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Italo Calvino

Martin

Martin

Active Member
I've been hearing this name more and more often lately, and especially his novel If on a winter's night a traveller, with that very PostModern opening line ...

"You are about to begin reading Italo Calvino's new novel, If on a winter's night a traveller. Relax. Concentrate. Dispel every thought. Let the world around you fade. Best to close the door; the TV is always on in the next room. Tell the others right away, "No! I don't want to watch TV!"

Anyone know this guy? Is he any good?

Cheers, Martin :cool:
 
I haven't read that novel yet, though I plan to. I've read many of his short stories. Cosmicomics is a collection that is simply fantastic, and I would HIGHLY recommend it. In fact, in the Favorite Short Stories thread I listed "The Distance of The Moon" which is the first short story in that book as one of my top three of all-time. :)
 
Ooooh, I love shorts! I'll certainly look into that!

Any more suggestions?

Cheers, Martin :cool:
 
Martin said:
I've been hearing this name more and more often lately, and especially his novel If on a winter's night a traveller, with that very PostModern opening line ...

"You are about to begin reading Italo Calvino's new novel, If on a winter's night a traveller. Relax. Concentrate. Dispel every thought. Let the world around you fade. Best to close the door; the TV is always on in the next room. Tell the others right away, "No! I don't want to watch TV!"

Anyone know this guy? Is he any good?

Cheers, Martin :cool:
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It sounds very interesting. Milo-O mentioned that he was reading it awhile back and said it was good. I will prob read it sometime :)

Martin, what do you mean when you use the word "postmodern?"

Regards
SillyWabbit
 
SillyWabbit said:
It sounds very interesting. Milo-O mentioned that he was reading it awhile back and said it was good. I will prob read it sometime :)
Click to expand...


if on a winter's night a traveller was excellent. It's a book about reading, placing you at the heart. Highly recommended. The translation is by William Weaver, who has also done a brilliant job translating other Italian novelists.
 
Martin, what do you mean when you use the word "postmodern?"
Click to expand...
Oh dear. It's been a while since I followed courses on Postmodernism, but I seem to remember that reminding the reader that he/she is reading a piece of fiction is a Postmodern feature. I could be wrong, though (as Mile will most certainly point out sooner or later ;)).

Shows me for trying to look smart.

Cheers, Martin :cool:
 
It doesn't describe Postmodernism an sich, it describes it as an adjective. It's impossible to describe it in 3 sentences.

Cheers, Martin :cool:
 
Martin, thanks for the reply.

Here LITERARY PERIODS AND THEIR CHARACTERISTICS and here Postmodernism give a good and expansive definition of postmodernism.

I asked you the question because I don't find any source that tells me definitively what postmodenism. Is I have never studied it I thought maybe you could tell me :) I guess there is no definitive anwser?

Regards
SillyWabbit
 
Well, it's a very large concept, making it difficult to explain, and as I said, I called that opening sentence Postmodern, because I though self-referencing (references to the novel as a novel, in order to keep the reader from totally submerging him/herself into the fictional world) was a feature of Postmodernism. Not too sure, now, though.

Cheers, Martin :cool:
 
And after checking your two links, Wabbit, I sincerely believe I was dead wrong. Apologies for that.

Still a nice opening sentence, though!

Cheers, Martin :cool:
 
I read Invisible Cities a while back. It's another of those books that is hard to characterize, for me. I found that the book created a mood, an emotional landscape, more than it told a story. But, I do recommend it.
 
under the jaguar sun is his masterpiece, even though it is only a short story. you'll love the ending. I'd check out some of his science fiction, too. cosmicomics and t-zero are calvino's best collections of short stories.
 
I love short stories, so Cosmicomics has already been added to my wishlist!

Thanks, all!

Cheers, Martin :cool:
 
hi guys,

Calvino is one of my favourites, if on a winters night.... is one of his good works, other favourites of mine include: "Marco Valdo", "Invisible cities", "cosmicomics" and "mr. Palomar", for any budding writers out there "six memos for the new millenia" would make productive reading.

i would say steer clear of "the castle of crossed destinies" i didn't think that much of it.

ksky
 
good v great

i meant comparitvely to his other books, i prefer the other four listed titles, but "if on a W..." is a great book in it's own right just wasn't as memorable for me, though i do remember reading passages of it to a student group during a crit session, theres a good telephone bit in it.

ksky
 
If on a Winter's Night a Traveller is good but the novelty does wear off after a while, partly because the stories he begins (the book consists of alternate chapters of 'you' trying to read the book, and the starts of the various stories you're supposed to be reading) are never finished. It was this 'imperfection' that led David Mitchell to try to do a similar thing but with all the stories completed in his recent biggie Cloud Atlas. It almost worked.

The Castle of Crossed Destinies is very clever, comprising two stories made up of randomly dealt Tarot cards, 'read' in different directions. Invisible Cities is one of his best, although I found Mr Palomar and T-Zero (published in this country I think as Time and the Hunter) hard going, but the praise of Cosmicomics is spot on.

He's still not as good as Sean Wright though!!
 
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