Invisible Cities by Calvino, Italo

by Calvino, Italo | PB | Acceptable
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Condition:
Acceptable
“Readable copy. Pages may have considerable notes/highlighting. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend ”... Read moreabout condition
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eBay item number:373736702313
Last updated on Oct 08, 2025 08:16:30 SGTView all revisionsView all revisions

Item specifics

Condition
Acceptable
A book with obvious wear. May have some damage to the cover but integrity still intact. The binding may be slightly damaged but integrity is still intact. Possible writing in margins, possible underlining and highlighting of text, but no missing pages or anything that would compromise the legibility or understanding of the text. See all condition definitionsopens in a new window or tab
Seller Notes
“Readable copy. Pages may have considerable notes/highlighting. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend ...
Binding
Paperback
Weight
0 lbs
Product Group
Book
IsTextBook
No
ISBN
9780156453806
Category

About this product

Product Identifiers

Publisher
HarperCollins
ISBN-10
0156453800
ISBN-13
9780156453806
eBay Product ID (ePID)
63508

Product Key Features

Book Title
Invisible Cities
Number of Pages
176 Pages
Language
English
Publication Year
1978
Topic
Women Authors, Literary, Action & Adventure, Historical
Genre
Poetry, Fiction
Author
Italo Calvino
Format
Trade Paperback

Dimensions

Item Height
0.4 in
Item Weight
5 oz
Item Length
8 in
Item Width
5.3 in

Additional Product Features

Intended Audience
Trade
LCCN
77-016002
Dewey Edition
21
Reviews
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., "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.
Dewey Decimal
853.9/14
Synopsis
Italo Calvino's beloved, intricately crafted novel about an Emperor's travels--a brilliant journey across far-off places and distant memory. "Cities, like dreams, are made of desires and fears, even if the thread of their discourse is secret, their rules are absurd, their perspectives deceitful, and everything conceals something else." In a garden sit the aged Kublai Khan and the young Marco Polo--Mongol emperor and Venetian traveler. Kublai Khan has sensed the end of his empire coming soon. Marco Polo diverts his host with stories of the cities he has seen in his travels around the empire: cities and memory, cities and desire, cities and designs, cities and the dead, cities and the sky, trading cities, hidden cities. As Marco Polo unspools his tales, the emperor detects these fantastic places are more than they appear., Italo Calvino's beloved, intricately crafted novel about an Emperor's travels??--??a brilliant journey across far-off places and distant memory., Italo Calvino's beloved, intricately crafted novel about an Emperor's travels--a brilliant journey across far-off places and distant memory."Cities, like dreams, are made of desires and fears, even if the thread of their discourse is secret, their rules are absurd, their perspectives deceitful, and everything conceals something else." In a garden sit the aged Kublai Khan and the young Marco Polo--Mongol emperor and Venetian traveler. Kublai Khan has sensed the end of his empire coming soon. Marco Polo diverts his host with stories of the cities he has seen in his travels around the empire: cities and memory, cities and desire, cities and designs, cities and the dead, cities and the sky, trading cities, hidden cities. As Marco Polo unspools his tales, the emperor detects these fantastic places are more than they appear., "Cities, like dreams, are made of desires and fears, even if the thread of their discourse is secret, their rules are absurd, their perspectives deceitful, and everything conceals something else." -- from Invisible Cities In a garden sit the aged Kublai Khan and the young Marco Polo -- Mongol emperor and Venetian traveler. Kublai Khan has sensed the end of his empire coming soon. Marco Polo diverts his host with stories of the cities he has seen in his travels around the empire: cities and memory, cities and desire, cities and designs, cities and the dead, cities and the sky, trading cities, hidden cities. As Marco Polo unspools his tales, the emperor detects these fantastic places are more than they appear. " Invisible Cities changed the way we read and what is possible in the balance between poetry and prose . . . The book I would choose as pillow and plate, alone on a desert island." -- Jeanette Winterson
LC Classification Number
PQ4809.A45

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