If on a Winter's Night: Chapter 9 to end of Chapter 16

[Traveller]

...and here we start with the Cimbrian novel Without fear of wind or vertigo.

[Stephen]

If anyone hasn't yet seen the Bookmark video, I recommend it. It includes an interview of Calvino, his English translator, and a reenactment of some of the early scenes. I sympathized with Calvino's avowed difficulty of expressing himself in speech (though he seems fairly eloquent here). I especially appreciated this line: "Our civilization has plenty of records of everyday life: the movies, the television, the papers... I think literature should give something more—a fantastic interpretation of reality."

[Traveller]

Thanks for sharing, Stephen!

I found the middle part of the book a bit awkward to comment on, since Calvino seems so critical against discussion groups in it! :P

But yes, high time for an ending spoiler thread.

You guys can post comments about the book as a whole and about the overarching ending here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

[Stephen]

Oops, I think I meant to post that in the ending thread. I'll delete it and move it there. The video, however, doesn't have many spoilers.

Yes, Calvino does seem to want the reader to just enjoy the book; there was also something in the video about meeting the reader "on the page." I think the discussions here are far from the factionalized ones he describes, though!

[Traveller]

Will post a few more comments on the middle section here soon.
I've made this thread to the end of chapter 16 now, so that we can squeeze one more story in here!

[Traveller]

You know, there is just so much to say on this, that I don't know where to start!

[Linda]

I can see how modern readers, who perhaps grew up with/have a lot of experience with post-modern work, might get tired of this play...to those who have come to terms with open endings or the idea that there are times when we will not have a tidy ending or a pat answer, this relentless chase must be tedious after a while. But as you say, Trav, it's so dense, there's a lot to comment on.

[Traveller]

Linda wrote: "I can see how modern readers, who perhaps grew up with/have a lot of experience with post-modern work, might get tired of this play...to those who have come to terms with open endings or the idea t..."

Thanks for reminding that this book had been published in 1979 already! So yeah, rather on the forefront of po-mo, metafictional writing, eh?

[Linda]

Traveller wrote: "Linda wrote: "I can see how modern readers, who perhaps grew up with/have a lot of experience with post-modern work, might get tired of this play...to those who have come to terms with open endings..."

I think so. But I´m familiar with pomo in one corner of the world, so can´t speak for all areas.

Cortázar (Argentina) wrote a cool story in the 60´s ¨Continuity of parks¨ which is as clearly meta- as this work. Just much more concise (three paragraphs, brilliantly done).

[Traveller]

Borges was also pretty meta in his own way, wouldn't you say?

[Linda]

Agreed! But in a way that wasn't necessarily accessible to the general public, whereas this style is.

[Traveller]

I suppose he is seen as being rather esoteric - I see what you mean...