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If on a Winter's Night a Traveler

by Italo Calvino, William Weaver (Translator)

4.1 of 5 stars 4.10 · rating details · 25,852 ratings · 1,883 reviews

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...more

Paperback, 260 pages

Published October 20th 1982 by Harcourt Brace Jovanovich (first published 1979)

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Mar 04, 2012 Kinga rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: post-modern, did-i-understand-it

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...more 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 it to the publisher
'Here it is. My new novel'.
'Er.. Italo, but those are just beginning of some 10 different books...'
'Yeah. I know. Don't you get it? It's postmodernism!!'
'Ok...'
'You know, I am playing with the concept of the author. It is basically all about the reader now. The author has become obsolete. It is the reader that creates the work and the author is not even necessary!'
'Ah.. I see... Do we still need to pay you then?'
'Yah. Will mail you the invoice.'

I have read most of the reviews on here and I agree with all of them, with the bad ones and the good ones all the same. If you think this is contradictive and not possible, think again. And one word for you: deconstructionism.
There is no doubt that Calvino is (was) one hell of a writer and he plays with his poor readers like a cat plays with a mouse. This book was an absolute trip and really gets you dizzy. It might or might not be a coincidence that a day after finishing it I caught some weird bug that made me throw up for two days straight.

Now I am going to talk about one aspect that none of the reviewers have pointed out. It is so fucking sexist, like HELLO! All the female characters in each one of the novels as well as the main novel (that puts the novels together) have all the charecteristics of the Other. The female reader is actually called The Other Reader for crying out loud. Even when for a short moment the narration is switched to make the female reader the subject, it is only so that the male reader can run around her flat and describe her and define her – and check this, she is NOT EVEN THERE. Calvino makes her/me the subject for a few pages and she is not even there. She is forever passive. All the female characters are more or less passive. They are also mysterious, intagible and ethereal and their actions usually make no sense to the subject of the narrative (be it the You from the main narrative, or the various 'I's from the sub-novels). This kind of stuff really gets on my nerves. Especially since I read 'The Other Sex' by Simone de Beauvoir.
So Calvino, deconstruct that old as the world archetype, why don't you!!! (Only you can't because you are dead).(less)

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May 02, 2012 Shan Jago rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

and it’s strange ‘cause you can be reading If On a Winter’s Night a Traveller for a second time, or any other book for that matter, even for the first time, and be shifted by a word, an image, even a thought completely irrelevant to the novel and suddenly you’re holding the Hardy Boys and The Mystery of the Spiral Bridge in your dirty paws after school in the orange leaved dusk of a window and the days were much shorter than this one when reruns of the Munsters played in the next room but they’r...more and it’s strange ‘cause you can be reading If On a Winter’s Night a Traveller for a second time, or any other book for that matter, even for the first time, and be shifted by a word, an image, even a thought completely irrelevant to the novel and suddenly you’re holding the Hardy Boys and The Mystery of the Spiral Bridge in your dirty paws after school in the orange leaved dusk of a window and the days were much shorter than this one when reruns of the Munsters played in the next room but they’re not scary ‘cause Freddy Krueger can dice you in your dreams so one morning, a day more like summer, with a dreamful of dew there was magic in a word, in a sentence and around that time everyone wondered where he was going with that book in his hand, stuffed in his back pocket, an inch from his face while jangling down the sidewalks, among the foliage of the café wallpaper, in secret rooms and crannies of the town and eventually with a flutter of pages, a spittle of dust, the book whispered “don’t leave me” though it may have been the wind, the leaves, or even yourself that spoke “I won’t” you lie, and you are taken by the thought that all books are part of the same volume so you will never part whilst breathing lest ye go blind blind is the dream that carries you and a book is also an umbrella, a shelter from the pitter patter of petty voices or the cosmic terror that occasionally drops and though it seems like you enter the pages it’s actually the other way around but I’m not a child anymore I told myself in the orange leaved dusk of a window in that first apt. though I was, on my own in the city outside the streets cradled the darkness and rain was tumbling on umbrellas I had my own in my hands I would never know all those people though my lovely you will meet so many people and so many stories will fill you until one day you realize you are the book itself and she looked in from the kitchen with her hair tied up asking “What are you reading?” shadow leaves from the windows across her body I replied Under Milk Wood though I may as well have said If On a Winter’s Night a Traveller.(less)

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Dec 26, 2010 MJ Nicholls rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: novels, other-parts-of-europe, oulipians, worshipped

You are about to read Mark Nicholls’s review of Italo Calvino’s postmodern classic If on a Winter’s 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 hav...more You are about to read Mark Nicholls’s review of Italo Calvino’s postmodern classic If on a Winter’s 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 haven’t read can often be frustrating. For starters, the writer delves into details about the plot which spoil the surprises a blind reading of the book might create, and likewise you are unable to form an opinion yourself and share your thoughts on the text in question.

Conversely, you might have read the text and are familiar with the second person narration that addresses the reader directly and places them as a protagonist in the book. You might think this review an obvious imitation of Calvino’s unique style, and become irate as you read on, wondering when the reviewer is going to get around to summarising the plot.

