European Book Club - 2/26/19
Join us for our monthly European Book Club. Each month's book selection is written by a European author and translated into English. Come discuss this month's book and enjoy light refreshments.
Book of the Month:
"If on a Winter's Night a Traveler" by Italo Calvion (Italy)
Summary:
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. --goodreads.com
Available for purchase on our AmazonSmile page
Author Bio:
Italo Calvino was born in Cuba and grew up in Italy. He was a journalist and writer of short stories and novels. His best known works
include the Our Ancestors trilogy (1952-1959), the Cosmicomics collection of short stories (1965), and the novels Invisible
Cities(1972)
and If On a Winter's Night a Traveler (1979). His style is not easy to classify; much of his writing has an air reminiscent to that
of fantastical fairy tales (Our Ancestors, Cosmicomics), although sometimes his writing is more "realistic" and in the scenic mode
of observation (Difficult Loves, for example). Some of
his writing has been called postmodern, reflecting on literature and the act of reading, while some has been labeled magical
realist, others fables, others simply "modern". --goodreads.com
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