Closing Thoughts on If on a winters night a traveler
There is a classic children’s picture book called The Mysteries of Harris Burdick by Chris Van Allsburg. The book is made up of a handful of haunting images with a title and a single line from a story. The idea was to encourage young readers to imagine — or write — the rest of the … Continue reading
Excuse Me… What Does “Making Love” Mean?
The phrase of the post’s title pops up in If on a winter’s night a traveler on page 191. How did we get to the point that a woman named Ludmilla is blithely saying she’d make love to a Mr. Flannery? To try giving a plot roundup is not worth the time; it is clear by now … Continue reading
Book 1.2 If on a winter’s night a traveler
Reading about yourself reading the book. Calvino’s If on a winter’s night a traveler opens with an eye-widening phrase: “You are about to begin reading Italo Calvino’s new novel, If on a winter’s night a traveler.” That’s true, I think to myself. Then the author uses polite directives on how to read his book. … Continue reading
Book 1.1 If on a winter’s night a traveler
You are about to begin reading Italo Calvino’s new novel, If on a winter’s night a traveler. Relax. Concentrate. This is a blog about books, about reading them and understanding the writers who write them. I remember a line that Stephen King (who makes it into this blog’s canon by a whisker) wrote … Continue reading
Letters Republic 