Canne al vento Add a review

Canne al vento ([ˈkanne al ˈvɛnto]; Italian for "Reeds in the wind") is a novel by the Italian author and Nobel Prize winner Grazia Deledda. As with her other works it centres on the theme of "unwise passion".

After being published by episodes on L'Illustrazione Italiana, in the period January 13–27, 1913, it was released as a volume by editor Fratelli Treves in Milan. It is considered the most notable work written by Deledda. The title of the book is an allusion to human frailty and sorrow, which was already found in Elias Portolu, written in 1900: Uomini siamo, Elias, uomini fragili come canne, pensaci bene. Al di sopra di noi c'è una forza che non possiamo vincere. («We are human, Elias, as frail as reeds: think carefully. There's a force we can't defeat above us.»)

An English translation was published in 1999, as Reeds in the Wind, by Martha King.