Passions

Selections from Leopardis prose masterwork, Zibaldone, one of the great intellectual diaries in European literature, expertly translated by Tim Parks RevengeRevenge is so sweet one often wishes to be insulted so as to be able to take revenge, and I dont mean just by an old enemy, but anyone, or even (especially when in a really bad mood) by a friend.from Passions The extraordinary quality of Giacomo Leopardis writing and the innovative nature of his thought were never fully recognized in his lifetime. Zibaldone, his 4,500-page intellectual diarya vast collection of thoughts on philosophy, civilization, literary criticism, linguistics, humankind and its vanities, and other varied topicsremained unpublished until more than a half-century after his death. But shortly before he died, Leopardi began to organize a small, thematic collection of his writings in an attempt to give structure and system to his philosophical musings. Now freshly translated into English by master translator, novelist, and critic Tim Parks, Leopardis Passions presents 164 entries reflecting the full breadth of human passion. The volume offers a fascinating introduction to Leopardis arguments and insights, as well as a glimpse of the concerns of thinkers to come, among them Nietzsche, Dostoyevsky, Wittgenstein, Gadda, and Beckett.