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Invisible Cities | 
 enlarge | Author: Italo Calvino
Publisher: Harvest Books
Category: Book
List Price: $14.00
Buy Used: $4.89
You Save: $9.11 (65%)
New (34) Used (39) from $4.89
Avg. Customer Rating:  86 reviews
Sales Rank: 2668
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 165
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 8 x 5.3 x 0.6
ISBN: 0156453800
Dewey Decimal Number: 853.914
EAN: 9780156453806
ASIN: 0156453800
Publication Date: May 3, 1978
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: no issues. perfectly nice copy.
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Amazon.com
"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 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.
Product Description
Imaginary conversations between Marco Polo and his host, the Chinese ruler Kublai Khan, conjure up cities of magical times. “Of all tasks, describing the contents of a book is the most difficult and in the case of a marvelous invention like Invisible Cities, perfectly irrelevant” (Gore Vidal). Translated by William Weaver. A Helen and Kurt Wolff Book
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| Customer Reviews: Read 81 more reviews...
 Reads like poetry June 16, 2008
A ruler of an empire so vast he has never seen most of it, and a foreign traveler who describes for him the cities he has visited. The narrative voice is poetic, even nostalgic, and the story derives from a conversation between Kublai Khan and Marco Polo, a conversation which is interrupted by a series of vignettes describing the many fantastical cities that Marco Polo has seen, dreamed of, or invented. This book does not have a traditional plot, and readers looking for conflict and action will be disappointed. But readers who enjoy nostalgic, dream-like images and prose that reads like poetry will be enchanted by this short book.
 Wonderfully Borgesian, with a regrettable dash of Gibran May 20, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
The descriptions of fantastical dream-cities, which make up the bulk of this book, are wonderful, and I only have one small nit to pick: Calvino, during the mercifully short dialogues between Polo and Khan that book-end each section, tends to become a little too sententious for my liking, subjecting his patient readers to such groaning, sage-like laconicisms as, quote:
Marco Polo describes a bridge, stone-by-stone.
"But which is the stone that supports the bridge?" Kublai Khan asks.
"The bridge is not supported by one stone or anther," Marco answers, "but by the line of the arch that they form."
Kublai Khan remains silent, reflecting. Then he adds:
"Why do you speak to me of stones? It is only the arch that matters to me."
Polo answers: "Without stones there is no arch."
Unquote.
At its best, Invisible Cities could have been written by the insuperable Borges; at its worst, the insufferable Kahlil Gibran.
Unique and thought provoking March 15, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Calvino's Invisible Cities is very original in concept and execution. A fictional Marco Polo tells a fictional Kublai Khan about the cities he has visited in his travels, all having female names and all having fantastically unique and in many cases, disturbing qualities. During the course of his recollections, Kublai and Polo digress on various topics relating to those cities, the state of Kublai's empire, and the symbolic meaning of it all.
The effect is quite hypnotic, as each city in turn, through physical descriptions of it's architecture and culture presents a unique perspective on mankind. Calvino is saying things about modern as well as ancient civilization. Each city is a city of the mind..a city everyone knows, has known, or will know.
This book is unique and thought provoking, but I did find it a bit repetitive in style. It kind of droned on. That's my only criticism.
 for aspiring writers and folks looking for the poetry in the prose February 2, 2008
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
5 stars for brilliance, 3 stars for enjoyment.
The expectation that had been set for me when I added this to my reading list? "This is the book where the city is the story." That said, I was expecting more narrative than what I found here. (Call me a traditionalist but I expect a bit of characterization and plot.) As a "book", I didn't much care for Invisible Cities -- but I would add it to my bookshelf as a good lesson in how to write about places. There is some pretty potent imagery and interesting wordplay at work in here.
Great texture for a paperback. January 24, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
This book is such a nice, small size, and it feels great! The cover isn't terribly interesting, but it's enough to intrigue the person next to you on the train and make you look reasonably intelligent.
Also, the sections in the text are often small enough to read one or two during a reasonable commute. Since it is so small, you might even be able to fit it in your pocket. Quite convenient.
I do have a few small gripes about the book, however. The paper seems rather cheap as it is very thin. The typeface is a little too thick, also, the combination of which sometimes makes it difficult to read.
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