In fact, you become so irate, you search for the book on Amazon, but are incandescent when you notice each review is also written in the same imitative style, and the gimmick becomes so irritating you have to leave the room for a moment to calm yourself down.

As you leave the room, someone knocks on the door. It is a door-to-door salesman offering copies of Italo Calvino’s novel If on a Winter’s Night a Traveller at a reduced price. He begins his sale by saying: “You are wondering whether or not this novel is for you, or whether you might find a novel with the beginnings of ten separate novels included as part of the plot somewhat bemusing or distracting. You are unsure whether to slam the door in my face, or to go get your credit card.”

You slam the door in his face. As you return to the living room, you notice that Mark Nicholls has broken into your house and is sitting naked on the couch reading Italo Calvino’s novel If on a Winter’s Night a Traveller. You are very confused and frightened. Feelings of arousal and apoplexy stir up inside you. You decide to call the police, but Mark Nicholls springs up from the chair as you move towards the phone.

“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.

You start to sob. That was your best cup, and there is coffee over the walls and carpet. Furthermore, Mark Nicholls appears to be swinging his penis at you, performing an embarrassing 360° swingaround which slowly hypnotises you into a deep deep sleep.

When you wake up, you are at your desk. Mark Nicholls and the coffee stain has gone. You wonder why there is a grapefruit in your left hand and an antelope on your sofa. Those of you who read only the opening sentence and skipped to the end get a strange feeling of anticlimax.
(less)

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Jul 18, 2012 Garima rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, italo-calvino-magiciano, to-re-read, books-to-read-before-you-die, its-not-you-its-meta-or-gfhrytyt, sui-generis, moments-of-huh

Well,I am not here to review this book but since that’s the only option available here so I can’t help it. I have nothing new or different to say that hasn’t 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 didn’t 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. H...more

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May 13, 2013 Manny rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Manny by: Everyone

Shelves: parody-homage, too-sexy-for-maiden-aunts, translation-is-impossible, well-i-think-its-funny, french

You gaze, confounded, at your laptop, vainly trying to find a way to review this so-called novel, which you, an anglophone, have perversely read in French, not the native language either of yourself or of the author. Your companion notices your perplexity and tries to help, or, possibly, to confuse you further.

"It's beautifully written," she says. "But it has no heart."

"Mais chère Lectrice, how do you know?" you ask. "You have read If on a winter's night, a traveller, while I have read Si par un...more

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May 08, 2012 Ian Graye rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: reviews-5-stars, read-2012, reviews, calvino

Manuscript #1

Unlike my friends and colleagues, Professors Calvino and Galligani, I will tell you my name and something of my modus operandi.

This one sentence might already have supplied enough information or implication to let you guess who I am.

Have you guessed yet?

No? Well, my name is Professor Uzzi-Tuzii, though my friends call me Julian. Not only is that my name, but that is who I am.

I am Professor Uzzi-Tuzii.

See how much I have revealed about myself, see how much I have revealed about who...more

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Dec 20, 2012 Kalliope rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction-spanish, international-lit, literary-classics

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 Gar...more

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Jun 11, 2011 Teresa rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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 tha...more

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Sep 30, 2012 Jonathan rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Jonathan by: s.penkevich

Shelves: classic-literature, 1001-books-to-read-before-you-die, classic-challenge, quirky

You are about to read the review of On a Winter's Night A Traveller by Jonathan Terrington. You look at the review but it is not what you expect. You then think some deep thoughts about the world, are constantly addressed as You and wonder what on earth just happened....

This is the response I had to If On a Winter's Night A Traveller which is perhaps one of the most bizarre books I have read. I don't know if it was actually as smart as it seemed to think it was but I liked it still despite many...more
You are about to read the review of On a Winter's Night A Traveller by Jonathan Terrington. You look at the review but it is not what you expect. You then think some deep thoughts about the world, are constantly addressed as You and wonder what on earth just happened....

This is the response I had to If On a Winter's Night A Traveller which is perhaps one of the most bizarre books I have read. I don't know if it was actually as smart as it seemed to think it was but I liked it still despite many aspects of the book that just seemed like the author's way of putting himself up on a pedestal and yelling "LOOK HOW GREAT I AM!" Anyway I liked this book, reader.

If On a Winter's Night A Traveller is very metafictional and metaphorical. Which is probably why I liked it. I love a book that references other books even if those books and tales are created within the book I was reading. Which is what happens here with this book. The story follows You, the reader, as You meet the Other Reader and pursue her across various novels you read (and which seem to have a female character reminiscent of her). This all works from a male reader's perspective but I did have to wonder what female readers would think being placed into a masculine point of view. That said it was a unique read and somewhat entertaining to me.

If on a winter's night a traveller
Outside the town of Malbork
Leaning from the steep slope
Without fear of wind or vertigo
Looks down in the gathering shadow
In a network of lines that enlace
In a network of lines that intersect
On the carpet of leaves illuminated by the moon
Around an empty grave
What story down there awaits its end?

