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4.05 AVERAGE
4.05 AVERAGE
The book includes Marco Polo's descriptions to Kublai Khan of faraway places (though it's unclear if these parts are fictional, true, or fiction-based-on-truth). It's poetic, heart-warming, and soul moving. There is more to be felt in these short, simple descriptions of settings than many authors convey or achieve with entire novels. I urge any writer struggling with settings to study this book. The philosophy included in these pages is on par with Socrates.
Modern descriptions are woven in with the ancient ones. The underground trains of Zirma are mentioned, when trains did not exist until 500 years after Marco Polo. That is the first clue that this book means to transcend time, to travel back and forth through it without regard. Sophronia has a rollercoaster, carousel, Ferris wheel, motorcycles, and factories — all of which were, obviously, never encountered by Marco Polo. Leonia, a city with refrigerators, radio, toothpaste, and light bulbs— is a city that sounds like the whole of America.
I find myself wishing there was a videogame with the objectives of building and maintaining the cites described in this book. Something along the lines of Sid Meier's Civilization series, or the Anno games, or even another version of The Sims and Sim City would be wonderful to bring this book to life.
Modern descriptions are woven in with the ancient ones. The underground trains of Zirma are mentioned, when trains did not exist until 500 years after Marco Polo. That is the first clue that this book means to transcend time, to travel back and forth through it without regard. Sophronia has a rollercoaster, carousel, Ferris wheel, motorcycles, and factories — all of which were, obviously, never encountered by Marco Polo. Leonia, a city with refrigerators, radio, toothpaste, and light bulbs— is a city that sounds like the whole of America.
I find myself wishing there was a videogame with the objectives of building and maintaining the cites described in this book. Something along the lines of Sid Meier's Civilization series, or the Anno games, or even another version of The Sims and Sim City would be wonderful to bring this book to life.
adventurous
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This book is gorgeous, truly beautiful, but I just wanted more. Like so many interesting ideas and concepts to expand on, I just felt like I was missing something. I don’t know, I just felt like there was something missing that wasn’t being delivered
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Calvino's prose lingers sweetly on the ear, and his ideas stir ruminations. This book combines critical thought that borders on philosophy with imaginative writing. The book is not so much trans-formative as it is transportative. It allows you to live in a world where these magical ideas are floating around, and maybe, just maybe, that these magical ideas can float around our own as well/
A series of prose poems reminiscent of Krohn and Borges. Beautiful.
I would definitely recommend Invisible Cities, especially to those who read as an appreciation of writing as a craft, and those who enjoy the world-building aspect of it in particular. I can see it boring people who insist on deep and involving narratives, but I would recommend giving it a go.
reflective
medium-paced
This is not the kind of book you complete, it's the kind of book you surrender to. Imagine an imaginary conversation between Kublai Kahn and Marco Polo in which Polo describes all the cities he has seen and visited - or hasn't visited, maybe just imagined - and all the ways his imagination imagines those cities (or not-cities) and then imagine he's talking about the cities we create in our minds or maybe the way we bring ourselves to the actual cities we visit and make them into cities of our imaginations...Now you have an idea of what this book is like. It's hypnotic and lyrical and creative and puzzling and one that keeps traveling around the corners of my mind.