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If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler

Italo Calvino,

William Weaver (Translator)

Start date: March 1, 2014

Finish date: May 31, 2014

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Mar 03, 2014 Joanna rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: rws-2014-spring, 1001, 2014-read

Books within books within books. The author sets up a book that directly speaks to the Reader, has the first chapter of multiple books, but then the stories keep being cut short, and lots of philosophizing about the nature of reading and what is "true." Such an ambitious project should have been either awful or boring to read or totally impossible to follow, but this was none of those. Calvino is so good that he makes this book fascinating rather than a slog, thought-provoking but not preachy, a ...more

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Jul 28, 2010 Harold rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites

Calvino for me is in the same great category as Borges, Casares, Eco, etc. In this book he teases with a story that keeps morphing into another story. He tells you to disregard what you just read - this is what really happened - then changes up again and again. That he makes you, the reader (he addresses you directly) love this approach is his genius at work. This is a book that I will reread from time to time.

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Apr 14, 2016 Kathleen (itpdx) rated it really liked it

I picked this book from a list in a reading challenge: "The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman is to the post-modern/anti-novel what Don Quixote is to the novel. However, the reaches of this work are deeper and further-reaching than many expect. Expand your realm into the fantastical, farcical and/or post-modern world with a selection from this list". Of the 175 or so books on the list, I had only read two. I had heard much about Calvino but never read him and so selected this one o ...more

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