By now reader you shall have reached the end. You will likely either ignore the review or push the 'like' button. Perhaps you will leave a comment or two for the reviewer. Perhaps you will simply like the review. And perhaps if the reviewer is fortunate you will like the review enough to give the book a chance. Then when you read If On a Winter's Night A Traveller other readers will ask what you are reading and you will say If On a Winter's Night A Traveller by Italo Calvino.(less)

28 likes · like · see review

Dec 26, 2009 K.D. Oliveros rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Tata J, Joseph

Recommended to K.D. by: 501 and 1001

Shelves: 501, 1001-core, favorites

My first book by Italo Calvino and it was an amazing read. Calvino's format is one of a kind. He alternately narrated the chapter in second person (he tells you what you are doing as a Reader) and the first chapter of different novels. Some of those first chapters eerily resembles what is happening in the second-person chapters.

This book was originally published in 1979 in Italian and its English translation came out 3 years after. Considering that this was originally written in a foreign langua...more My first book by Italo Calvino and it was an amazing read. Calvino's format is one of a kind. He alternately narrated the chapter in second person (he tells you what you are doing as a Reader) and the first chapter of different novels. Some of those first chapters eerily resembles what is happening in the second-person chapters.

This book was originally published in 1979 in Italian and its English translation came out 3 years after. Considering that this was originally written in a foreign language, the syntax and fluidity of its English translation are remarkable, i.e., it is as if you are reading a novel originally written in English.

The last few pages of the novel which is in the second-person narrative is just astonishing. There are people speaking straight to you (the Reader) explaining their views on reading books:

1st: "If a book truly interests me, I cannot follow it for more than a few lines before my mind, having seized on a thought to thought, from image to image, in an itinerary of reasonings and fantasies that I feel the need to pursue to the end, moving away from the book until I have lost sight of it."

2nd: "Reading is a discontinuous and fragmentary operation. Or, rather, the object of reading is a punctiform and pulviscular material... This is why my reading has no end: I read and reread, each time seeking the confirmation of a new discovery among the folds of the sentences."

3rd: "I, too, feel the need to reread the books I have already read but at every rereading I seem to be reading a new book, for the first time."

4th: "...Every new book I read comes to be a part of that overall and unitary book that is the sum of my readings. This does not come about without some effort: to compose that general book, each individual book must be transformed, enter into a relationship with the books I have read previously, become their corollary or development or confutation or gloss or reference text. For years I have been coming to this library, and I explore it volume by volume, shelf by shelf, but I could demonstrate to you that I have done nothing but continue the reading of a single book."

5th: "In my case, too, all the books I read are leading to a single book but it is a book remote in time... In my readings I do nothing but seek that book read in my childhood, but what I remember of it is too little to enable me to find it again."

6th: "The promise of reading is enough"

7th: "It is the end that counts, but the true end, final, concealed in the darkness, the goal to which the book wants to carry you. I also seek the openings in reading but my gaze digs between the words to try to discern what is outlined in the distance,in the spaces that extend beyond the words 'the end'".

Too eloquently put, right? You better read the book and enjoy the magnificent prose of Italo Calvino. This is one of my favorite novels that I will read again someday.(less)

18 likes · like · see review

Jul 02, 2008 Leah rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: yowzahs, beauty-through-brevity, multiple-perspectives, writerly

[Review written by my younger self]
Italo Calvino's book, If on a Winter's Night a Traveler, begins by assaulting the reader:

"You are about to begin reading Italo Calvino's new novel, If on a winter's night a traveler. Relax. Concentrate. Dispel every other thought. Let the world around you fade. Best to close the door; the TV is always on in the next room. Tell the others right away, "No, I don't want to watch TV!" Raise your voice--they won't hear you otherwise--"I'm reading! I don't want to...more [Review written by my younger self]
Italo Calvino's book, If on a Winter's Night a Traveler, begins by assaulting the reader:

"You are about to begin reading Italo Calvino's new novel, If on a winter's night a traveler. Relax. Concentrate. Dispel every other thought. Let the world around you fade. Best to close the door; the TV is always on in the next room. Tell the others right away, "No, I don't want to watch TV!" Raise your voice--they won't hear you otherwise--"I'm reading! I don't want to be disturbed!" Maybe they haven't heard you, with all that racket; speak louder, yell; "I'm beginning to read Italo Calvino's new novel!" Or if you prefer, don't say anything; just hope they'll leave you alone."

And so goes the opening paragraph. The entire introduction is an encouragement to read, with the punchline being that Calvino himself is delaying your reading of his novel!

But don't think this book a non-fiction. The book is in fact a text that is part short story collection, part novel within a novel, part commentary on reading, and part... well, I don't know... It's hard to say. The format follows The Reader and The Other Reader (the latter a woman named Ludmilla) as they go through reading ten very different novels, never quite finishing any one. As the characters find themselves not finishing their novels, so do the readers of Calvino's book.

