Details Based On Books If on a Winter's Night a Traveler
| Title | : | If on a Winter's Night a Traveler |
| Author | : | Italo Calvino |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | Anniversary Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 260 pages |
| Published | : | October 20th 1982 by L&OD Key Porter (first published 1979) |
| Categories | : | Fiction. Classics. European Literature. Italian Literature. Literature. Magical Realism. Cultural. Italy. Novels |
Italo Calvino
Paperback | Pages: 260 pages Rating: 4.05 | 70584 Users | 5620 Reviews
Rendition During Books If on a Winter's Night a Traveler
If on a Winter's Night a Traveler is a marvel of ingenuity, an experimental text that looks longingly back to the great age of narration—"when time no longer seemed stopped and did not yet seem to have exploded." Italo Calvino's novel is in one sense a comedy in which the two protagonists, the Reader and the Other Reader, ultimately end up married, having almost finished If on a Winter's Night a Traveler. In another, it is a tragedy, a reflection on the difficulties of writing and the solitary nature of reading. The Reader buys a fashionable new book, which opens with an exhortation: "Relax. Concentrate. Dispel every other thought. Let the world around you fade." Alas, after 30 or so pages, he discovers that his copy is corrupted, and consists of nothing but the first section, over and over. Returning to the bookshop, he discovers the volume, which he thought was by Calvino, is actually by the Polish writer Bazakbal. Given the choice between the two, he goes for the Pole, as does the Other Reader, Ludmilla. But this copy turns out to be by yet another writer, as does the next, and the next. The real Calvino intersperses 10 different pastiches—stories of menace, spies, mystery, premonition—with explorations of how and why we choose to read, make meanings, and get our bearings or fail to. Meanwhile the Reader and Ludmilla try to reach, and read, each other. If on a Winter's Night is dazzling, vertiginous, and deeply romantic. "What makes lovemaking and reading resemble each other most is that within both of them times and spaces open, different from measurable time and space."Specify Books As If on a Winter's Night a Traveler
| Original Title: | Se una notte d'inverno un viaggiatore ISBN13 9780088619451 |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Characters: | The reader, Ludmilla Vipiteno, Lotaria Vipiteno, Ermes Marana, Silas Flannery, Irnerio |
| Literary Awards: | Ars Translationis (2010), Ein Buch für die Stadt (2004) |
Rating Based On Books If on a Winter's Night a Traveler
Ratings: 4.05 From 70584 Users | 5620 ReviewsColumn Based On Books If on a Winter's Night a Traveler
Well,I am not here to review this book but since thats the only option available here so I cant help it. I have nothing new or different to say that hasnt been said earlier and neither am I one of those seasoned reviewers on GR that other members look forward to read their views on a particular book (OK! Enough of self-pity). I mean come on, Calvino didnt write this novel (or antinovel, like I read somewhere) so that some random reader would read this epic book and dare to have an opinion. HeI can not think of a book that has let me down more than Italo Calvino's If On a Winter's Night a Traveler. Admittedly, this may have been caused by in no small part by my high expectations for this novel after having read the deliriously exciting first chapter several times in a bookstore during one of those quite regular hunts for the next book to steal my heart. I mean, who can resist a first chapter that contains paragraphs like:"In the shop window you have promptly identified the cover with
A slick trick and trap of a novel, a complex story of cogs and frames. Narrators and readers collide and disappear. Styles float by (are experimented on) and are quickly replaced by other metafictional techniques. Anyway, I'm going to need more time and more sleep to absorb this book, but I'm not sure how anyone after first reading it could dislike the spirit, creativity, and absolute panache (yeah, I'll edit out panache tomorrow) of this novel.
You are about to read Mark Nichollss review of Italo Calvinos postmodern classic If on a Winters Night a Traveller. You might want to position yourself in a comfortable chair before you begin, or place a cushion behind your back, as we know how arduous it can be to read things off the internet. You might also care to prepare a coffee, a light snack, or to switch a light on before beginning.You might be thinking that this review is not going to interest you, since book reviews on books you havent
I'm not the kind of person to define myself. Of course, I know I'm a daughter, sister, wife, etc and most importantly, a mother. But besides my relationship to other people, if I'm 'forced' to think about what defines me, what I know I've always been, as far back as I can remember, is a Reader. And if you are the same, then, like me, you will feel that Calvino is speaking to you -- you are his You.I can't say there weren't very brief times when my attention wandered during one of the stories
I say this is what happened:Italo Calvino was suffering from a writer's block. He would start a novel, get it to its first curve and abandon it before the resolution. A few months later he would start another with a similar result. Finally, his publishers got impatient because it had been years since the last novel and they said:'Italo, get your shit together! We need a new book. Now!'Italo panicked and did the only thing he could think of. He glued all his failed attempts together and delivered
I have not finished the book but it does not matter. I can post my review already.You are wondering whether to phone the police to remove Mark Nicholls from your house. You are deeply confused as to why this reviewer whose opinions you find facile and banal is suddenly sitting naked on your couch reading the very book you were reading about, he says. You look for a blunt instrument to hit him with, but can find only a cup. You throw the cup, but he ducks and it breaks against the wall. Then
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