10 Classic Italian Books You Need to Read

Looking for some of the very best Italian books and novels to read? This list contains ten amazing works of Italian literature you need to add to your bookshelf!

Classic Italian literature is not as widely known or talked about as its French or Spanish counterparts but studying it at University gave today’s guest author, Jonny, the chance to see how much it has to offer and why it is worth exploring.

If you’re looking for translated Italian books or books set in Italy, this post is for you. He’s compiled a fantastic list of Italian novels, all of which are by Italian authors too. Now over to Jonny.

There are so many gems in Italian literature from medieval poetry all the way through to contemporary novels so choosing ten of the best Italian books to recommend is a real challenge.

Most of these works by Italian authors are taken from the twentieth century when there was a real emphasis on innovation and challenging tradition but with a couple from the Renaissance for good measure. They range from poetry to novels to plays to journalism so see what piques your interest!

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10 Classic Italian Books to Read

If on a Winter’s Night a Traveller by Italo Calvino

If you’re a fan of the weird and experimental then you must read something from Italo Calvino. If on a Winter’s Night a Traveller is frequently called his best and most radical. I’ve never read anything like it – a book all about writing and reading which addresses the reader directly.

‘You are about to begin reading Italo Calvino’s new novel, If on a winter’s night a traveller. Relax. Let the world around you fade’ is the first line in this bold and refreshing Italian novel.

Each chapter is divided into two sections with the first being about you, the reader, attempting to read the next chapter of Italo Calvino’s If on a Winter’s Night a Traveller and the second being, each time, a new book that you, the reader, finds.

This Italian book is slightly complicated and a bit of a head-spinner but it’s a really clever and fun postmodern novel all about the difficulties of writing and the elusive satisfaction of reading.

Buy If on a Winter’s Night a Traveller: Amazon | Waterstones | Blackwells

Six Characters in Search of an Author by Luigi Pirandello

Six Characters in Search of an Author is definitely not your average play.

It begins with actors on stage rehearsing for one of Pirandello’s previous plays, Rules of the Game before they are interrupted by six strange people claiming to be characters of an unfinished play abandoned by their author.

They demand that the director listen to and help them tell their story so they may become complete characters.

It’s a fair bit to get your head around and, in fact, the first showing of the play in Rome was met with heckles in the crowd of ‘Manicomio!’ (‘Madhouse!’). However, within a year the play became hugely popular in Italy and further afield.

Watching a play with actors pretending to be actors and theatrical characters themselves is slightly disorientating but it is meant to be. It makes you think about theatre, acting, how plays are staged and even why we tell stories on stages in a different way.

At the end, the director is left wondering what was real and what was an act. Give it a read or, even better, a watch and you’ll be left feeling the same!

Buy Six Characters in Search of an Author: Amazon | Waterstones | Blackwells

Zero Zero Zero by Roberto Saviano

Zero Zero Zero is a hard-hitting, shocking and incredibly brave piece of journalistic writing all about the global cocaine trade.

Saviano doesn’t pull any punches and writes plainly from his experience among Italy’s cruellest gangs about the current state of cocaine use, the brutal world of its supply chain and the horrible consequences of those who try and disrupt it.

Saviano himself has been living in hiding, escorted by armed guards 24/7 since the publication of his first book Gomorrah and so knows first-hand the dangers of writing such an exposé.

The chapters tell different, gruesome stories of individuals affected by the gang culture that rules the trade but also remind us how close to home the problem is.

It may be rife in Columbia and Mexico but also here in the UK. There is even a dedicated chapter in the British edition about how Cocaine oils the wheels of London.

Not for the faint-hearted but a jaw-dropping and relevant read – there is even a series based on it now on Amazon Prime! Take a punt on this one and you’ll be surprised.

Buy Zero Zero Zero: Amazon | Waterstones | Blackwells

Zeno’s Conscience by Italo Svevo

Zeno’s Conscience is the Italian novel for if you’re into your dark humour and psychology. It takes the form of a diary reluctantly written by Zeno Cosini, the protagonist, who is advised to do so as a form of therapy by a psychotherapist.

It explores different parts of his life from his failing marriage to his affairs to his constant struggle to give up smoking. It moves from passages of sad reflection to funny memories of endless ‘last cigarettes’ throughout.

Written in 1923, the idea that diary writing or journaling can be just as therapeutic as traditional psychotherapy sessions introduced by Freud several decades before, seems ahead of its time.

In times where we can all stray towards selectively revealing only the best parts of ourselves, it’s a nice reminder that writing or sharing honestly about our lives can be a big benefit to us and others.