Interspersed through these engaging vignettes are some very interesting ideas on what reading means and how different types of reading can affect the way a story is perceived. In showing us this view into his mind, Calvino in effect plays a magic trick on the reader by affecting the way his very novel is read. Unlike authors who try to immerse you in the worlds of their novels, Calvino takes his words and encourages them to float off the page, insisting that you be reminded over and over again that you are, in fact, reading the novel. His idea becomes then to not "let the world around you fade" but to capture it and celebrate it in text.

The texts themselves are far from humdrum. In fact, their stories are so absorbing that it is no wonder that some readers simply can't take it. Consisting of everything from romances to typical airport thrillers to strange science fiction, the stories remain threaded together by the equally enthralling experience of the two characters. For those who find the Reader and Other Reader less compelling than the stories they read, frustration is definitely a given. Hence, this novel is not for everyone.

In the MTV generation of fast-moving everything, it's hard to believe that this novel doesn't have some place among those not interested in a unique and entertaining treatise on reading and writing, but it's very possible that we're just not as finicky as we thought. There's no doubt in my mind that Calvino tells a great story. In fact, he tells several great stories. Still, keep in mind the caveat that picking up this novel is not the same as picking up a focused one-story narrative novel; it's not even the same as picking up a collection of short stories.

Still, the novel as a whole is funny, suspenseful, thought-provoking, and, yes, frustrating. It is a love note to the act of reading, and a love note to all kinds of readers. And, sometimes, love hurts. It's possible that Calvino derives some kind of masochistic enjoyment from playing with the readers, and it's possible that those who get to the end of the novel are masochists themselves. Still, it is also possible that Calvino is letting his readers in on a delicious secret, if only they are willing to stay for the ride. (less)

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Jan 12, 2012 Bettie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: one-penny-wonder, italy, paper-read, winter-20112012, published-1979, books-about-books-and-book-shops, amusing, little-green-men, too-sexy-for-maiden-aunts, shortstory-shortstories-novellas, incest-agameforallthefamily

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Translated from the Italian by William Weaver. Translator note: In chapter eight the passage from 'Crime and Punishment' is quoted in the beloved translation of Constance Garnett.

Dedication: for Danielle Ponchiroli

Opening: You are about to begin reading Italo Calvino's new novel, 'If on a Winter's Night a Traveller'. Relax. Concentrate. Dispel every other thought. Let the world around you fade.

p 26 - aleatory: adj. Dependent on chance, luck, or an uncertain outcome

p 58 - afflatus: A strong creat...more

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Jun 21, 2012 Madeleine rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: head-in-the-clouds-nose-in-a-book, our-libeary, mmxii, maybe-it-s-time-to-live, tooting-my-own-muted-horn, my-kingdom-for-a-desert-island

Your recent tango with a David Mitchell novel reminds you that he wrote "Cloud Atlas" under the influence of "If on a winter's night a traveler," a book you've been meaning to read since gleaning this information. You're anticipating a slow week at work so you'll need something to stave off the excruciating boredom you expect from the days to come: You grab the book on your way out.

You arrive at your job and are, indeed, greeted by a dearth of things to do. It looks like your day is going to de...more

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May 15, 2011 Marvin rated it 4 of 5 stars

I arrived at the library with my two books in hand. As I plunked them down on the check-in counter, a thin matronly woman approached.

"Would you like to check these books in?"

"Yes I would but I would also like to..."

"Oh, I see you read If on a Winter's Night a Traveler by Italo Calvino."

"Yes I did. Have you read it too?"

"On starting the first few pages, you were put off by what appears to be a artistic gimmick."

"Why yes a little. but..."

"you soon realized that the author was trying to involve you...more

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Sep 29, 2007 Jessica rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: literary types

My head thought it liked this book -- terrific beginning -- but apparently my heart had other ideas, because I got about halfway through and just never got around to finishing it. The thing's still sitting on my "active" shelf, looking smug, and reminding me that when it comes to affairs of the book, I can be a little bit dumb, and a lot flakey.

I don't know. In my defense, I'm not so crazy about most "tricky" fiction, for the same reason that I don't like participating in psychological studies,...more

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Mar 08, 2013 Samadrita rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: italy, european-literature, 1001-and-more, magical-realism-surrealism, metafiction, awesomesauce, cherished, re-readable, brain-fodder

Putting into exact words all the feelings this book evokes in the reader, is a task not just tremendously challenging but virtually impossible to execute.
After getting through the first few pages, I felt like Naomi Watts in The Ring, being pulled against her will into the world of the creepy video by Samara.
I know that's a rather cheap analogy. Comparing a creation of one of the most accomplished post-modernist writers to have emerged from Europe to a Hollywood version of a Japanese film, is pre...more Putting into exact words all the feelings this book evokes in the reader, is a task not just tremendously challenging but virtually impossible to execute.
After getting through the first few pages, I felt like Naomi Watts in The Ring, being pulled against her will into the world of the creepy video by Samara.
I know that's a rather cheap analogy. Comparing a creation of one of the most accomplished post-modernist writers to have emerged from Europe to a Hollywood version of a Japanese film, is pretty close to blaspheming.
But then nothing more apt comes to mind at the moment.

