Tales of Suicide: A Selection from Luigi Pirandello's Short Stories for a Year - Softcover

Pirandello, Luigi; Bussino, Giovanni

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0937832316 ISBN 13: 9780937832318

Publisher: Dante University Press, 2014

Synopsis

Nobel Prize Winner Luigi Pirandello set out to write one short story per day for one whole year. Death kept him from fulfilling that goal; nevertheless, he came close to achieving it. Although there are several themes in the collection, the one on suicide and the one on madness seem to stand out. The late Giovanni Bussino, who had planned to translate all of Pirandello’s stories into English, himself died before he could fulfill that goal. Luigi Pirandello became famous as an author of drama; his innovative techniques, however, and his delving into the psychology of his characters, brought him world acclaim. The same drama is played out in each character presented in this volume, especially in, Sunrise, In Silence, and, While the Heart Suffered. In many ways, their lives’ situations become similar to those of our own. Like Pirandello’s characters, very often we find ourselves enclosed in jars that we build around ourselves only to realize that we have to break that jar in order to gain freedom. The problem or the question is: freedom from what? From the monsters we’ve created for ourselves, or from those created by others for us! Considered the Father of Modern Theater, Pirandello has has had a huge impact on the European stage, especially wherein he introduces new roles for the audience itself, as though the drama about to unfold emanates from within the audience itself, because the same drama exists in each one of us and is worthy to receive center stage.

About this title

Synopsis:

Suicide, the act of killing oneself voluntarily and intentionally, is clearly one of the most important themes developed by Pirandello during his long literary career. Although he never focused on self-destruction as an end in itself, he made ample use of it to dramatise his tragic view of the human condition. Indeed, this theme recurs with astonishing frequency in his short stories, play and novels. It even appears sporadically in his poetry.

About this edition

• Publisher: Dante University Press
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 0937832316
• ISBN 13: 9780937832318
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 208