Sunday, April 6, 2014
Invisible Cities
Italo Calvino's Invisible Cities includes a multitude of difficult, but interesting stories. Even though some of the short stories are very intriguing, they are very hard to understand because of the complex language Calvino uses. As a result of Calvino's choice in language, I cannot depict the underlying messages from the stories. I understand that he is explaining different cities, but it is almost repetitive. In each chapter the author explains a different city and what it is like. I thought this was an interesting way to write a book because the reader could get bored fairly quickly. Despite the difficult language, I enjoyed the short story on Zora. Calvino describes this city as one that no one could forget because it leaves an unusual message in your mind (15). This was interesting because he talks about secrets that lie within the city, and at the end he states that despite all of the memories and secrets in Zora, it is no longer existent to the world. I would like to know why the author explains each city the way he does. As the novel continues it is essentially the same format as the earlier chapters. Calvino talks about a different city and explains what makes it different from all the others.
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It is very difficult to uncover the meanings behind Invisible Cities. Calvino did this on purpose to show the reader that they cannot reason through the novel. It is a complex labyrinth that the reader cannot get out of by relying on logic. This is a major theme in the story. Calvino's style of writing is meant to prove that humans cannot find a single meaning in an object. There is no clean perception. Instead, there is an infinite amount of perceptions. Calvino also believes that language is misleading and interferes with memory. Another reason why his work is very difficult to analyze and interpret.
ReplyDeleteWe mentioned in class how it could be beneficial to substitute certain words for the word "city" within each of the sections of Calvino's book. Because it is such a complicated novel, I found this one of the only ways to try and decipher the underlying meanings in Invisible Cities. I like your point about not being able to use reasoning to get through Calvino's work. This is the third book by Calvino that I have read and I have found him to be a very existential and Nihilistic writer. However, I do not completely agree that the novel is void of all meaning. Calvino very clearly values perspective. With this in mind, I would say that he is interested not in any sort of universal meaning, but perhaps an individualistic quest for meaning through a unique perspective. The novel is, after all, about exploration.
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