So is this just the same thing, over and over, in small bites, throughout the whole book?

So is this just the same thing, over and over, in small bites, throughout the whole book?

variations.

I see.

If by the same thing you mean the descriptions of cities, yes. And it's beautiful.

You just brought flashbacks of reading this stuff s an assignment back when I studied architecture

God I hated that course, glad to have left it

He's describing to the Khan one city over and over in the guise of various other fantastical places that generally don't exist.

Venice.

Seems like it's better read in short sittings and not at lenght, no? At any rate, the prose seems a little inelegant to me, but maybe that's because translation.

To an extent, yes. I find myself going through the whole thing whenever I read it, but that's because I love the little vignettes. The prose can be clunky sometimes, but there's such imagination on display that I can't bring myself to be bothered by it.

I do have to say though, that the idea of reading one or two a night would be very relaxing. Might give it a try next time I go back to it.

the idea is that one place can mean many different things to different people

I'm learning Italian. How hard is Calvino in the original language compared to other Italian writers?

I've only read his trilogy (in high school), but i'd say he's fairly accessible.

that's great news. I'm about to start reading comics in Italian (Corto Maltese, Topolino and such) so I hope I can read him soon.

Have fun user, Corto Maltese is great.

Calvino's a good way to start because he assembled most of the fairytales of Italy. If you get that and slog through it (it's fucking massive), by the end you should be reasonably fluent.

Read it and it is fucking great. I can recommend "El eternauta" to you if you're into that kind of things.

what can you recommend from him besides "Le città invisibili"? Also I'm a Spanish speaker so I'm making great progress.

Corto Maltese is truly a One and only true god-tier comic

Read I Nostri Antenati, the whole trilogy. I found it very entertaining and beautiful even if it's technically a bunch of children stories. Il Cavaliere Inesistente is imo a masterpiece

will do. Thanks my dude

Pleb. Kill yourself retard

His Fiabe italiane really is worth getting because it collects tales from all over Italy.


He did a lot of stuff that didn't really get translated as far as I know. I've never seen The entry into war in English that I know of, but it's got bits of conspiring with the Spanish and fuck Mussolini let's go exploring. I don't know if that's reached the Spanish market though, and it is more orderly in a lot of ways compared with Invisible Cities. His American Lectures too if you like the political swing to The entry.

He's insanely prolific, but a lot of his fiction is too deep for me. I think his Castle of crossed destinies, is the only book I've dropped because of that reason, but if you're more into /x/ and tarot than I am, it might make sense.

Fables are a big plus when learning culture through a language so I'll definitely check that out. I had no idea he was so prolific and I'm happy he's not a hard author to read. It will be a great way of achieving the necessary Italian to read the authors that are really the reason why I'm studying Italian (Dante, Boccaccio, Petrarca, Ariosto, Machiavelli and so on).

Yes, in italian is pretty damn good. Aside from a few bunch of guys he is the best ita writer of 200 years, there is still manzoni.

Anyway, ita fag here, yes his compilations of fables is very good, also there are his masterpieces: se di notte un viaggiatore and il castello dei destini incrociati.
I might add il cavaliere inesistente, it's about a soul inside an armor like FMA, is radical.

And what about lampedusa?