Covering several years, the story of the southern-Italian peasant Parondi family, and their traditions of a family-first mentality at any cost as fostered by the family matriarch, is told. The story has five segments in chronological order with each segment focusing on a different Parondi brother in order of age. Vincenzo’s segment begins when their just-widowed mother Rosaria brings her four younger sons to Milan, where oldest Vincenzo has been living, so her sons can eke out a more promising future than what their unproductive piece of farmland could give. Their arrival disrupts Vincenzo’s life, as being the eldest he’s the one who’s expected to figure out how they will survive without jobs or a place to live. Simone’s segment describes how the change to big-city life affects him more than any of his brothers; he shows natural ability as a boxer, but despite some promising results, he doesn’t cultivate this promise, perhaps because of self-doubt. He begins a relationship with a prostitute named Nadia, who entered the Parondis’ life soon after their arrival in the city. Simone and Nadia’s relationship ends without fanfare and partly due to Nadia’s circumstances. Rocco’s segment begins during his two-year stint in the military. He is the loyal, sensitive brother and reconnects with Nadia by chance. They fall in love, which makes Nadia truly care about what happens to her for the first time ever, but what will Simone think when he finds out? In Ciro’s segment, this educated brother now works in the Alfa Romeo factory and proves to be the practical brother. As their family unit disintegrates, Ciro tries to hold it together. Rocco is now the family breadwinner and will go to any length to keep them together. And in teenage Luca’s segment, questions are raised as to whether their lives would have been different if they had stayed on the family farm, and what the future holds for them in light of–or despite–what has happened to them since their arrival in Milan.
参考翻译：
本书讲述了意大利南部农民帕隆迪一家的故事，以及他们由家族女族长培育的不惜一切代价以家庭为中心的思想传统。故事按时间顺序分为五个部分，每一部分按年龄顺序聚焦于不同的帕隆迪兄弟。Vincenzo的故事始于他们刚刚丧偶的母亲Rosaria带着四个年幼的儿子来到米兰。Vincenzo的长子一直住在米兰，这样她的儿子们就可以过上一个比他们那片贫瘠的农田更美好的未来。他们的到来打乱了文琴佐的生活，因为作为长子，他应该知道如果没有工作或住所，他们将如何生存。西蒙尼的部分描述了大城市生活的变化对他的影响比他的任何兄弟都大；作为一名拳击手，他表现出了天生的能力，但尽管取得了一些有希望的成绩，但他并没有培养出这种希望，也许是因为自我怀疑。他和一个名叫娜迪亚的妓女开始了一段关系，娜迪亚在帕隆迪人抵达城市后不久就进入了帕隆迪人的生活。西蒙妮和娜迪亚的关系没有大张旗鼓地结束，部分原因是娜迪亚的处境。罗科的这段经历始于他两年的军旅生涯。他是忠诚、敏感的兄弟，偶然与娜迪亚重新建立了联系。他们坠入爱河，这让娜迪亚有史以来第一次真正关心发生在她身上的事情，但西蒙尼发现后会怎么想？在西罗的细分市场，这位受过良好教育的兄弟现在在阿尔法·罗密欧工厂工作，并被证明是一位务实的兄弟。随着他们的家庭单元解体，西罗试图将其团结在一起。罗科现在是家里的养家糊口者，他会不遗余力地让他们在一起。在青少年卢卡的节目中，有人提出了这样的问题：如果他们留在家庭农场，他们的生活是否会有所不同，以及考虑到——或者尽管——他们来到米兰后发生了什么，他们的未来会如何。
重点词汇释义
several years几年
at any cost无论如何;在任何代价下
chronological order编排顺序，日期顺序
has been已经
eke out使供应持久; 节约使用
the one【电影】救世主; 平行歼灭战
figure out想出; 理解; 弄清
change to变成，换成
more than比…更;比…更重要; 超出需要;超乎寻常
