Invisible Cities
Italo Calvino
Read January-February, 2008
Copy borrowed from Ramsey County Public Library, Roseville branch
Essay written April 19th, 2008
I started reading Life, A User's Manual back at Thanksgiving. One of the blurbs on the back cover of that compared it Georges Perec to Italo Calvino. There was maybe even a blurb written by Calvino himself. Anyway, it was that connection to late twentieth century postmodern European fiction that compelled me to check out Calvino one time at the Roseville library. This was a nice thin book, a good introduction to a new author.
I enjoyed it pretty well, despite not really understanding much of it. It was deep. Kublai Khan converses with Marco Polo. I don't really know much about either one of those historical people, and am ashamed to admit that I didn't have the patience to read the Wikipedia articles on either of them either.
Didn't matter. Lovely. I think my attention was kind of distracted at the time I read this. Late nights, sick kid, library due dates, and I was probably reading three other books at the same time. I really need to stop doing that.
I'll read Italo Calvino again sometime when I can be sure I can devote the attention to it that it deserves. And maybe by then I'll be mature and knowledgable and ready for it.
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