Rebecca's review
The Nonexistent Knight and The Cloven Viscount
by Italo Calvino
Rebecca's review
The Nonexistent Knight and The Cloven Viscount by Italo Calvino
Rebecca's review
rating:
Calvino's fascination with the Middle Ages seems almost satirical in these two very tongue-in-cheek novellas. In no way a beach read, these two pseudo-existential stories deal with basic principles of existence (or non-existence) after the fashion of a parable with omniscient narration.
The characters are colorful, although sometimes the development is somewhat open-ended. Calvino molds his characters is such a way that one is not sure with whom to have sympathy. This perhaps is the novelist's greatest statement in showing the definitions of "good" and "evil" to be somewhat grey.
Highly recommended read...think Italian Beckett.
The characters are colorful, although sometimes the development is somewhat open-ended. Calvino molds his characters is such a way that one is not sure with whom to have sympathy. This perhaps is the novelist's greatest statement in showing the definitions of "good" and "evil" to be somewhat grey.
Highly recommended read...think Italian Beckett.
