4 ms·
Love Italo Calvino. For people interested in getting into it, "If on a winter's night, a traveller" is probably the best place to start and isn't a tough read.
by seanhunter 6y ago
Love Italo Calvino. For people interested in getting into it, "If on a winter's night, a traveller" is probably the best place to start and isn't a tough read.
- whitepoplar 6y agoAgreed, though I'm partial to Invisible Cities. ;)
- rsync 6y agoI, also, love Invisible Cities and would recommend it ...
- whitepoplar 6y agoI find it oddly comforting that the storage provider I plan to use at some point in the future (just getting the hang of ZFS now) loves Calvino. :-D
- ericol 6y agoI understood that reference.
- riffraff 6y agoI also believe Invisible Cities to be way more approachable than "if on a winter's night..". I absolutely loved both, but I think the latter might out off some folks. But given the HN audience, I feel that "Cosmicomiche" might be a very good choice too!
- ghotli 6y agoCame to this thread to also plug Invisible Cities. I love picking up that book, reading a short prose poem and getting the feels of the imagery he evokes. It's my stranded on a desert island pick, and for good reason.
- losvedir 6y agoI recently listened to the audiobook of Invisible Cities, narrated by John Lee, and it was phenomenal. The strange thing is, I actually don't think I would have cared for the novel, had I read it myself, but Lee captured the sort of surreal mood exquisitely, and it was very pleasant to just lay back and listen to, or to have on while walking through a park.
- bshimmin 6y agoI would attach a note of caution to this - having loved the book myself, I gave my mother (a lady not terribly well-versed in postmodern literature) a copy of Se una notte d'inverno un viaggiatore and it took her quite some time to forgive me; she used the words "pointless" and "stupid" several times in her summary of it!
- johncave 6y agoI also would hesitate to recommend IOAWNAT to your average reader, despite thoroughly enjoying it myself. You have to have a certain patience for literary tricks to really enjoy it.
- brianjunyinchan 6y agoI feel the different vignettes also provide something relatable to more people than one story would
- yowlingcat 6y agoI absolutely loved "If on a winter's night, a traveller" -- it's in the rarefied company of scant few other works of fiction capable of conjuring such vivid, surreal, and dreamlike worlds -- I can only think of Neuromancer and Paprika off the top of my head.
- muskox2 6y agoI love this book a lot. Definitely one to cherish.