When I was learning French, I used my several months of knowledge to read L’Étranger by Albert Camus. What easy literature is there to read in Italian? Some examples in French are Le Petit Prince, Le Petit Nicholas, and L’Étranger. I’m not looking for children books, but fairly easy literature.
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3Not sure whether it is an actual duplicate, but you can find some pointers in this question.– DaGMar 13, 2019 at 17:53
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2Welcome to Italian.SE!– Charo ♦Mar 13, 2019 at 19:16
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Just to be clear: you are specifically looking for Italian literature (as in, written by Italian authors) and not for literature whose Italian translation is easy, correct?– Easymode44Mar 15, 2019 at 9:24
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@Easymode44 è corretto!– ThatLanguageGuyMar 15, 2019 at 13:52
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3 Answers
These are some Italian books recommended by the Official Language Schools of Catalonia to students who have an A1 level and are learning to acquire an A2 level:
- Andrea Camilleri: La relazione.
- Rossana Campo: Il matrimonio di Maria.
- Chiara Sasso: Riace, terra di accoglienza.
- Chiara Gamberale: Per dieci minuti.
- Luigi Garlando: Per questo mi chiamo Giovanni.
- Niccolò Ammaniti: Io e te.
- Fabio Volo: Quando tutto inizia.
- Natalia Ginzburg: La strada che va in città.
- Stefano Benni: Margherita Dolcevita.
- Italo Calvino: Marcovaldo.
- Massimo Carlotto: Niente, più niente al mondo.
- Gianrico Carofiglio: Testimone inconsapevole.
- Geppi Cucciari: Meglio donna che male accompagnata.
- Natalia Ginzburg: Caro Michele.
- Amara Lakhous: Scontro di civiltà per un ascensore a piazza Vittorio.
- Dacia Maraini: Dolce per sé.
- Paola Mastrocola: Facebook in the rain.
- Francesco Piccolo: Momenti di trascurabile infelicità.
- Gianni Rodari: C'era due volte il barone Lamberto.
- Fabio Volo: Un giorno in più.
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If by any strange accident Gamberale, Lakhous and Volo (no less than two titles!) slipped away from the list, I don't think that the average level would drop dramatically.– DaGMar 15, 2019 at 18:20
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1@DaG: Are you suggesting to remove these authors from the list? In fact I read a book by Volo some years ago and I didn't like it at all.– Charo ♦Mar 15, 2019 at 18:28
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1Sorry, I didn't mean to censor that list. I'm just saying that I wouldn't especially recommend those authors. To be more positive, I highly recommend other of them, especially Calvino, Ginzburg, Rodari, Benni.– DaGMar 15, 2019 at 18:40
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@DaG: Adesso me n'accorgo che non ho letto nessun libro di Fabio Volo. Il libro che avevo in mente quando ho scritto quel altro commento in realtà è di Sandro Veronesi: non so perché ho avuto questa confusione.– Charo ♦Jan 9, 2020 at 21:48
Actually, Il piccolo principe and Lo straniero are just as good in Italian as in French - perhaps, a bit less difficult, as is usual with translated texts. Also, junk literature is much easier (and often more entertaining) for a beginner than classical texts - I mean detective novels, love stories, fantasy, etc. This might be hard to find abroad, but if you are in Italy or Switzerland, you will have a great choice in any bookstore.
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1I'm not sure I'd suggest junk stuff or translated texts to someone who studied French by reading Camus, but why not.– DaGApr 26 at 11:00
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@DaG The advantage of the junk stuff is that it is available in great abundance. Honestly, my French and German began to progress really quickly once I stopped being snobbish and settled for junk - which is admittedly, the kind of literature that I wouldn't read in a language that I know well. Apr 26 at 11:21
I am not sure it's really super easy but you may want to try Le città invisibili written by Italo Calvino. It describes imaginary cities and since there is no ultra twisted plot may be ok to understand, even if sometimes some old words are used.
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2I've read both Marcovaldo and Le città invisibili. Le città invisibili is certainly a masterpiece, but I think it could be a bit hard to understand to someone who has studied Italian for not many time. If such an Italian student would like to read something by Calvino, I believe Marcovaldo would be easier to understand.– Charo ♦Mar 16, 2019 at 9:44