Invisible Cities
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{{infobox Book | <!-- See [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Novels]] or [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Books]] -->
| name = Invisible Cities
| title_orig = Le città invisibili
| translator = [[William Weaver]]
| image = [[Image:InvisibleCities.jpg|200px]]
| image_caption = Cover of first English edition (hardcover)
| author = [[Italo Calvino]]
| illustrator =
| cover_artist =
| country = [[Italy]]
| language = [[Italian (language)|Italian]]
| series =
| genre = [[novel]]
| publisher = [[Harcourt Trade Publishers|Harcourt Brace Jovanovich]] (first English edition)
| release_date = 1972 (Italian)<br>1974 (English)
| english_release_date =
| media_type = Print ([[Hardcover]] & [[Paperback]])
| pages = 165 pp (first English edition)
| isbn = ISBN 0-151-45290-3 (first English edition)
| preceded_by =
| followed_by =
}}
'''''Invisible Cities''''' ([[Italian language|Italian]]: '''''Le città invisibili''''') is a [[novel]] by Italian writer [[Italo Calvino]]. It was published in Italy in [[1972]] by [[Giulio Einaudi]] Editore.
==Description==
The book explores imagination and the imaginable through the descriptions of cities by the narrator, [[Marco Polo]]. The book is framed as a conversation between the aging and busy emperor [[Kublai Khan]], who constantly has merchants coming to describe the state of his empire, and Polo. The majority of the book consists of Polo's descriptions (1-3 pages each) of 55 cities. Short dialogues between the two characters are interspersed every five to ten cities and are used to discuss various ideas presented by the cities on a wide range of topics including [[linguistics]] and [[human nature]]. Not only is the book structured around an interlocking pattern of numbered sections, but the length of each section's title graphically outlines a continuously oscillating [[sine wave]], or perhaps a city [[skyline]]. The interludes between Khan and Polo are no less poetically constructed than the cities, but form a framing device, a story with a story, that plays with the natural complexity of language and stories. [[John Barth]], another [[postmodern literature|postmodern writer]] who also uses multiple framing devices, cites in interviews precedents for this technique such as [[Scheherazade]] in the [[Arabian Nights]].<ref>http://www.kcrw.com/etc/programs/bw/bw060309john_barth</ref>
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The book is probably based on ''[[The Travels of Marco Polo]]'', his travelogue of the [[Mongol Empire]] written in the 13th century, which shares with ''Invisible Cities'' the brief, often fantastic accounts of the cities he visits, accompanied by descriptions of the city's inhabitants, notable [[international trade|imports and exports]], and whatever interesting tales Polo had heard about the region.
One of Calvino's masterpieces, the novel does not fall under the aegis of either [[magical realism]], [[science fiction]], or [[speculative fiction]], and in fact is closer to poetry than classic novel writing. In the end, the book creates its own universe, neither that of a futuristic world or one based on classic fantasy fiction (pagan myths, Christian folklore, etc.) nor does it obey [[E.M. Forster]]'s classic model for the story, but creates a new form.
The book, because of its approach to the imaginative potentialities of cities, has been used by architects and artists to visualize how cities can be<ref>http://rodcorp.typepad.com/rodcorp/2003/09/illustrated_inv.html</ref>, their secret folds, where the human imagination is not necessarily limited by the laws of physics or the limitations of modern urban theory. It offers an alternative approach to thinking about cities, how they are formed and how they function.
The book was nominated for the [[Nebula Award]] for [[Nebula Award for Best Novel|Best Novel]] in 1975.
==Contents==
'''1.'''
*(.....)
*Cities and memory 1: Diomira
*Cities and memory 2: Isidora
*Cities and desire 1: Dorotea
*Cities and memory 3: Zaira
*Cities and desire 2: Anastasia
*Cities and signs 1: Tamara
*Cities and memory 4: Zora
*Cities and desire 3: Despina
*Cities and signs 2: Zirma
*Thin cities 1: Isaura
*(.....)
'''2.'''
*(.....)
*Cities and memory 5: Maurilia
*Cities and desire 4: Fedora
*Cities and signs 3: Zoe
*Thin cities 2: Zenobia
*Trading cities 1: Eufemia
*(.....)
