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4.05 AVERAGE
4.05 AVERAGE
At first the structure of this book really threw me; I didn’t understand why the sections were divided up and organized the way they are. Honestly I still don’t understand, but I no longer care. This book is enchanting and achingly beautiful, with lavish descriptions of cities visited by Marco Polo. Reading this, I was lost & found at the same time.
Breathtaking in scope and insight. Something to be read and read again.
The descriptions about the cities in this book are outstanding. Worth the price of entry just for the vivid imagery.
Hm, hm, hm ... I have to admit that I expected more. I'm not sure what more, but more. Hm. But it's definitely interesting enough to make me pick up more by Calvino. And even with Borges, I don't like everything and there is definitely a lot of potential for things I may like here.
This collection of translated stories makes me feel like I'm reading dreams. It's haunting at times, beautiful at others, and an all-around brilliant book.
Umm, I didn't get it. Some things are not meant for me. But it gets an extra star because it got me to dive into the Marco Polo Kublai Khan wikipedia page rabbit hole.
I'm really glad I read this for book club, because otherwise I'm not sure I would have gotten into it, or I would have just kind of sped through it.
As it was, I really enjoyed this! I sort of went through most of the discussion of themes in the book club (which some identified as "repetitive"!), the role of written language in storytelling/semiotics, what resonated with us about the cities, what was real in the book, etc. We discussed if all cities are the same or if none are the same, if cities are ships of Theseus, all sorts of fun things.
One thing that I enjoyed most about this book was how much it infected my thinking about other books/media. For example, on the way home from book club, I was listening to 99% Invisible podcasts about [b:The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York|1111|The Power Broker Robert Moses and the Fall of New York|Robert A. Caro|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1403194611l/1111._SY75_.jpg|428384], and thinking about Calvino's take on it!
And then also, I'm reading [b:The Future|123163147|The Future|Naomi Alderman|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1678895127l/123163147._SY75_.jpg|100516893], which has two companies, one named AUGR and one named Medlar. I was somewhat familiar with "augar," but that was in this book too. But then I WASN'T particularly familiar with medlars, which were mentioned multiple times in this book, so I looked that up - what a good literary fruit to know!
Anyway the cities all seemed dreamlike and poetic to me in a way that was very enjoyable and SO relatable. I felt entranced.
The only thing I didn't like, I think, was how women seemed to exist as objects in so many of the cities. That felt gross to me.
As it was, I really enjoyed this! I sort of went through most of the discussion of themes in the book club (which some identified as "repetitive"!), the role of written language in storytelling/semiotics, what resonated with us about the cities, what was real in the book, etc. We discussed if all cities are the same or if none are the same, if cities are ships of Theseus, all sorts of fun things.
One thing that I enjoyed most about this book was how much it infected my thinking about other books/media. For example, on the way home from book club, I was listening to 99% Invisible podcasts about [b:The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York|1111|The Power Broker Robert Moses and the Fall of New York|Robert A. Caro|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1403194611l/1111._SY75_.jpg|428384], and thinking about Calvino's take on it!
And then also, I'm reading [b:The Future|123163147|The Future|Naomi Alderman|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1678895127l/123163147._SY75_.jpg|100516893], which has two companies, one named AUGR and one named Medlar. I was somewhat familiar with "augar," but that was in this book too. But then I WASN'T particularly familiar with medlars, which were mentioned multiple times in this book, so I looked that up - what a good literary fruit to know!
Anyway the cities all seemed dreamlike and poetic to me in a way that was very enjoyable and SO relatable. I felt entranced.
The only thing I didn't like, I think, was how women seemed to exist as objects in so many of the cities. That felt gross to me.
Meditations on fictitious cities, as told to Kublai Khan by Marco Polo. Apparently there is a whole class of art based on these Invisible Cities.
The descriptions of the cities toward the beginning of the book can be quite poetic.
But the special quality of this city for the man who arrives there on a September evening, when the days are growing shorter and the multicolored lamps are lighted all at once at the doors of the food stalls and from a terrace a woman's voice cries ooh!, is that he feels envy toward those who now believe they have once before lived an evening identical to this and who think they were happy, that time.
But the later ones tend to be repetitive and stale. However, I can appreciate Calvino for his experimentalism. Gore Vidal thought we was fabulous.
The descriptions of the cities toward the beginning of the book can be quite poetic.
But the special quality of this city for the man who arrives there on a September evening, when the days are growing shorter and the multicolored lamps are lighted all at once at the doors of the food stalls and from a terrace a woman's voice cries ooh!, is that he feels envy toward those who now believe they have once before lived an evening identical to this and who think they were happy, that time.
But the later ones tend to be repetitive and stale. However, I can appreciate Calvino for his experimentalism. Gore Vidal thought we was fabulous.