ourancestors

I had been recommended to read Calvino several times before I finally took the plunge. But I was rewarded over and over when I did . . . he is without a doubt one of the greatest writers that I have come across. His tales are mysterious and beautiful, gripping you from start to finish. There are echoes of the style of Gabriel Garcia Marquez, but this is a man ploughing his own unique furrow in the world of literature. 'Our Ancestors' is probably a good place to start if you want to dip into Calvino. It is a collection of three short(ish) stories, each with a peculiar premise.

In 'The Cloven Viscount' a nobleman is cut in two vertically by a canonball in the midst of battle, but somehow survives. As often with Calvino, the obviously impossible is taken for granted, and the real substance of the story is in the consequences. Each half of the unfortunate viscount inherits an opposing side of his character - one retains all his good traits, the other all his evil traits. The story tracks the actions of each and the struggle of his old acquaintances to come to terms with the situation. Is it the same person? What relation does each half bear to the old, whole viscount? Is one the real viscount and the other not? The story forces the reader to consider all these things and more.

Then we have 'The Baron in the Trees', which is my personal favourite in this book. A small boy falls out with his family and in a temper, goes out and climbs into a tree in the family gardens. As time goes by his anger cools and hardens into a resolve to never go back to the ground again. So from then on, he lives his days out in the trees. The story follows his changing relationship with his family as they slowly come to terms with the new state of affairs, and extraordinary encounters that his new life leads him to. Constantly suprising and all written in the captivating prose that is the trademark of any writing by Calvino, this is a delight to read from start to finish. I suppose it is a kind of grown-up fairy tale, and there is an almost poetic quality to Calvino's writing here. If you only ever read one story by Calvino, then make it this one.

Lastly, there is "The Non-Existent Knight". The peculiar premise of this story is that of a knight fighting in a long war, who fights with courage and fearlessness - but never as much as lowers his visor. He is never to be seen outside of his suit of armour. His compatriots at first are in awe of his exploits and daring, but gradually grow disquieted at his reluctance to show himself. As we track his progress through the story, and observe the reactions of his friends and foes, a strange and disturbing history emerges.

A charateristic of Calvino's writing is that almost everything he writes is different, and so he is difficult to pigeonhole. But if you want a good taster then this book is probably as good as you will get. If you like it then you might want to try his other writings, including his best known work, "If on a winter's night, a traveller"