165 pages
English language
Published Nov. 10, 1978 by Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
"Kublai Khan does not necessarily believe everything Marco Polo says when he describes the cities visited on his expeditions, but the emperor of the Tartars does continue listening to the young Venetian with greater attention and curiosity than he shows any other messenger or explorer of his." So begins Italo Calvino's compilation of fragmentary urban images. As Marco tells the khan about Armilla, which "has nothing that makes it seem a city, except the water pipes that rise vertically where the houses should be and spread out horizontally where the floors should be," the spider-web city of Octavia, and other marvelous burgs, it may be that he is creating them all out of his imagination, or perhaps he is recreating fine details of his native Venice over and over again, or perhaps he is simply recounting some of the myriad possible forms a city might take.
This book is unlike almost any other book out there. A series of philosophical poetic vignettes that explore how people relate to the places around them, the time they move through, and each other, every one-page chapter is a poignant, self-contained thought. Sometimes wistful, sometimes funny, sometimes just downright weird. This is a must-read.
Un recueil très spécial, rempli de villes imaginaires qui nous fait voyager entre des ruelles et des paysages totalement inconnus et mystérieux. On enchaine les villes et les décors alors que nos têtes se remplissent d’images et l’on se met à rêver quelques instants…
These chapters are themed and ultra-short, demanding closer attention and slower reading. Conceptually novel, and fantastic.
