I believe his assessment was that Orlando Innamorato was inferior in quality and overly prolix. It was a brave assessment to make from someone who wrote a 22-volume history of Italy, but of the two charges Montanelli made, I think only the latter could be leveled back at him. Of course, comparing history and fiction is...well...not to be done.
In comparison to Ariosto, Boiardo may indeed be inferior, but that would be like arguing that Juvenal was inferior to Vergil in writing verse. Boiardo's Orlando focuses on different things than does Ariosto on occasion and he writes good, if not great, verse.
Illusions fall like the husk of a fruit, one after another, and the fruit is experience. - Narrator, Sylvie
Je suis méchant.
Je suis méchant.

Trying to decide which of these is the best shared-world writer...
23/12/2012 02:23:35 AM
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I have heard of the Bertrand fella, and the Twelve Paladins but I haven't read any of his works
23/12/2012 02:58:41 AM
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I do intend to read Orlando Furioso (and Gerusalemme Liberata) at some point.
23/12/2012 08:30:03 AM
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What does Gerusalemme Liberata have to do with it?
23/12/2012 02:49:41 PM
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Never had a formal lesson in Italian
23/12/2012 05:17:48 PM
- 850 Views
I actually believe Italian to be the easiest Romance language
23/12/2012 07:26:43 PM
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It certainly isn't the hardest (Romanian and then French might be that)
23/12/2012 07:42:38 PM
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Romanian always seemed quite easy to me
24/12/2012 02:08:17 AM
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I think we're interpreting this a bit differently here
24/12/2012 04:15:46 AM
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So by "purity" you really mean the simplicity and limitation on vowel sounds...
26/12/2012 01:20:40 AM
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Yes, although I prefer it being in reference to a lesser range of variation in vowel sound to letter
26/12/2012 04:33:06 AM
- 939 Views
Eh, they're both famous Italian epics?
25/12/2012 07:06:37 PM
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You make it sound as though Medieval Italian is radically different from Modern Italian.
26/12/2012 01:15:24 AM
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From the aesthetic point of view I think that Ariosto is recognized as the best.
23/12/2012 02:54:43 PM
- 952 Views
I agree (all but the Bar-Sur-Aube I've read in the original language, with translations to help)
23/12/2012 05:16:04 PM
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Since it's a short book I might just buy a paperback and hope Dumbarton Oaks issues a hardcover.
23/12/2012 07:29:52 PM
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It'll be a few months at least before I tackle Mommsen in any language
23/12/2012 07:44:42 PM
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I took a chance and ordered Orlando Furioso a week ago from amazon.it
24/12/2012 02:14:02 AM
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Hopefully it'll be what you want
24/12/2012 04:19:32 AM
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Io sono trasportato di gioia
28/12/2012 12:32:21 AM
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And I just ordered their Tasso.
28/12/2012 01:09:08 AM
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Very strange indeed
28/12/2012 04:46:26 AM
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Montanelli was not a fan
28/12/2012 05:40:14 AM
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True
29/12/2012 02:41:02 AM
- 1271 Views
Excellent!
28/12/2012 04:45:42 AM
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The books are not as rigid as a cardboard-style hardcover, but they aren't very supple.
28/12/2012 05:36:35 AM
- 848 Views
I agree about the Old French and Catalan - it makes sense when you think about it.
25/12/2012 07:18:35 PM
- 865 Views
Having finished re-reading the Pulci, I think that one might interest you as well
25/12/2012 08:59:38 AM
- 864 Views
Saw the title of this and immediately thought: Tite Kubo. haha
*NM*
03/01/2013 10:27:22 PM
- 972 Views
