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Henry Avila's Reviews > Invisible Cities
Invisible Cities
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This a litany of cities (55) obviously fictitious, exquisitely described by Marco Polo to the great Mongol emperor Kublai Khan... he is understandably dubious. Imagination flows gently through the words of Marco Polo at the grand royal palace in Beijing, towns nobody seen let alone accept. The renowned traveler enjoys visiting new places some very beautifully chronicled by him these settlements but with a touch of creativity which the mind cannot fathomed, yet amaze, city after city, superb even those floating in the air unreachable to all, others underground the citizens in them oblivious to the rest of the world, those looking up feel jealous the mystery unexplained, walls impregnable, roads which take you away from the towns but never to them, sea ports, inland isolated metropolises alone in the vast deserts, they glitter in the sunshine and fade at night. Strangely
though the great khan notices no mention of Venice...You would think the continuous page after page of rather unbelievable cities would get monotonous but this is incorrect, as such allure is never boring. The architecture so fantastic it could not exist on the Earth only in the bottomless mind. People like to hope in something they know is impossible their run- of- the - mill lives are unexciting, needing to be charmed, stimulated, dream about what's over the other side of the hill. This will always be true the stories that take them from the humdrum to the heights are perpetual in fashion, humans strive to arrive in a land of the riddle and try solving the enigma, may this be forever. The author of the book Italo Calvino Cuban born with Italian parents , an unique magnificent writer of the visual who lived in Italy. Both a journalist, short story writer and novelist he engaged in, becoming a master of fantasy as shown here and rich, famous, few could capture its essence better. For the person who wants to escape reality and spend a little time in the what could be, imagination is another way to live at least for a short while...Isn't that enough?
though the great khan notices no mention of Venice...You would think the continuous page after page of rather unbelievable cities would get monotonous but this is incorrect, as such allure is never boring. The architecture so fantastic it could not exist on the Earth only in the bottomless mind. People like to hope in something they know is impossible their run- of- the - mill lives are unexciting, needing to be charmed, stimulated, dream about what's over the other side of the hill. This will always be true the stories that take them from the humdrum to the heights are perpetual in fashion, humans strive to arrive in a land of the riddle and try solving the enigma, may this be forever. The author of the book Italo Calvino Cuban born with Italian parents , an unique magnificent writer of the visual who lived in Italy. Both a journalist, short story writer and novelist he engaged in, becoming a master of fantasy as shown here and rich, famous, few could capture its essence better. For the person who wants to escape reality and spend a little time in the what could be, imagination is another way to live at least for a short while...Isn't that enough?
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Reading Progress
October 7, 2019
– Shelved
October 7, 2019
– Shelved as:
to-read
November 2, 2019
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Started Reading
November 9, 2019
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Finished Reading
Comments Showing 1-16 of 16 (16 new)
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Lovely review, Henry. It reminds me of some of the beautiful memories associated with my reading experience of the book.
You point out what makes Calvino a unique writer, Henry. What sheer pleasure, to revisit his stunning cities and his poetic imagination...a book I shall re-read some day.
Gaurav wrote: "Lovely review, Henry. It reminds me of some of the beautiful memories associated with my reading experience of the book."This is quite an experience Gauray, the trip into the rather subliminal, something unreal yet a different kind of actuality.
I would like to reread this. Possibly in Italian. This is, expectedly, a favorite book of architects.
"People like to hope in something they know is impossible"
So true. And
" imagination is another way to live at least for a short while...Is't that enough?"
Which reminds me of a Mervyn Peake line
"“To live at all is miracle enough.”"