[Kitdowstyhodo]

It's hard to say in just a few words how great is this book, by far the best I've read from Calvino.

This book mix of tales, chronic, poetry and novel deals about a conversation between Kublai Kahn, emperor of the Mongols and Marco Polo, the famous explorer who starts describing Kahn all of the cities he has visited.

The book is divided in 11 parts, each one containing 5 cities:

I. The cities and the memory
II. The cities and the desire
III.The cities and the signs
IV.The subtle cities
V. The cities and the trade
VI.The cities and the eyes
VII. The cities and the name
VIII.The cities and the death
IX. The cities and the sky
X. The continuous cities
X1.The hidden cities

All the cities have women names, and the descriptions are full of imagination and fantasy, depicting fabulous landscapes, unreal and marvelous places and very strange but accurate characteristics about the imaginary cities.

At the same time every city has a characteristic of the modern occidental city, dealing with important aspects and problematiques like demographics, pollution, spaces without meaning, the boredom, the tedium etc.

It is a majestic work by one of the greatest authors of the XX century.

The Calvino year continues and it's getting better. I'd like to know how Heteronym is going with his Calvino year.

[KlaraNovikoffa]

Daniel,
Ah. . .this sounds magnificent! Calvino is an author I am quite intent on becoming more familiar with. I'm not certain whether I own this book yet or not, but, if I don't, you have more than convinced me to procure a copy. Moreover, I'll be adding it to my ever-growing to-be-read-soon list.

Thank you for engaging my attention with such an enthusiastic write-up, Daniel!



~Titania



". . .you have to seize things at the moment, the way you catch
birds on the wing, or they disappear forever. . ."
~The Years with Laura Diaz, Carlos Fuentes

[nannysuetle]

Invisible Cities remains in the reader's memory long after he's read the book. Every once in a while I find myself thinking about the fabulous cities Marco Polo describes to the Great Khan: the one suspended between a canyon, on the brink of collapse; the one buried whose citizens are like worms; the double city perfectly reflected on its river; the one that has only a skeleton of water pipes. Italo Calvino's imagination never faltered. He blended fantasy, travel writing, and poetry seamlessly, and it's one of his most perfect books.

[SusanSazzios]

This is one of my favourite books of all time. I'm surprised it hasn't spawned a new genre of short city-stories. These stories by Benjamin Rosenbaum make a good case for such a genre, I think. Certainly better than cranking out 600-page Beat rehashes.

[bettingonosports]

This book truly is a thing of beauty! An unforgettable little gem. I too, find myself thinking about the amazing places described in this book when I least expect it. I would re-read this if there weren't already are too many books I haven't read yet, re-reads are rather low-priority at the moment.