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If on a Winter's Night a Traveler: Introduction by Peter Washington (Everyman's Library Contemporary Classics Series) - Hardcover
Introduction by Peter Washington; Translation by William Weaver
Italo Calvino’s masterpiece combines a love story and a detective story into an exhilarating allegory of reading, in which the reader of the book becomes the book’s central character.
Based on a witty analogy between the reader’s desire to finish the story and the lover’s desire to consummate his or her passion, IF ON A WINTER’S NIGHT A TRAVELER is the tale of two bemused readers whose attempts to reach the end of the same book—IF ON A WINTER’S NIGHT A TRAVELER, by Italo Calvino, of course—are constantly and comically frustrated. In between chasing missing chapters of the book, the hapless readers tangle with an international conspiracy, a rogue translator, an elusive novelist, a disintegrating publishing house, and several oppressive governments. The result is a literary labyrinth of storylines that interrupt one another—an Arabian Nights of the postmodern age.
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Review:
If on a Winter's Night a Traveler is a marvel of ingenuity, an experimental text that looks longingly back to the great age of narration--"when time no longer seemed stopped and did not yet seem to have exploded." Italo Calvino's novel is in one sense a comedy in which the two protagonists, the Reader and the Other Reader, ultimately end up married, having almost finished If on a Winter's Night a Traveler. In another, it is a tragedy, a reflection on the difficulties of writing and the solitary nature of reading. The Reader buys a fashionable new book, which opens with an exhortation: "Relax. Concentrate. Dispel every other thought. Let the world around you fade." Alas, after 30 or so pages, he discovers that his copy is corrupted, and consists of nothing but the first section, over and over. Returning to the bookshop, he discovers the volume, which he thought was by Calvino, is actually by the Polish writer Bazakbal. Given the choice between the two, he goes for the Pole, as does the Other Reader, Ludmilla. But this copy turns out to be by yet another writer, as does the next, and the next.
From the Back Cover:
The real Calvino intersperses 10 different pastiches--stories of menace, spies, mystery, premonition--with explorations of how and why we read, make meanings, and get our bearings or fail to. Meanwhile the Reader and Ludmilla try to reach, and read, each other. If on a Winter's Night is dazzling, vertiginous, and deeply romantic. "What makes lovemaking and reading resemble each other most is that within both of them times and spaces open, different from measurable time and space."
This exhilarating interactive novel--in which the reader, lured into the text by the enticements of Italo Calvino's splendid intelligence, turns into the book's central character--was its author's triumphant response to the question of whether the art of fiction could survive the vast changes taking place in the communications technology of our world.
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- PublisherEveryman's Library
- Publication date1993
- ISBN 10 0679420258
- ISBN 13 9780679420255
- BindingHardcover
- Number of pages304
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If on a Winter's Night a Traveler (Everyman's Library Contemporary Classics Series) by Calvino, Italo [Hardcover ]
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If on a Winter's Night a Traveler: Introduction by Peter Washington (Everyman's Library Contemporary Classics Series)
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Book Description Hardcover. Condition: new. Hardcover. Introduction by Peter Washington; Translation by William Weaver Italo Calvinos masterpiece combines a love story and a detective story into an exhilarating allegory of reading, in which the reader of the book becomes the books central character. Based on a witty analogy between the readers desire to finish the story and the lovers desire to consummate his or her passion, IF ON A WINTERS NIGHT A TRAVELER is the tale of two bemused readers whose attempts to reach the end of the same bookIF ON A WINTERS NIGHT A TRAVELER, by Italo Calvino, of courseare constantly and comically frustrated. In between chasing missing chapters of the book, the hapless readers tangle with an international conspiracy, a rogue translator, an elusive novelist, a disintegrating publishing house, and several oppressive governments. The result is a literary labyrinth of storylines that interrupt one anotheran Arabian Nights of the postmodern age. Translation of: Se una notte d'inverno un viaggiatore. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability. Seller Inventory # 9780679420255
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