Product Description
Set in Lombardy during the Spanish occupation of the late 1620s, The Betrothed tells the story of two young lovers, Renzo and Lucia, prevented from marrying by the petty tyrant Don Rodrigo, who desires Lucia for himself. Forced to flee, they are then cruelly separated, and must face many dangers including plague, famine and imprisonment, and confront a variety of strange characters the mysterious Nun of Monza, the fiery Father Cristoforo and the sinister Unnamed' in their struggle to be reunited. A vigorous portrayal of enduring passion, The Betrothed's exploration of love, power and faith presents a whirling panorama of seventeenth-century Italian life and is one of the greatest European historical novels. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (32)

why is Amazon still selling this?
This book is a wierd mutation that was allowed to escape from a robot-publisher warehouse when it should have been thrown back into the pulp mill instead. All copies should be rounded up and re-sold as kindling.
To begin with, the subtitle - "a new translation" - is misleading. This translation dates back to the mid-1800's; there exist at least two competent English-language translations from the mid and late 20th century (Colquhoun and Penman, respectively). What's more, this volume omits a sizeable part of the book and, oddly enough, begins at chapter 19! (The publishing company itself offers a disingenuous sort of apology for any possible "typos" or misspellings in the text, explaining that these are due to the fact that the plates for the printers were produced by photocopy in an automated process wherein robots turn the pages for the scanner, but fails to account for the fact that the first third of the book was left out!)
It is bizarre that Amazon should continue to market this hilarious contrivance while representing it as Manzoni's much honored book.
- g.ramos

CAREFUL!
The Betrothed is an excellent book, but this is not the book, and it's not obvious from looking at this page.I have a wee baby so am sleep-deprived and perhaps that's why I didn't notice, but I definitely think it could be made more obvious.I bought this for a gift anf it was a bit embarrassing.

Not the full book!
I ordered this product thinking it was the full book.Nowhere does it indicate that this was a very condensed version.It was not useful to my daughter who needed the complete book for a report.

The Betrothed: a great story and great history
Don't let the fact that The Betrothed has been labeled a classic, nor its length, stop you from picking it up. It's a darn good read, with very believable characters: good, evil, and mixed. The narrator is lucid, witty, and erudite: a joy to spend time with. The translation I read flowed like a delicious cool stream. The story has both intimate moments and scenes of baroque insanity that seem somehow the progeny of the Barber of Seville and the Keystone Cops.

The third quarter of the book leaves the story entirely to follow the development of the second plague in Milan from the famine years when it began to its demise--leaving 2/3rds of the population dead. Though this is quite a large detour, the descriptions of the world reduced to this hell and the understanding Manzoni brings to bear on it, are no less engrossing than the story, which he does tie in and resolve before the end of the book. The courage and faith of some of the characters burns all the more brightly when plunged into the darkness of the pestilence. Some are transformed for the good. Others, just hardened.

It's too bad Manzoni wasn't as prolific as Dickens. He wrote a second novel, only, which apparently has been published very rarely since the time of its writing. So, The Betrothed is our one chance to be exposed to his great mind and heart. Don't miss it.

ripped off
I'm sure this book is wonderful as many of my friends have wholeheartedly recommended it.However, Amazon did not send the entire book, but only the first part!When I tried to contact them on the internet, there was no real option for a complaint such as mine.The only option was to return the book at my expense.I didn't want to return the book - I only wanted the rest of it!!!Then, I did find a place to make a comment and I did so, but never heard back from them! ... Read more

Product Description
A leading figure in Italian Romanticism and the Risorgimento, AlessandroManzoni (1785–1873) is best known for The Betrothed, a historical novel set in northernItaly in the early seventeenth century. Although the success of this monumental novel eclipsedhis reputation as a playwright, Manzoni himself prominently placed his two verse tragedies,The Count of Carmagnola (1820) and Adelchis (1822), at the beginning of avolume of his complete works, emphasizing their personal significance in his oeuvre. Bothdramas reflect Manzoni's lifelong passion for history and confirm Georg Lukács's assessment ofManzoni as "the most important exponent of historical drama at the time in Western Europe."

Adelchis, set at the end of the eighth century, describes the events that led to the fall ofthe Lombard Kingdom under the joint reign of Desiderius and his son Adelchis. The Count ofCarmagnola chronicles the conflict between the title character, a fiery Renaissance general,and the Republic of Venice. In his enthusiastic review of The Count of Carmagnola,Goethe congratulated Manzoni for "having abandoned the old rules and made such serious andfirm progress on the new path that one can now form new rules on the model of this work."

Now, translator Federica Brunori Deigan presents lyrical English-language versions of these twotragedies which, taken together, dramatize the first two epochs in Manzoni's "history of Italy."(The Betrothed completes the triptych, illustrating the period of Spanish domination.)Long unavailable in English, The Count of Carmagnola and Adelchis aredistinguished by their dramatic power and thematic gravity. Manzoni considers the interactionsof Christian morals and Machiavellian politics through deft psychological portraiture, ultimatelyrevealing the course of history as a fabric woven by individuals free will according to a logicalpattern of actions and reactions, within the vaster providential plan, that human eyes can onlydimly perceive.

In her extensive introduction, Deigan describes Manzoni's life and times; places the two tragediesin the context of historical dramas by Goethe, Schiller, Byron, and Hugo; and highlightsManzoni's synthesis of diverse literary traditions: Shakespeare's tragedies and histories, Germanand French romanticism, and Dantean influences. Also included are a thorough bibliography ofManzonian scholarship, as well as Manzoni's original preface to Carmagnola and hishistorical notes to the tragedies, which provide additional insight into his complex thoughts onpolitics, history, and the dramatic arts. ... Read more

Product Description
This Book Is In Italian And In English. ... Read more

Product Description
Latin/English. (piano reduction) ... Read more

Product Description
This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process.We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide.We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
This Book Is In Italian. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
This Book Is In Italian. ... Read more

Product Description
This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process.We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide.We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process.We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide.We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process.We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide.We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
This Book Is In Italian. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more