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Title: If on a Winter's Night a Traveler by Italo Calvino ISBN: 0-15-643961-1 Publisher: Harvest Books Pub. Date: 01 October, 1982 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.16 (94 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: An Absolute Essential
Comment: You have to read this fascinating treatise on reading and writing. I've seen others complain about the weak ending and the lack of structure, but for chrissakes, it's not a Dragonlance novel- it's avant-garde prose. But that doesn't mean it's not accessible. Unlike Andre Breton's shoelace knots of words that you have to dwell on endlessly to untie, Italo Calvino is so easy to read that the prose slips past you a little too quickly. But that doesn't mean it's not worth reading in the first place- Originally I checked this out at my college library and when I finished it, I bought a copy for myself and another copy for a friend. It's extremely hard to describe the book appropriately, but I'm hoping my enthusiasm for it will get my message across- Calvino's insights are worth the price of the book alone, and this fragmented narrative marked by stretches of crystalline, dreamlike beauty make what would normally be a dry work of literature philosophy into a vivid sensual book that I'll probably continue to re-read for the rest of my life.
Rating: 5
Summary: a book-lover's book
Comment: i was browsing through the bookstore & looking for something new & interesting to read. i'd read Calvino's first book, The Path To the Nest of Spiders, in college, & enjoyed it, so when I got to the C's in the fiction section i pulled off a copy of this book. As soon as i'd read the first section, describing the reader's experience in the bookstore, i knew i had to read this book. when the reader in the book is leaving the bookstore, looking forlornly at the stacks of other books, and calvino writes "or rather, it was the books that looked forlornly at you, the way the dogs at the pound look at their friend whose owner has come to bring him home." (not sure if that's the exact quote, but you get the idea...) this book is a permanent fixture on my bedroom bookshelf; i've read it 3 times already and expect many more hours of enjoyment from it! if you love to read, you will relish this story. it's the most creatively formed novel i've ever read, yet still very accessible.
Rating: 5
Summary: Wonderfully Original and Lots of Fun
Comment: IF ON A WINTER'S NIGHT A TRAVELER is a very difficult book for me to review for two reasons: (1) I'm not a great review writer and (2) the book is just so original it's difficult to decide exactly what to say about it.
First of all, I'll say that Italo Calvino is one of my favorite writers. All of his books are so original and so inventive, but this one, I think, is his very best of all and it is generally regarded as his masterpiece.
IF ON A WINTER'S NIGHT A TRAVELER explores the relationship between a writer and a reader. It lets us know, that in many ways, without readers, a writer's work loses much of its meaning.
In my opinion, Calvino has used this book to give us several philosophical musings on diverse subjects and these musings are, brilliantly, lacking in pretense or hubris. They sparkle, like the little gems of wisdom and truth they are and the reader delights in them rather than feeling weighed down.
Even more brilliantly, Calvino has woven his musings into a sweet, little plot involving "the Reader" and "the Other Reader." I loved this story and found it very profound as well as very sweet. Calvino was a writer whose insight into human nature was razor sharp.
IF ON A WINTER'S NIGHT A TRAVELER is one of the most quirky, imaginative books I've ever read. Add to that the fact that it was just plain fun and you've got a truly unbeatable combination.
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Title: Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino, William Weaver ISBN: 0156453800 Publisher: Harcourt Pub. Date: 01 May, 1978 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: Difficult Loves by Italo Calvino ISBN: 0156260557 Publisher: Harvest Books Pub. Date: 01 September, 1985 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: Cosmicomics by Italo Calvino ISBN: 0156226006 Publisher: Harvest Books Pub. Date: 01 October, 1976 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: The Nonexistent Knight and The Cloven Viscount by Italo Calvino ISBN: 0156659751 Publisher: Harcourt Pub. Date: 01 March, 1977 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: The Baron in the Trees by Italo Calvino ISBN: 0156106809 Publisher: Harcourt Pub. Date: 01 March, 1977 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
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