If on a Winter's Night a Traveler is Calvino's tribute to the spirit of reading, writing and the utterly unique but beautiful relationship between a writer and a reader.
In an inimitable style and with trenchant wit he has dissected the art of writing, numerous aspects of the world of publishing and the melange of emotions any writer is bound to go through while working on his/her newest masterpiece, irrespective of whether it is aimed at garnering record sales or becoming a piece of critically acclaimed literature. He has also reached out from within the pages of the book, grabbed hold of the reader, sucked him/her right into the heart of the narrative (if you call it that) and taken him/her on a delightfully unpredictable journey where he/she is simultaneously the reader, the writer and a character at the mercy of a writer's whims.

In a nutshell, this is Italo Calvino serenading the reader and the spirit of this wonderful but singular form of communication that exists between two individuals who may never know each other in person but for a few blissful hours/days of their lives, feel bonded to each other on an alternate level in ways, unimaginable by a third party.
Because just as the reader tries to form an image of the story-teller in his/her mind, the writer too keeps his/her prospective reader in mind while penning down his/her thoughts.

A pure work of genius that is bound to enthrall readers for generations to come and perhaps it won't be an exaggeration to state that many aspiring writers may want to adopt this book as their Bible.

P.S.:- Not recommended for readers looking for a great story to read. Since this is Calvino manipulating, baffling, exasperating and dazzling the reader in equal measure and in quick succession, by writing the exact opposite (for lack of a better term) of a conventional novel.

P.P.S.:- Such a shame this man never won the Nobel Prize. (less)

9 likes · like · see review

Jul 25, 2012 Milica Chotra rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Sì, sto leggendo questo libro in italiano, anche se non parlo la lingua :) (imam pri ruci i hrvatski prevod, za svaki slučaj)
---------------------------
24.7.2012. 23:59 Upravo sam pročitala roman "Ako jedne zimske noći neki putnik".

Udobno se smesti, jer počinješ da čitaš moj osvrt na ovu knjigu.

Ovo je bila jedna od onih Libri Che Da Tanto Tempo Hai in Programma Di Leggere, dok nije konačno došla na red zahvaljujući jednom GR bookclubu. Da nije bilo njih ne znam da li bih čitanje privela kraju;...more

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Sep 14, 2011 Nate D rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: You, Reader, as you gaze upon this review

Recommended to Nate D by: The thrill of still half-formed narrative enticements

Shelves: post-modernism, italy, favorites, oulipo

Read-read, September 2011 :: Well, my Other Reader just tore through this little masterpiece and reminded me of how thoroughly perfect it was. And so, despite a sack of new library books to peruse, I will temporarily lay aside the Thrill of Beginning a New Novel and instead spend a couple days basking once again in this splendid construction of highly active design and imagination.

I think it is safe to say that this has moved out of the pile of
-Books I Have Read and Loved
veered wide of
-Books I...more

12 likes · like · see review

May 14, 2008 Yulia marked it as left-unfinished

You want to write a story about a reader, whom you call you, but you also want to write about a female reader, whom you also call you, and you want you and you to interact, leading to some technical challenges, and you want you, the reader of this book, to remain interested all the while in the stories in each other chapter of the book that are meant to be part of another book that has an ever-shifting identity, much a you do. ah, but how do you keep yourself interested? How do you write about a...more

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Sep 26, 2012 Emilian Kasemi marked it as to-read

Shelves: priority

Stai per cominciare a leggere il romanzo Se una notte
d'inverno un viaggiatore di Italo Calvino. Rilassati. Raccogliti,
Allontana da te ogni altro pensiero. Lascia che il mondo che ti
circonda sfumi nell'indistinto. La porta è meglio chiuderla; di là
c'è sempre la televisione accesa. Dillo subito, agli altri: «No, non
voglio vedere la televisione!» Alza la voce, se no non ti sentono:
«Sto leggendo! Non voglio essere disturbato!» Forse non ti hanno
sentito, con tutto quel chiasso; dillo più forte, grida...more

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Oct 04, 2012 Noce rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: narrativa-italiana

Per un pugno di incipit

Poi vedete qual è il punto? Già i piaceri della vita sono per principio piccoli e scandalosamente brevi, allora perché non dilatare il più possibile il tempo per goderne?

Vi piacciono i rompicapo? Allora perché buttarsi a vedere due ore di Inception quando potete leggere questo libro, che se lo dosate bene, vi dura almeno 5 giorni e vi dà soddisfazioni quanto un trip mentale?

Perché confinarsi nella rigida categoria del solo lettore, o del solo scrittore, quando Calvino vi a...more

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May 29, 2013 Mohamed Abdelsttar rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favourites

ثالث عمل مترجم لايتالو كالفينيو للغة العربية ..
أول رأي باللغة العربية عن الرواية
احساس غريب بالنسبة ليا .. مش مجرد باكتب راي ف رواية قرأتها
المرة دي تحديدا ممكن كلامي يشجع أكثر من صديق انه يقرأ الرواية او انه يقرر يوفر وقته لرواية اخري او كتاب اخر

صديقي العزيز .. بدون اي مقدمات او كلام منمق .. اشتر نسختك من الرواية وابدأ في قرائتها فورا :)

"لو أن مسافرا في ليلة شتاء" ليست مجرد رواية عادية
استطيع القول انها تجميع لبدايات 10 روايات مختلفة تم دمجهم في كتاب واحد بخيط درامي واحد يجمعهم وكأنهم رواية واح...more

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Jan 13, 2012 umberto rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I was saddened whenever I came across my missing review like this one. It's a pity, thus I consoled myself by thinking it's a fate of mine or Fortune itself. However, I wonder how I can recall all information or some ideas written some years ago since it's unthinkable such recorded reviews here can be lost and gone for ever.

