11 h 49 minAudiobook7 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if the man who longs to master the sky cannot escape the demands of desire?
In Gabriele D'Annunzio's Perhaps Yes Perhaps No, flight is new, dangerous, and charged with promise. Paolo Tarsis seeks fame through daring in the air. On the ground, Isabella Inghirami wants him on her own terms, while her sister Vana feels a deep attachment that strains the bond between them.
Their younger brother, Aldo, brings further unease to a family already caught in powerful emotions. Between old Italian places and the open sky, the novel explores jealousy, pride, and the pull of ruin. Paolo's ambition raises a larger question: what happens when individual will seeks to rise above ordinary morality?
What you’ll discover
- The danger of flight Enter an age when fragile machines carry human ambition into an uncertain sky.
- Two sisters, divided desires Follow Isabella and Vana as their attachments to Paolo place their sisterhood under strain.
- A family in shadow Meet Aldo, whose fragility adds another source of unease around the lovers.
- The reach of will Explore the troubling dream of a powerful individual who stands beyond common morality.
- Language rich with sensation Sink into lavish sentences filled with colour, sound, and the heat of desire.
Who will love it
For readers who love rich, ornate prose, the Decadent movement, and early twentieth century ideas about speed, will and machines. Desire, jealousy and the thrill of early flight meet in Paolo Tarsis's world.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A title taken from a maze
- Paolo Tarsis, a man who wants the sky
- Two sisters and a knot of desire
- A family touched by instability
- Will, machine and the new human being
- A richly built book and its legacy
Who’s who
- Paolo TarsisAn aviator driven by pride and ambition, he wants fame through daring flight and struggles to bind himself to any one person.
- Isabella InghiramiA strong, commanding woman who is drawn to Paolo and who wants him on her own terms.
- VanaIsabella's sister, bound to Paolo by a deep and demanding attachment that shapes her choices.
- AldoThe younger brother of Isabella and Vana, a fragile, troubled boy whose presence adds unease to the family.
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- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
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- Large print hardcover
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Quizá sí, quizá no
by Gabriele D'Annunzio · 1910
Aviator Paolo Tarsis seeks fame in the sky as two sisters' desire draws him into rivalry, jealousy and danger.
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From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A title taken from a maze
The title is a motto, Forse che si forse che no in Italian, which means Perhaps yes perhaps no. D'Annunzio took it from the Ducal Palace in Mantua, where the phrase is found in a ceiling decorated with a labyrinth. The phrase fits the book well. Every great hope in it comes with a doubt attached.
Mantua matters as a place as well as a source of the title. It is an old city of courts, lakes and marble rooms, and it stands for a past rich in beauty and in intrigue. The novel keeps setting that old Italy beside the new world of engines and airfields. The contrast gives the story its tension.
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What is Perhaps Yes Perhaps No about?
It is a novel about an aviator, Paolo Tarsis, and the sisters Isabella and Vana, who are bound to him by desire and rivalry. It mixes love, jealousy and the thrill of early flight.
What does Forse che si forse che no mean?
It means Perhaps yes perhaps no. D'Annunzio took the motto from a labyrinth ceiling in the Ducal Palace in Mantua. It suits a story where every hope is shadowed by doubt.
When was Perhaps Yes Perhaps No written?
It was published in 1910, in the early years of powered flight. It is fiction, not a true story, but it reflects the excitement and danger that early aviation brought to Europe.
The author
Gabriele D'Annunzio
1863–1938 · Italian poet and novelist
Gabriele D’Annunzio (1863–1938) was an Italian novelist, poet and playwright. He was born in Pescara and died in Gardone Riviera. His novels include The Child of Pleasure (1889), The Triumph of Death (1894) and The Flame (1900). He also served as a soldier during the First World War.
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