From the Bookshelf of On Paths Unknown…

Invisible Cities

Italo Calvino

Start date: October 22, 2016

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Sep 17, 2016 Michael Finocchiaro rated it it was amazing

Shelves: read-in-en-and-fr, novels, magical-realism, favorites, italian-20th-c, fiction

This is my favourite Calvino book and the one I always suggest to friends to ask me for an interesting easy read or a start into Calvino's universe. It is hard to write a long review here without giving away the entire story but suffice it to say that it is poetic prose at its best.

In a nutshell, Marco Polo describes to Kublai Khan the various cities he has been to before his visit to China between 1271 and 1275 CE. Each description is more fanciful and beautiful than the previous and there is ...more

109 likes · Like · see review

Aug 23, 2017 Seemita rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: novella, for_legacy, europe, art, italy, fiction, conversations, me, favorites, cuba

You landed in my world on a calm, dewy evening
And struck was I with a song I was about to sing;
A song that lay hidden in the silhouettes of each letter
That protruded from the cover, all poised to embitter.

But waited I, patiently, under the light of the mundane day;
You see, Mr. Calvino, I had a knack of seeing your way.
Fusing the curious with the depth, and peppering them with some humor too;
All too often, you had served, a world that was both fictional and true.

So, on a fine evening, when all yo ...more

89 likes · Like · see review