Therefore, my GR friends please keep cool, I don't want to annoy anyone since I respect all of you as my reading scholars. As for this magnificent novel, I didn't mean to rea...more

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Dec 23, 2007 Jason rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: italy, modernism

I would probably give this book a higher rating if I had not read any of Calvino's other works, but I found it inferior to The Non-Existent Knight and the Cloven Viscount. All of Calvino's works challenge reader expectations, but here he goes one step too far in putting form over substance.

While I suspect most reviewers would consider "If on a winter's night a traveler" a bold expirement, it is really the most logical step after modernism. Where modernism was concerned to a large extent with the...more I would probably give this book a higher rating if I had not read any of Calvino's other works, but I found it inferior to The Non-Existent Knight and the Cloven Viscount. All of Calvino's works challenge reader expectations, but here he goes one step too far in putting form over substance.

While I suspect most reviewers would consider "If on a winter's night a traveler" a bold expirement, it is really the most logical step after modernism. Where modernism was concerned to a large extent with the relation between writer, text, and reality, this book focuses on the relationship between text and reader. The literary philosophy is pretty heavy-handed through most of the book, basically banging the reader over the head with a subjective view of literature: reading is not about what the author has to tell you but what you are looking for as the reader.

The most striking feature of the book is the experimental structure. The is about you the reader struggling to find your way through a series of incomplete novels. The book begins in the second person, a first for me. The novel then begins and then ends at a moment of suspense. Calvino then reverts to the second person and the "plot" turns out to be about how you the reader try to find the rest of the story. But each time the story resumes, it turns out to be a completely different novel that again gets cut short. The resulting fragmentary structure is interesting, but certainly tests the readers patience. It's not often that I think a 260 page book is too long, but I think Calvino could have cut out a few of the stories and still made his point.

There are also some pretty awkward transitions, like when Calvino tries to move from addressing one male reader in the second person to a second female reader. Not a smooth transfer, and Calvino doesn't really stick with it. In the end, Calvino actually ties the loose ends together in a clever little package as a reward for the patient reader. It's cute, but perhaps a bit gimmicky.

I also found Calvino's treatment of sex pretty tacky. The sex scene between the two readers as an analogy for reading is just plain silly.

But Calvino does pull off some great moments of Voltairian wackiness. The literary philosophy is also pretty interesting if that's your thing. For those readers interested in a lighter dose of literary philosophy with more emphasis on Calvino's famed fabulism, I would suggest trying his earlier works. They're quite fun. If you can get past the vulgarity, I think Kurt Vonnegut's "Breakfast of Champions" also strikes a better balance between humor, plot, and literary experimentation.

But if you want to read a book about reading and really want to think about the place books have in your life, "If on a winter's night a traveler" could prove instructive.(less)

11 likes · like · see review

Mar 23, 2007 oriana rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: perennialfavorites, phenomenal

One of my all time most beloved books. Showing that, though there may be nothing new under the sun, there are still some unbearably brilliant writers that can make something seem shockingly original.

There are two narratives in this book, one which is in 2nd person, so that You, the Reader, become the protagonist. So You are reading the newest book by Italo Calvino, when You suddenly turn the page to find that another book's text has been mistakenly inserted in the middle of the story. You go b...more

12 likes · like · see review

May 17, 2009 Branduno rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: experimental, frame-stories, reviewed

You are starting to read Branduno's review of Italo Calvino's If On A Winter's Night A Traveler. But something is stopping you. Perhaps you are on a library's public computer and the staff are telling you to hurry up, get out, there is a waiting list. Or maybe it is more peaceful: you are at home, sitting down to your own laptop. But your elderly uncle has just started to loudly play Wii in the next room. You can't take it.

