The Professor and the Siren (New York Review Books Classics)

I have re-read Lampedusa's "The Leopard" three times in the last several years. It never disappoints. This slim volume of three stories, on the other hand, is a bit of a mixed bag. First there is the rather dreadful and misleading title of the collection and its main story. (It reminds me of Heinrich Mann's Professor Unrat and the exotic dancer in the "Blue Angel"--aka Marlene Dietrich.) Why not stay with the much more melodious Italian title, "Lighea," the name of the mermaid at the center of the title story?--Then there follows a rather pretentious and meandering introduction.--The title story, "Lighea," contains numerous autobiographical elements. Both protagonists, a young aristocratic journalist and an elderly Hellenistic scholar, capture features of Lampedusa's own personality and history. But the elegiac and non-combative pessimism of "The Leopard" here turns into a much more acerbic and at times rather patronizing diatribe against modern culture. The story does, however, also contain some brilliantly allusive, lyrical passages surrounding the young scholars life-changing encounter with a mermaid many years ago. Their love is celebrated as an immersion into the life- and love-fulfilling embrace of an utterly pagan nature, "a transposition from the bestial to the superhuman plane" (31). -- The second story is a rather negligible tale about the conflict between middle class poverty in Sicily and its self-imposed, self-defeating values. -- The third story, on the other hand, sparkles with a wickedly funny, unrelenting denunciation of the aging, increasingly landless Sicilian aristocracy and its modern day re-incarnation in the figure of an uncultured but land-grabbing nouveau riche. -- In short, a true friend of Lampedusa should not want to miss these works of the master's final months. But if you are a newcomer to his art, go for the summit ("The Leopard") before you explore these foothills.

Lampedusa, the author of The Leopard, remained mostly unpublished during his lifetime. But what a legacy he left. These three stories lack the epic sweep of The Leopard, but are nonetheless satisfying for those seeking more from his pen.

This is a valuable addition to Lampedusa's small but masterly body of work. It's about a young journalist who becomes friends with a stern prig of a professor who nevertheless has a mystical, quite sensual affinity for the classical world -- and a special relationship with a siren of the sea. A tale both sad and sunny, this long story will surprise fans of "The Leopard" for its wit (not something you see a lot of in that brilliant novel). It also deepens our perspective on the author's worldly melancholy. Highly entertaining.

This is a slim collection of short stories (3) by Sicilian master Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa. The author is largely known for the epic novel "The Leopard" that is a kind of national statement for the people of Sicily. But these very short stories demonstrate Lampedusa's wit and skill with whimsy and fantasy. The reader finds its easy to buy into these airy creations. Fun.

A short masterpiece of a simple, uncomplicated love/mystical tale coupled with a few shorter works. If you like The Leopard, you'll enjoy this tid-bit. The style is so subtle and engrossing in his works, that when the work is finished it remains almost dreamlike in one's memory. Too bad DiLampedusa was not more prolific, is about all I can say.

What a delight to find this book!!! I have read 'The Leopard' twice and seen the movie, so when this showed up it was a pleasure to find and read. grampus

This is one of the best ever written short story of all times. All the best charcteristics present: structure, lenght, characters, plot, " message", capacity to fullfill readers imagination.

present from daughter

All good

Loved this book of short stories written months before the death of its author Prince Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa. I had read his previous celebrated book The Leopard and seen the movie made in the 1960's with Burt Lancaster and Claudia Cardinale. A gem and worth a read to understand Southern Italy and old Sicily and its people who are so different from the mainland Italians.

Happily the book arrived within the projected timeline on 15 July 2021. It was well packaged and arrived in good order and condition. My main reason for acquiring this book is based upon my appreciation of the author's other works; namely The Leopard and Letters from London and Europe.

Il libro è arrivato puntuale, in perfette condizioni. Il romanzo, poi, è un classico da leggere e far conoscere anche a chi non può leggere l'italiano.