13 Comments

Me, missing the point of fairy tales entirely: if you can only get into and out of the castle through the maze, it must be a gigantic pain to get food into the castle, and to govern when your messengers are constantly getting lost in the maze.

Expand full comment

they can get in when they're invited i think i said

Expand full comment

wow when did calvino become this ruthless

Expand full comment

i have been flipping thru the nonexistent knight & the cloven viscount.....

Expand full comment

honestly im so touched by a calvino comparison i feel a little baffled & tongue tied

Expand full comment

Aw <3

Btw Castle of Crossed Destinies, Invisible Cities and If during a Winter Night a Traveller are pretty amazing as well, although they have this ethereal quality that risks being a bit much.

Uh and by all means try to get your hand on his Roland reading, as I remember you have a soft spot for the chanson des gestes xx

Expand full comment

(i was thinking nonexistent knight + castle of crossed for this)

Expand full comment

of the novels you mentioned i think castle of crossed destinies is the only one i havent read--somehow havent even heard of

is there not an english translation of the calvino ariosto??? i mean i havent been looking long obv but i cant find one

Expand full comment

Looking as well but I'm aftaid not. Italian Spanish German surely; Spanish i think. Consider a full English translation only appeared somewhere in the 90s; it's be surprising had there been a market.

I think there was an essay in it in Why Read The Classics or American Lectures, both widely available

Expand full comment

I'm not sure about the use of ampersands in fiction unless they are used for proper names, the Dog & Duck pub etc. it just feels wrong to me. Other than that, and my ongoing squeamishness regarding the lack of capitalisation, I rather enjoyed this. Keep going.

Expand full comment