Product Description

The world of Calvino is a world of fable, but he uses its mechanisms to focus with unerring precision on human reality. Nature in these stories has a magical quality in the flight of a crow, the iridescent track of a snail, the sideways leap of a stray cat - but the magic can encompass both enchantment and terror.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #474871 in Books
• Published on: 1992-08-20
• Original language: Italian
• Binding: Paperback
• 192 pages

Guardian
'...special gift is to link the physical and immediate with an allegorical timelessness… convey a feeling of the wonder, mystery and terror of life'

From the Back Cover
The world of Calvino is a world of fable, but he uses its mechanisms to focus with unerring precision on human reality. Nature in these stories has a magical quality in the flight of a crow, the iridescent track of a snail, the sideways leap of a stray cat - but the magic can encompass both enchantment and terror.

Customer Reviews

Great little collection of stories - even for non-fans....
Wow, what can I say to this bunch of tales? Calvino is difficult, there's no point in saying anything else - but if you find the larger works a bit too much (as I must confess I do even as an ardent fan with books like "Time and the Hunter" - much too "involved" for a simpleton like me!), this will be great. It's got all the profound and convoluted ideas of the major works like "Invisible Cities" and "If on a winter's night a traveller", but in small, manageable chunks... "Father to son" makes me cry every time - I won't spoil the end, but suffice to say it brings home an awful lot about nightmare and reality... "The Argentine Ant" is quite simply the best surreal horror-comedy you'll ever find, period, and "Theft in a Cakeshop" will make even the most hard-hearted conservative feel at least a little something for the criminals! Give it a go - if you like it, try "Mr. Palomar" next, and if you've ever given up on the big highly-structured works, this might even be a passport back in...

An easy introduction to Calvino
Calvino is a genius, but can be hard to get into (eg Invisible Cities, If on a Winters Night a Traveller) as his novels generally defy categorisation. This, on the other hand, is a beautifully written series of short stories that are fundamentally real-life tales with a touch of the surreal. On the other hand, if you've read the more famous works, this is an illustration of the fact that the man could write great normal stories too.