Invisible Cities
Book | Italo Calvino
Mysterious ancient cities rise and fall throughout these 55 dreamy vignettes.
Beersheeba. Zenobia. Eutropia. If these cities sound unfamiliar, you're not alone. They are also foreign to the legendary ruler Kublai Khan in Italo Calvino's Invisible Cities. Throughout the book's 55 dreamy vignettes, Italian explorer Marco Polo describes these and other centers of commerce and culture to the aging Mongol emperor. One part philosophical musing, one part description of the Mongol cities, these accounts depict the metropolises both as physical places and symbols--Polo even refers to the cities as "emblems." Interspersed throughout are dialogues between the two 13th-century titans that ground the lyricism of Polo's myth-poems. As Khan questions these surreal accounts of the empire, the very existence of Truth is questioned too. Like most of Calvino's work, Invisible Cities throws a heady postmodern punch, yet simple language balances dizzying contemplations, making for a gorgeous route through history, fiction, and the Mongol Empire all at once.
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