'''3.'''
*(.....)
*Cities and desire 5: Zobeide
*Cities and signs 4: Ipazia
*Thin cities 3: Armilla
*Trading cities 2: Cloe
*Cities and eyes 1: Valdrada
*(.....)
'''4.'''
*(.....)
*Cities and signs 5: Olivia
*Thin cities 4: Sofronia
*Trading cities 3: Eutropia
*Cities and eyes 2: Zemrude
*Cities and names 1: Aglaura
*(.....)
'''5.'''
*(.....)
*Thin cities 5: Ottavia
*Trading cities 4: Ersilia
*Cities and eyes 3: Bauci
*Cities and names 2: Leandra
*Cities and the dead 1: Melania
*(.....)
'''6.'''
*(.....)
*Trading cities 5: Smeraldina
*Cities and eyes 4: Fillide
*Cities and names 3: Pirra
*Cities and the dead 2: Adelma
*Cities and the sky 1: Eudossia
*(.....)
'''7.'''
*(.....)
*Cities and eyes 5: Moriana
*Cities and names 4: Clarice
*Cities and the dead 3: Eusapia
*Cities and the sky 2: Bersabea
*Continuous cities 1: Leonia
*(.....)
'''8.'''
*(.....)
*Cities and names 5: Irene
*Cities and the dead 4: Argia
*Cities and the sky 3: Tecla
*Continuous cities 2: Trude
*Hidden cities 1: Olinda
*(.....)
'''9.'''
*(.....)
*Cities and the dead 5: Laudomia
*Cities and the sky 4: Perinzia
*Continuous cities 3: Procopia
*Hidden cities 2: Raissa
*Cities and the sky 5: Andria
*Continuous cities 4: Cecilia
*Hidden cities 3: Marozia
*Continuous cities 5: Pentesilea
*Hidden cities 4: Teodora
*Hidden cites 5: Berenice
*(.....)
==See also==
*[[Roland Barthes]]
*[[Oulipo]]
*[[Structuralism]]
==References==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
* [http://www.des.emory.edu/mfp/calvino/callast.html Introductory Chapter from Invisible Cities ]
* [http://www.sccs.swarthmore.edu/users/00/pwillen1/lit/citysum.htm Excerpts from Invisible Cities]
* [http://tal.forum2.org/invis Review by Tal Cohen]
* [http://www.jeanettewinterson.com/pages/content/index.asp?PageID=196 Review by Jeannette Winterson]
* [http://www.fallt.com/invisiblecities Fällt - Invisible Cities - Portraits of the world's cities painted with sound.]
* [http://www.metafilter.com/42164/Italo-Calvino-sparks-obsessions Italo Calvino sparks obsessions]
* [http://workingpapers.wordpress.com/2007/06/07/welsh-coletta-erasing-invisible/ Erasing the Invisible Cities: Italo Calvino and the Violence of Representation by John Welsh, University of Virginia]
* [http://www.theinvisiblecities.com/ A San Francisco based band, that is inspired by and it shares its title with the novel]
* [http://www.theshortreview.com/reviews/ItaloCalvinoInvisibleCities.htm Review by Pauline Masurel, published in The Short Review]
* [http://rodcorp.typepad.com/rodcorp/2003/09/illustrated_inv.html Illustrated Invisible Cities]
* [http://www.nybooks.com/articles/article-preview?article_id=9491 Fabulous Calvino by Gore Vidal in The New York Review of Books (Unfortunately, Subscription Required)]
* [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9404E7DA1138F931A15752C0A962948260&scp=4&sq=Invisible+Cities+Calvino&st=nyt Calvino's Urban Allegories by Franco Ferruci in The New York Times]
* [http://www.medhasnotes.com/invisiblecities.html Notes on the structure and meaning of the novel by Medha Patel-Schwarz]
[[Category:1972 novels]]
[[Category:Novels by Italo Calvino]]
[[Category:Postmodern literature]]
[[de:Die unsichtbaren Städte]]
[[fr:Les Villes invisibles]]
[[it:Le città invisibili]]
[[sw:Majiji yasiyoonekana]]
[[tr:Görünmez Kentler]]
[[zh:看不见的城市]]