"Be quiet!" you yell. "I am about to start reading Branduno's review of I...more

18 likes · like · see review

Nov 22, 2007 jeremy rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: translation, fiction

for those with an amorous affair with books, this may, perhaps, be the ultimate love letter to the reader. calvino's novel, or more precisely, his book of ten interrelated stories, is both masterfully created and startlingly unique. told alternately in second and third persons, the book is a fascinating exploration of the relationship between the author and the reader. flawlessly composed, the novel weaves together seemingly unrelated tales, all of which relate directly to you, the reader. at it...more

7 likes · like · see review

Jun 07, 2013 رنا rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: بحبهم

تجربة استثنائية لنوع كتاب اول مرة اقرا شبهه

الكاتب بيحط القارئ في لخبطة مالهاش نهاية
يا يمل منها و ييأس يا يقاوح و يكمل للآخر

هي مغامرة عجيبة، و مش هتتنسي بسهولة
الكاتب بيبتدي بكلامه مع القارئ و الوضع اللي يحب يقرا بيه الكتاب

"خذ أفضل وضع يريحك : اجلس، تمدد، تكوّر، أو انبطح، انبسط و استلق على ظهرك،
على جنبك، على بطنك، على مقعد مريح، على الأريكة، على كرسي هزاز،
على كرسي شاطئ، على الوسادة، على أرجوحة نوم، لو كان لديك أرجوحة، فوق فراشك، بالطبع،
أو على سريرك، يمكنك حتى أن تقف على يديك، في وضع اليوجا،...more

6 likes · like · see review

May 15, 2013 Goldmund rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-more-than-once

Cùng với Jorge Luis Borges, Italo Calvino là cái tên hay được nhắc đến như người có nhiều ảnh hưởng đến các nhà văn hậu hiện đại. Lừng lẫy là thế nhưng sự xuất hiện của Calvino ở Việt Nam phải nói rất muộn màng và khiêm tốn.Qua đời năm 1985, khi người ta chưa kịp trao cho ông một giải Nobel (thật ra những người như Borges, Calvino, Virginia Woolf, Vladimir Nabokov, James Joyce có thể nói là đứng riêng ra một cõi, chia sẻ cái sự không đoạt giải Nobel, nhưng có tầm ảnh hưởng hơn rất nhiều tác giả...more Cùng với Jorge Luis Borges, Italo Calvino là cái tên hay được nhắc đến như người có nhiều ảnh hưởng đến các nhà văn hậu hiện đại. Lừng lẫy là thế nhưng sự xuất hiện của Calvino ở Việt Nam phải nói rất muộn màng và khiêm tốn.Qua đời năm 1985, khi người ta chưa kịp trao cho ông một giải Nobel (thật ra những người như Borges, Calvino, Virginia Woolf, Vladimir Nabokov, James Joyce có thể nói là đứng riêng ra một cõi, chia sẻ cái sự không đoạt giải Nobel, nhưng có tầm ảnh hưởng hơn rất nhiều tác giả từng đoạt giải này), mãi đến năm 2004 bản dịch một cuốn sách trọn vẹn của ông mới xuất hiện ở Việt Nam (Palomar, NXB Hội Nhà Văn 2004, Vũ Ngọc Thăng dịch), nhưng có lẽ phải đến Nam tước trên cây (Nhã Nam và NXB Văn Học 2009, cũng do Vũ Ngọc Thăng dịch) thì Calvino mới được biết đến rộng rãi ở Việt Nam. Với sự yêu mến dành cho Nam tước trên cây, nhiều người đọc háo hức chờ đợi Nếu một đêm đông có người lữ khách (Nhã Nam và NXB Văn Học 2011, bản dịch của Trần Tiễn Cao Ðăng.)

Nếu một đêm đông có người lữ khách là một cuốn tiểu thuyết đặc biệt. Ngay trang đầu tiên, người đọc đã có cảm giác tác giả đang bỡn cợt mình: “Bạn sắp bắt đầu đọc cuốn tiểu thuyết mới Nếu một đêm đông có người lữ khách của Italo Calvino”. Câu mở đầu này không khỏi khiến người đọc giật mình, xem đi xem lại có phải mình đang đọc lời tựa hay lời giới thiệu tác phẩm không.Khi tin chắc câu đang đọc là câu đầu tiên của tiểu thuyết, người đọc ngay lập tức nhận ra rằng mình đang cầm trên tay một cuốn tiểu thuyết không giống bất cứ tiểu thuyết nào đã đọc.

Thật vậy, trong cả chương đầu tiên, người đọc sẽ sung sướng khi thấy Calvino đi guốc trong bụng mình khi ông mô tả các tư thế đọc sách (bất cứ ai ưa đọc cũng hiểu niềm vui sướng khi chọn được một tư thế thoải mái để đọc sách như thế nào), và nhất là khi ông phân loại sách ra thành, ví dụ như: sách bạn lên kế hoạch đọc đã nhiều năm nay, sách bạn cần xếp cạnh những sách khác trên giá sách của mình, sách bạn luôn vờ là đã đọc và nay đã đến lúc ngồi xuống thật sự đọc… Chỉ bấy nhiêu đã khiến bất cứ người đọc nào cũng có thể mỉm cười vì thấy tác giả hiểu mình quá sức, vì thấy chưa bao giờ mình – với tư cách người đọc – lại được một nhà văn thấu hiểu và đồng cảm đến thế.

Nếu người đọc cảm thấy như vậy thì quả nhiên người đọc đã rơi vào “bẫy” của Calvino, vì Nếu một đêm đông có người lữ khách đích thực là một cuốn sách về người đọc, cho người đọc và vì người đọc. Người đọc, ở ngôi thứ hai, chính là nhân vật của tác phẩm. Ðể người đọc khỏi cô đơn và để tiểu thuyết của mình có chút lãng mạn, Calvino tặng thêm cho người đọc một người đọc Nữ, cho cả hai cùng nhau phiêu lưu qua một nửa cuốn tiểu thuyết.

