Genre Fiction
![Sandro Veronesi - [object Object] author](https://res.cloudinary.com/readsomnia/image/upload/authors/a_a_sandro_veronesi.jpg)
The Hummingbird: A Novel
"The Hummingbird is a remarkable accomplishment, a true gift to the world." -Michael Cunningham
"Long considered one of Italy's leading writers, Sandro Veronesi has re-written the family saga. Ardent, gripping, and inventive to the core, it has already been hailed a classic."-Jhumpa Lahiri
"The Hummingbird is a masterly novel, a brilliantly conceived mosaic of love and tragedy."-Ian McEwan
The #1 international sensation from a master of European literature-winner of Italy's Premio Strega-a saga of a Florentine family from the 1960s to the present that brilliantly captures the power of history and the multi-faceted experience of life itself as it explores how we contend with uncontrollable forces that both buffet and buoy us.
Marco Carrera is "the hummingbird," a man with an almost supernatural ability to remain still amid the chaos of an ever-changing world. Though his life is rife with emotional challenges-suffering the death of his sister and the absence of his brother; caring for his elderly parents; raising his granddaughter when her mother, Marco's own child, is no longer capable; loving an enigmatic woman-Marco carries on with a noble stoicism that belies an intensity for living. As the years pass and the arc of his life bends, Marco finds himself filled with joy for the future as the baton passes from him to the next generation.
A beautiful and compelling journey through time told in myriad narrative styles, The Hummingbird is a story of suffering, happiness, loss, love, and hope-of a man who embodies the quiet heroism that defines daily life for countless ordinary folk. A thrilling novel about the need to look to the future with hope and live with intensity to the very end, Sandro Veronesi's masterpiece-eminently readable, rich in insight, and filled with interesting twists and revelations-is a portrait of human existence, the vicissitudes and vagaries that propel and ultimately define us
Translated from the Italian by Elena Pala
"A great novel, vibrating with life and death, happiness and pain, nostalgia and hope for the future." -Vanity Fair
"Everything that makes the novel worthwhile and engaging is here ... magnificent – moving, replete, beautiful." -The Guardian
"Long considered one of Italy's leading writers, Sandro Veronesi has re-written the family saga. Ardent, gripping, and inventive to the core, it has already been hailed a classic."-Jhumpa Lahiri
"The Hummingbird is a masterly novel, a brilliantly conceived mosaic of love and tragedy."-Ian McEwan
The #1 international sensation from a master of European literature-winner of Italy's Premio Strega-a saga of a Florentine family from the 1960s to the present that brilliantly captures the power of history and the multi-faceted experience of life itself as it explores how we contend with uncontrollable forces that both buffet and buoy us.
Marco Carrera is "the hummingbird," a man with an almost supernatural ability to remain still amid the chaos of an ever-changing world. Though his life is rife with emotional challenges-suffering the death of his sister and the absence of his brother; caring for his elderly parents; raising his granddaughter when her mother, Marco's own child, is no longer capable; loving an enigmatic woman-Marco carries on with a noble stoicism that belies an intensity for living. As the years pass and the arc of his life bends, Marco finds himself filled with joy for the future as the baton passes from him to the next generation.
