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Sep 14, 2021 | ISBN 9780143136095 Buy
Sep 14, 2021 | ISBN 9780525507666 Buy
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Sep 14, 2021 | ISBN 9780143136095
Sep 14, 2021 | ISBN 9780525507666
A revelatory new annotated edition of the most translated Italian book in the world–soon to be *two* major motion pictures: a Netflix animated version co-directed and co-written by Guillermo del Toro and voiced by Ewan McGregor, Cate Blanchett, and Tilda Swinton, and a Disney Plus live-action version directed by Robert Zemeckis and starring Tom Hanks, Cynthia Erivo, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Lorraine Bracco, and Keegan-Michael KeyA Penguin Classic Carved from a piece of wood by the old carpenter Geppetto, the puppet Pinocchio comes to life and immediately starts to misbehave. But while this beloved character has achieved literary immortality, the novel has been widely misunderstood. Pinocchio has a penchant for lying, to be sure, but it’s when he avoids going to school that he repeatedly gets into trouble. The Adventures of Pinocchio is thus not a cautionary tale about lying but an unusually timely fable for our increasingly authoritarian times–a story about the importance of education and of preventing others from pulling our strings. This effervescent new translation captures the antic spirit that makes the mischievous, egotistical, and easily distracted Pinocchio a late nineteenth-century prototype for the likes of Bart Simpson. Featuring copious annotations informed by the translators’ deep knowledge of Italy, it reveals the novel to be not only a subversively entertaining children’s book but also a sophisticated satire reflecting the author’s concern for the social inequality of his time and his belief that duty to others is at the core of our humanity.
revelatory new edition of the most widely translated Italian book in the world–soon to be a Netflix animated feature film co-directed and co-written by Guillermo del Toro and voiced by Ewan McGregor, Cate Blanchett, Christoph Waltz, John Turturro, and Tilda SwintonA Penguin Classic Carved from a piece of wood by the old carpenter Geppetto, the puppet Pinocchio comes to life and wants nothing more than to be a real boy. But while this beloved character has achieved literary immortality, he is ultimately misunderstood. He has a penchant for lying, to be sure, but it’s when he avoids going to school that he repeatedly gets into trouble, making The Adventures of Pinocchio an unusually timely novel about the importance of education, in our increasingly authoritarian times, to prevent our strings being pulled. This effervescent new translation captures the antic spirit that makes the mischievous, egotistical, and easily distracted Pinocchio a late nineteenth-century prototype for the likes of Bart Simpson. Featuring copious annotations informed by the translators’ deep knowledge of Italy, it reveals the novel to be not only a subversively entertaining children’s book but also a sophisticated satire reflecting the author’s concern for the social inequality of his time and his belief that duty to others is at the core of our humanity.
Carlo Collodi (1826-90) was a journalist from Florence who took part in Italy’s struggle for independence and died too soon to witness the international success of The Adventures of Pinocchio.
“Perfectly timed. The translators . . . do justice to the story with their insightful annotations and cogent introduction. . . . Who can’t love a story as wildly inventive as [this]? Children certainly love it—and have so for nearly 150 years. But Pinocchio can also grab the interest of any adult willing to engage with the story’s rich tapestry of symbolism, archetypes, and layers of meaning. . . . Should you find yourself watching all or none of the recent and upcoming film adaptations of Pinocchio, this new translation from Penguin Classics is a terrific way to get reacquainted with one of the world’s most popular and important stories.” ―PopMatters“Very lively . . . A fine translation in many ways, and I love the way it brings out the Italianness, and I do like the punch of it. It’s great.” ―Ann Hallamore Caesar, The TLS Podcast“An effort to reclaim the spirit of the original, particularly as something distinct from the animated Disney cartoon that most are familiar with . . . Their goal . . . is not dissimilar to that of Matteo Garrone in his wonderfully dark film adaptation: to demonstrate, once again, that Pinocchio is far more than just a children’s story.” ―The Week in Italy
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