Nói một nửa, vì cặp đôi người đọc này chỉ xuất hiện ở những chương có đánh số. Xen kẽ với những chương đánh số là những chương mang nhan đề như nhan đề những cuốn tiểu thuyết. Thật ra, đó chính là những cuốn tiểu thuyết, hay chính xác hơn, mỗi chương này là chương mở đầu của một tiểu thuyết khác nhau. Tổng cộng có mười chương mở đầu cho mười tiểu thuyết, nội dung khác nhau, giọng điệu khác nhau, được nối kết với nhau thông qua cuộc phiêu lưu của người đọc và người đọc Nữ.

Như thế, có thể nói Calvino cho ta đọc mười một tiểu thuyết trong một cuốn sách, mà cũng có thể nói Calvino chẳng cho ta đọc một cuốn tiểu thuyết nào trọn vẹn cả. Nếu một đêm đông có người lữ khách, do vậy, là một trò chơi tiểu thuyết. Vậy ta có lựa chọn: hoặc chơi cùng Calvino thì đọc hết toàn bộ cuốn sách, còn không hãy trả đũa ông bằng cách chỉ đọc chương mở đầu thôi. Ðã có biết bao niềm vui nội trong chương ấy!

(Bài đã đăng Tuổi Trẻ)(less)

6 likes · like · see review

Apr 09, 2011 Saman added it · review of another edition

Shelves: novel

ایتالو کالوینو (۱۵ اکتبر ۱۹۲۳ - ۱۹ سپتامبر ۱۹۸۵) یکی از بزرگ‌ترین نویسندگان ایتالیایی قرن بیستم است
بسیاری از آثار وی به زبان فارسی ترجمه شده‌است. او نویسنده، خبرنگار، منتقد و نظریه‌پرداز ایتالیایی است که در سال ۱۹۲۳ به دنیا آمد و فضای انتقادی آثارش باعث شده او را یکی از مهم ترین داستان نویس‌های ایتالیا در قرن بیستم بدانند
در سال ۱۹۸۱ نشان افتخار فرانسه به او اعطا شد
او بر اثر خونریزی مغزی در سیه‌نا چشم از جهان فرو بست

آثار داستانی
۱۹۴۷ راه لانه‌ي عنکبوت
۱۹۵۱ شوالیه ناموجود
۱۹۵۱ ویکنت دوشقه‌ یا «وی...more

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About Italo Calvino

Italo Calvino was born in Cuba and grew up in Italy. He was a journalist and writer of short stories and novels. His best known works include the Our Ancestors trilogy (1952-1959), the Cosmicomics collection of short stories (1965), and the novels Invisible Cities (1972) and If On a Winter's Night a Traveler (1979).

His style is not easily classified; much of his writing has an air of the fantastic...more

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The Nonexistent Knight & The Cloven Viscount

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Trivia About If on a Winter's ...

9 trivia questions

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Quotes from If on a Winter's Night...

“Sections in the bookstore

- Books You Haven't Read
- Books You Needn't Read
- Books Made for Purposes Other Than Reading
- Books Read Even Before You Open Them Since They Belong to the Category of Books Read Before Being Written
- Books That If You Had More Than One Life You Would Certainly Also Read But Unfortunately Your Days Are Numbered
- Books You Mean to Read But There Are Others You Must Read First
- Books Too Expensive Now and You'll Wait 'Til They're Remaindered
- Books ditto When They Come Out in Paperback
- Books You Can Borrow from Somebody
- Books That Everybody's Read So It's As If You Had Read Them, Too
- Books You've Been Planning to Read for Ages
- Books You've Been Hunting for Years Without Success
- Books Dealing with Something You're Working on at the Moment
- Books You Want to Own So They'll Be Handy Just in Case
- Books You Could Put Aside Maybe to Read This Summer
- Books You Need to Go with Other Books on Your Shelves
- Books That Fill You with Sudden, Inexplicable Curiosity, Not Easily Justified
- Books Read Long Ago Which It's Now Time to Re-read
- Books You've Always Pretended to Have Read and Now It's Time to Sit Down and Really Read Them” — 388 people liked it

“In the shop window you have promptly identified the cover with the title you were looking for. Following this visual trail, you have forced your way through the shop past the thick barricade of Books You Haven't Read, which are frowning at you from the tables and shelves, trying to cow you...And thus you pass the outer girdle of ramparts, but then you are attacked by the infantry of Books That If You Had More Than One Life You Would Certainly Also Read But Unfortunately Your Days Are Numbered. With a rapid maneuver you bypass them and move into the phalanxes of the Books You Mean To Read But There Are Others You Must Read First, the Books Too Expensive Now And You'll Wait Till They're Remaindered, the Books ditto When They Come Out in Paperback, Books You Can Borrow From Somebody, Books That Everybody's Read So It's As If You Had Read Them, Too. ” — 360 people liked it

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