The Leopard: Archive
Notes written over time on the novel, Visconti’s film, and the world they portray
What follows is a curated gallery of Notes I’ve written over time, all dedicated to The Leopard.
The Leopard is a novel to which I feel deeply connected. It tells a crucial moment in Italian history — the Risorgimento — through the disenchanted eyes of an aristocrat belonging to the old order, a man who watches the future advance and tries, as much as possible, to allow the past to survive.
Over time, I’ve found myself returning again and again to this novel and the world it portrays.
This collection grew out of that.
I just finished watching, last night, on Netflix. The book was a gift in our rooms when my family was with me in Sicily two years ago. I became so attached to the people in the Netflix version. I will now read my book. Thank you for doing this Substack.
Hey, HM, have you perhaps read Federico De Roberto's novel – "I Viceré"? It was first published in 1894, and has the same theme as "The Leopard", although its depiction of Sicilian aristocracy at the turning point of Italy's unification is much less romanticised, and its characters are conspicuously monsters, nothing noble about them. A great book in its own right, worthy companion to the Leopard.
What a wondrous film Visconti made, every single actor was magnificent in it. Thanks for your posts!