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Invisible Cities (A Harvest/Hbj Book)

by Italo Calvino

Imaginary conversations between Marco Polo and his host, the Chinese ruler Kublai Khan, conjure up cities of magical times. “Of all tasks, describing the contents of a book is the most difficult and in the case of a marvelous invention like Invisible Cities, perfectly irrelevant” (Gore Vidal). Translated by William Weaver. A Helen and Kurt Wolff Book

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Author, Author Shelf
  • Rated 4 stars

Jen M 4 out of 5 stars Invisible Cities is a difficult book to analyze because it is not as cut-and-dry plotwise as we generally expect fiction to be. In this short novel, Kublai Khan receives reports from all of his commanders as they explore the world in search of new lands into which Khan can expand his empire. But the commander he seems to listen to most is Marco Polo, the mysterious Venetian who describes each city he visits with sometimes impossible images. Each city is named...

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islandhopper
  • Rated 2 stars

"You take delight not in a city's seven or seventy wonders, but in the answer it gives to a question of yours."

I have heard of the term literary masturbation a few times before but I never really understood it until I read Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities. Maybe this is what people refer to when they say “writing for writing’s sake.”

Beautiful, melodic prose. Wonderful weaving of words. A melee of metaphysical metaphors. Dizzying, dazzling details. Vivid imagery....

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Community:
  • Rated 4.190616 stars
Amazon:
  • Rated 4.5 stars
 

Newest Comments

  • Mirko B

    mirko b said:

    Oh, I will try to find it-thanks for the tip! And you should read Kazuo Okakura's Book of Tea, which is also very,very poetic!

    posted Friday, November 16 2007

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