Invisible Cities
Italo Calvino · 1923–1985 · Italy
Originally Le città invisibili (Italian) · translated by William Weaver
Why it matters
Marco Polo describes fifty-five impossible cities to Kublai Khan: each a meditation on memory, desire, and signs; all, perhaps, Venice. The most beloved experimental book of its century: structure as poetry.
At a glance
postmodernspeculative fiction
Difficulty 5/10slow pace165 pagesFragmentary prose-poem structure with no conventional plot to follow.
Deep dive
Marco Polo describes fifty-five cities to Kublai Khan that may all, in the end, be describing the same one.
Where to go next
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Roberto Bolaño · 1998The Savage DetectivesLvl 7Medium pace