I’ve written about Italo Calvino’s book before but its the kind of book that should be read and reread. So I’ll remind you again and you won’t be disappointed if you read it.
Marco Polo is the tale-teller, and the venerable Kublai Khan his audience. We read stories about imaginary cities. Someone said, it’s like feeling nostalgia for lost illusions, loves that never quite were, happiness perhaps only tasted and these are the emotions Calvino evokes.
The reader begins to understand that the true story is the ongoing debate between the visionary Marco and the skeptical Kublai, perpetual youth against eternal age.
Calvino’s advice tells us again how to read and why; be vigilant, apprehend and recognise the possibility of the good, help it to endure, give it space in your life.
