We were the leopards, the lions, those who take our place will be jackals and sheep, and the whole lot of us - leopards, lions, jackals and sheep - will continue to think ourselves the salt of the earth.
[of the Sicilians] They never want to improve. They think themselves perfect. Their vanity is greater than their misery.
You know what is happening in our country? Nothing... simply an imperceptible replacement of one class for another. The middle class doesn't want to destroy us. It simply wants to take our place... and very gently.
[to Father Pirrone] You're used to naked souls. You should know that naked bodies are far more innocent.