Buy Zeno’s Conscience: Amazon | Waterstones | Blackwells

L’Allegria by Giuseppe Ungaretti

This collection includes one of the most famous Italian poems of modern times:

M’illumino
d’immenso

Mattino (Morning) is only two words but entire articles and essays have been written about it. Even without knowing any Italian, the sounds stand out when read aloud.

For Ungaretti, the way the poem is written on the page carries significant meaning and often blank space on the page means just as much as the words that are there.

Ungaretti teaches us sometimes they better express things in life we struggle to fully capture with words: loss, fear and grief for example.

Definitely relevant at a time like this and doubly so given the recent interest in visual poets like Rupi Kaur. If you’re a fan of Milk and Honey, definitely give some of these a go.

RELATED: 10 Poetry Books Like Milk & Honey

Buy Selected Poems of Ungaretti: Amazon | Waterstones | Blackwells

The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco

Part historical text, part fiction, part murder mystery, this extraordinary novel by Umberto Eco is in equal parts enlightening and entertaining. Set in 1327 it follows a detective, William of Baskerville (our Medieval Sherlock Holmes) investigate 7 murders.

The story is told in multiple layers though, the first being Eco’s ‘translation’ of a book by French author Abbe Vallet, which itself was a translation of a 14th-century monk Adso of Melk’s text. Add in another layer if you’re reading the English translation!

With a torrent of historical detail at every turn and a huge range of characters to keep track of, it’s definitely a challenge to keep up. But if you are a fan of detective dramas, this Italian book may be worth a go.

Buy The Name of the Rose: Amazon | Waterstones | Blackwells

If This Is a Man by Primo Levi

No list of classic Italian novels would be complete with mention of Primo Levi. If This Is a Man is Primo Levi’s first-hand, haunting account of his experience while a prisoner in Auschwitz during the Second World War.

His account is personal and touching as he recalls the relationships he formed in the camp in powerful detail. The focus is shifted away from simply documenting the horrors onto the individual humans subjected to it. The result is a short but incredibly moving book.

The chapter where Levi meets Jean, a teenage messenger-clerk, and tries to teach him Italian by translating his favourite passage of Dante’s Divine Comedy is a great example. As they recite it they learn from each other and, for a moment, forget the world around them.

It is of course, heart-breaking and bleak at times, but it is a wonderfully-written timely reminder to see and treat people as individuals rather than just members of a group.

Buy If This is a Man: Amazon | Waterstones | Blackwells

I’m Not Scared by Niccolò Ammaniti

Set in a heatwave in 1978 Italy, I’m Not Scared is an unsettling but charming story of a naïve 9-year old child Michele who, as a forfeit, goes to explore an abandoned remote farmhouse on the edge of the town.

It may sound a little horror-film esque but written through the eyes of the child his shocking discovery is more unnerving than frightening. It becomes obvious to the reader and the older Michele narrating the novel what has happened as a sinister stranger mysteriously then appears in the town.

Michele’s passage from innocence to experience is gradual and gripping as you get to know the personalities of the town, particularly the other young people who share the same filtered view of what is going on. If you’re into unsettling, psychological thrillers this could be for you.

Buy I’m Not Scared: Amazon | Waterstones | Blackwells

The Prince by Machiavelli

The Prince is Machiavelli’s classic short political treatise on how to rule as an effective Prince in the C16th. Although written 500 years ago it is still often talked about when discussing politicians and fictional characters like the Underwoods in House of Cards.

It is often touted as a book that encourages violence and deception in order to gain power but people read it in very different ways.

Some say he wrote it almost as a job application to become a political advisor to a powerful political family at the time, while others say it is more of a philosophy that suggests we should care more about the greater good than individual ‘cruel’ actions.

In any case, if politics is your thing, The Prince is well worth a read to see how you interpret it!

Buy The Prince: Amazon | Waterstones | Blackwells

Rime by Michelangelo

Poetry is usually not the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about Michelangelo, better know for his drawings, sculpture and art but it may come as a surprise to know that he also wrote a beautiful set of poems.

Many of his sonnets and madrigals show a deeply religious feeling but many are also about the transformative and healing aspect of art.

Lots of poems in the collection are actually left unfinished, much like his drawings and sculptures. Reading them is like seeing the artist draft and revise the piece of artwork and is sometimes even more affecting than the finished poems.

If you’ve ever seen or been interested in some of his artwork or sculptures his poems are well worth reading too.

Buy Selected Poems and Letters by Michaelangelo: Amazon | Waterstones

Are you a fan of Italian books? If you have any more suggestions for amazing Italian novels, please leave them in the comments below!

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Jonny

Guest Author

Jonny is a French & Italian graduate from Oxford University and now a civil servant in London. On the weekends you’ll find him expanding his cooking repertoire, discovering London’s quirkier activities or simply in the pub.