Jeremy's review
Invisible Cities
by Italo Calvino
Jeremy's review
Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino
Jeremy's review
rating:
I've never had alot of success with magical realism, and I found Invisible Cities as confusing and occasionally stupifying as other attempts have made me feel. However, I enjoyed this all the same. The premise of the book is simple: Marco Polo telling Kublai Khan about all the cities he's seen in Khan's crumbling empire. Each place is fantastic in its own way, and Calvino clearly has a story he's trying to tell, which is helped along by interspersed dialogues between Polo and Khan. Without those dialogues I would've given up on this book, however short, almost immediately. But those dialogues often helped ground the story, and as a simpleton I desperately needed them.
After finishing, I found out that this story is based to some degree on The Travels of Marco Polo, a book given the nickname Il Milione, reputedly because of the million lies of exaggeration told by Polo when describing Khan's realm. I think learning this actually improved my rating of the book. Context can be a beaut...more
After finishing, I found out that this story is based to some degree on The Travels of Marco Polo, a book given the nickname Il Milione, reputedly because of the million lies of exaggeration told by Polo when describing Khan's realm. I think learning this actually improved my rating of the book. Context can be a beaut...more
