A review by bennought
The Castle of Crossed Destinies by Italo Calvino

2.0

While the idea for the book is absolutely amazing and incredibly intriguing, I found myself having a hard time getting through it. Maybe it is my unfamiliarity with tarot cards, but the stories felt stilted and sometimes nigh on unreadable. I knew there was some kind of subtext in each of them, but most of the time I was completely missing it or only just getting an inkling. To be perfectly honest, the only sections I actually enjoyed and felt like I understood were the two triple-plotted pieces (Hamlet/Macbeth/Lear and Faust/Parsifal/Oedipus) and his note at the very end.

Calvino remains one of my favorite writers, but I was very disappointed with this book.