A beautiful and compelling journey through time told in myriad narrative styles, The Hummingbird is a story of suffering, happiness, loss, love, and hope-of a man who embodies the quiet heroism that defines daily life for countless ordinary folk. A thrilling novel about the need to look to the future with hope and live with intensity to the very end, Sandro Veronesi's masterpiece-eminently readable, rich in insight, and filled with interesting twists and revelations-is a portrait of human existence, the vicissitudes and vagaries that propel and ultimately define us
Translated from the Italian by Elena Pala
"A great novel, vibrating with life and death, happiness and pain, nostalgia and hope for the future." -Vanity Fair
"Everything that makes the novel worthwhile and engaging is here ... magnificent – moving, replete, beautiful." -The Guardian
Editorial Reviews
"The Hummingbird is a masterly novel, a brilliantly conceived mosaic of love and tragedy. Veronesi creates a thought-rich and ultimately comic meditation on human error and lost chances.It's a cabinet of curiosities and delights, packed with small wonders, strange and sudden turns, insights of great poise and unusual cultural reference points. The Hummingbird in an object lesson in authorial control. Veronesi truly knows and loves all matters of the heart." - Ian McEwan
"I love Sandro Veronesi's book, The Hummingbird. A real masterpiece. A funny, touching, profound book that made me cry like a little girl on the last page." - Leïla Slimani, author of The Perfect Nanny
"Everything that makes the novel worthwhile and engaging is here: warmth, wit, intelligence, love, death, high seriousness, low comedy, philosophy, subtle personal relationships and the complex interior life of human beings . . . magnificent-moving, replete, beautiful." - The Guardian
"How do you begin telling the story of a great love when you know it ended in disaster?" this novel asks. . . . The temporal leaps, though sometimes disorienting, cunningly mimic the eddying, insistent nature of memory itself." - The New Yorker
"Somehow or other Sandro Veronesi pulls off the extraordinary feat of making you believe he is writing for your ears alone. I cannot tell you what The Hummingbird is about because that would be to betray a confidence. But I can tell you it's a mightily clever novel." - Howard Jacobson, Winner of the Booker Prize
"Veronesi draws a sumptuous portrait of a character whose failings are his biggest charm and who wrestles with sibling and parental issues like most of us… A moving reminder that even the most ordinary lives are peppered with touches of the extraordinary." - Booklist (starred review)
"Cleverly structured like a jigsaw puzzle … Veronesi's dark modern chronicle shimmers with intelligence and flashes of pathos." - Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"I have known for quite some time that Sandro Veronesi was one of the...
"I love Sandro Veronesi's book, The Hummingbird. A real masterpiece. A funny, touching, profound book that made me cry like a little girl on the last page." - Leïla Slimani, author of The Perfect Nanny
"Everything that makes the novel worthwhile and engaging is here: warmth, wit, intelligence, love, death, high seriousness, low comedy, philosophy, subtle personal relationships and the complex interior life of human beings . . . magnificent-moving, replete, beautiful." - The Guardian
"How do you begin telling the story of a great love when you know it ended in disaster?" this novel asks. . . . The temporal leaps, though sometimes disorienting, cunningly mimic the eddying, insistent nature of memory itself." - The New Yorker
"Somehow or other Sandro Veronesi pulls off the extraordinary feat of making you believe he is writing for your ears alone. I cannot tell you what The Hummingbird is about because that would be to betray a confidence. But I can tell you it's a mightily clever novel." - Howard Jacobson, Winner of the Booker Prize
"Veronesi draws a sumptuous portrait of a character whose failings are his biggest charm and who wrestles with sibling and parental issues like most of us… A moving reminder that even the most ordinary lives are peppered with touches of the extraordinary." - Booklist (starred review)
"Cleverly structured like a jigsaw puzzle … Veronesi's dark modern chronicle shimmers with intelligence and flashes of pathos." - Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"I have known for quite some time that Sandro Veronesi was one of the...
Readers Top Reviews
jillFreewheeling
Nice birthday gift for special lady. Shame this arrived damaged. Another small item had been forced into the envelope and caused deep indentations to centre front cover. Careless! And it’s a PITA returning and re-ordering
Nelda BrangwinCA. re
Regarded as one of Italy’s premier authors, Veronesi has detailed the family story of Marco Carrera. Called the Hummingbird because he can remain still and quiet while the world around him changes. He is a stoic but even so he loves life. He seems destined to lose people close to him and ends up raising his granddaughter after his daughter is unable to care for her. I found this a terribly sad book. The letters between Marco and Luisa were the one bright spot. Narration is excellent as the story is narrated by different voices and the narrators were spot on.
Eric Foster
"The Hummingbird" is a heavy read, no question about it, full of difficult philosophical and psychological ideas. But it's also about love, friendship, courage, growth, and deep personal relationships. This is a big European novel in the tradition of Günter Grass, Milan Kundera and Boris Pasternak. If that kind of thing doesn't intimidate you, you'll find it to be a worthwhile and rewarding journey.
Karen SchmidtK L Jen
The translator could use a refresher course in English pronouns. There were many errors that made me cringe. 😖 The worst was on the last page: “Your mine and I’m yours” ruined the ending for me. The author deserved a better translation. And where was the editor?
