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sunn_bleach's review against another edition
challenging
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Fantastic exploration(!) of semiotics, meaning, and combinatorics through literature. Over 55 short prose vignettes, Marco Polo speaks with Kublai Khan about fantastic cities with a focus on a particular quirk or interpretation of that city. Each city is categorized in one of several themes (Thin Cities, Cities & Desire, Cities & The Sky, etc.), some of which are more steeped in the semiotic discussion, others are allegorical, and still others are simply surreal.
My copy is less than 170 pages, but I easily read 300+ over two weeks given I was so enchanted by each of Calvino's stories. I would read one of the nine sections, pause, and then go back two sections to reread and rethink. Fantastic little book that's utterly inspiring not only for fantastic places but as a way to simply view your city (whatever that might mean) in new contexts.
My copy is less than 170 pages, but I easily read 300+ over two weeks given I was so enchanted by each of Calvino's stories. I would read one of the nine sections, pause, and then go back two sections to reread and rethink. Fantastic little book that's utterly inspiring not only for fantastic places but as a way to simply view your city (whatever that might mean) in new contexts.
Only caveat is that Calvino uses a similar theme of "two cities existing at once" for probably ten of the passages. The book is so strongly organized by patterns and combinations that I found this to be almost a frustrating red-herring in it not really amounting to anything other than a conceit that Calvino must have liked. Kinda wish he just had a category called "Twin Cities".
As I read, I kept thinking about my time in the Sierra Nevada and similar interpretations or conceits with mountains. Like, one of Calvino's stories is about how the archetype you have of a profession in a city makes you collapse any memories of people doing that skill into the single person (i.e. I saw ten stonemasons but I only remember one), kind of like a twisted platonic ideal. It made me think of seeing quaking aspen in the northern Sierra; I can't tell you about one particular aspen, but instead all the ones I've walked past coalesce in my mind as the memory of aspen.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Grief
Minor: Suicide and Ableism
anna_m_k's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
Beautifully written and wonderfully translated, Invisible Cities is a series of cities described in a few paragraphs or a few pages by Marco Polo to Kublai Khan. Every descibed city is one that Polo has gone to and is niw describ ng to the Khan. But you won't need to know any history to understand what they're talking about. Sometimes the cities Polo describes could be from his time, sometimes they have tram lines and airports that lead you to a city of identical suburbs. And some are fantasies sitting on tall stilts or with impossible realities. All you need to know is that all cities, or just one, contain multitudes. Every city is lavishly but succintly described and their core selves are fascinating to see displayed.
Ultimately, this a very vibes based book about cities as settings and as living things and as monuments made by and for people. And i loved it.
Ultimately, this a very vibes based book about cities as settings and as living things and as monuments made by and for people. And i loved it.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Misogyny, Animal death, Death, Fatphobia, and Ableism
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