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Audiobook edition · 8 h 55 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if the chance of a better life puts everything your family has at risk?
In Giovanni Verga's The House by the Medlar-Tree, the Toscano family, known as the Malavoglia, work as fishermen in Aci Trezza, Sicily. Padron 'Ntoni trusts old sayings, hard work and family loyalty. When young 'Ntoni is called to military service, the household loses a pair of hands it needs.
A load of lupins bought on credit offers hope of better fortune. But a storm and a demanding moneylender turn that hope into pressure. Around the family, the village gossips, judges and bargains. Verga lets its many voices reveal a world where money, law and rumor threaten a home beside a medlar tree.
What you’ll discover
- A village that speaks Hear Aci Trezza through its proverbs, quarrels and gossip, without a narrator's moral lectures.
- Old wisdom, restless hopes Follow the tension between Padron 'Ntoni's loyalty to home and his grandson's hunger for more.
- The weight of debt Watch a bargain tighten around a family whose livelihood depends on the sea.
- Quiet lives under pressure Meet Maruzza, Mena and Alessi, each carrying family duties alongside personal hopes.
- Realism without pity Discover Verga's unsentimental attention to ordinary people, their work and their struggle to hold on.
Who will love it
Este libro te encantará si disfrutas de las sagas familiares, los chismes de pueblo y el mar. Es para quienes se interesan por la gente honrada sometida a presión y buscan una historia llena de voces, donde el tiempo y la lealtad están siempre presentes.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Una familia como los 5 dedos de una mano
- Ntoni es llamado a filas en la marina
- Una compra a crédito lleva la barca al mar
- El mar se lleva algo más que la carga
- Llega el alguacil y el abogado se encoge de hombros
- Mena, Alfio y una esperanza silenciosa que se pierde
- Una tormenta nocturna y la herida del viejo
- El deber familiar frente al deseo de marcharse
- Dinero, chismes y un pueblo que vigila
- La historia se cuenta con la voz del pueblo
Who’s who
- Patrón NtoniEl anciano cabeza de los Malavoglia confía en los refranes, el trabajo duro y la honradez, y quiere mantener unida a la familia y proteger la casa.
- NtoniEl nieto mayor, fuerte e inquieto tras su paso por la marina, sueña con una vida más fácil lejos de Trezza.
- Maruzza, llamada la LongaLa esposa de Bastianazzo, una mujer callada que teje, vende huevos y mantiene unido el hogar mientras teme por su familia.
- Mena, llamada Santa ÁguedaLa nieta mayor trabaja en el telar y oculta sus sentimientos por Alfio Mosca tras su deber hacia la familia.
- Alfio MoscaUn carretero pobre con una carreta tirada por un burro, tímido y bondadoso, que ama a Mena y no encuentra palabras para decírselo.
- Tío CrucifijoEl prestamista sordo apodado Campana de Palo vende los altramuces a crédito y quiere recuperar hasta el último céntimo.
- Pie de PatoUn intermediario cojo y parlanchín que vive de comisiones y se pone al servicio de quien le paga.
- AlessioEl nieto menor, constante y trabajador, sueña con una barca, una esposa llamada Nunziata y la casa del níspero.
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Los Malavoglia in 25 languages, side by side, paragraph by paragraph, once the book texts are online: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
Los Malavoglia
by Giovanni Verga · 1881
Los Malavoglia arriesgan una barca, una casa y un cargamento de altramuces en un solo viaje.
Medium level5–10 hours to read2 languages
Aprende un idioma con clásicos de nivel mediumEspañolFrancésAlemánItalianoJaponésPortuguésInglésCómo medimos los niveles
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In short
What happens to a family when one bad bargain meets one bad storm? In a Sicilian fishing village, the Malavoglia family owns a boat called the Provvidenza and a house beside a medlar tree.
Los Malavoglia de un vistazo
- Tiempo de lectura
- Unas 5 h 5 min4 h fast, 6 h slow
- Duración
- 72.300 palabras
- Nivel en la biblioteca
- Mediano longer sentences, everyday words
- Primera publicación
- 1881by Giovanni Verga
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). Cuánto se tarda en leer los clásicos · Actualizado
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Una familia como los 5 dedos de una mano
En Aci Trezza solo queda una rama de los Malavoglia. Su apodo significa Mala Voluntad, justo lo contrario de su carácter.
El abuelo, el patrón Ntoni, explica la familia con el puño: para remar bien, los 5 dedos deben trabajar juntos. Él es el pulgar y los demás tienen su lugar. Su hijo Bastianazzo lo obedece en todo. Maruzza, la esposa de Bastianazzo, teje, sala anchoas y cría a los hijos.
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Has visto
¿Qué edición es la adecuada para mí?
- 15-minute summary
- Las ideas clave de todo el libro en unos 14 minutos. Una buena introducción o un repaso.
Detalles
- First published
- 1881
- Language
- Español
- Reading time
- 5 h 45 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cita esta edición
Verga, Giovanni. The House by the Medlar-Tree. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-house-by-the-medlar-tree.
Verga, G. (2026). The house by the medlar-tree. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-house-by-the-medlar-tree (Original work published 1881)
Verga, Giovanni. The House by the Medlar-Tree. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-house-by-the-medlar-tree.
@book{verga2026house,
author = {Verga, Giovanni},
title = {The House by the Medlar-Tree},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-house-by-the-medlar-tree},
note = {First published 1881}
}
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¿De qué trata Los Malavoglia?
Sigue a los Malavoglia, una familia de pescadores de un pueblo siciliano. La deuda por un cargamento de altramuces, la pérdida de una barca y un pleito ponen a prueba su orgullo, su unión y su capacidad de conservar la casa que aman.
¿Quiénes son los Malavoglia?
Son una antigua familia de pescadores de Aci Trezza, encabezada por el patrón Ntoni. Su hijo Bastianazzo, su nuera Maruzza y sus nietos Ntoni, Luca, Mena, Alessio y Lia viven juntos en la casa del níspero.
¿Qué representa el níspero?
El níspero da sombra al patio familiar y representa el hogar, la pertenencia y el pasado. El patrón Ntoni quiere vivir y morir cerca de él, y las esperanzas de la familia siempre vuelven allí.
The author
Giovanni Verga
1840–1922 · Italian novelist
Giovanni Verga was an Italian novelist and short-story writer born in Catania, Sicily, in 1840. He lived in Florence and Milan before returning to Catania. He published I Malavoglia, known in English as The House by the Medlar-Tree, in 1881, and Mastro-don Gesualdo in 1889. He died in Catania in 1922.
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