![]() ![]() Marco Polo and Kublai Khan did not speak the same language, hence the former used objects from the city to narrate his stories. The beautiful prose in Invisible Cities is inspiring and contemplative. ![]() The eye does not see things but images of things that mean other things… The wares which the vendors display on their stalls are valuable not in themselves but as signs of other things: the embroidered headband stands for elegance the gilded palanquin, power the volumes of Averroes, learning the ankle bracelet, voluptuousness. In the first vignette under “Cities and Signs”, Marco Polo talks about the city of Tamara: As the conversations progress, it is soon unveiled that Marco Polo is in fact reminiscing about and reflecting upon only one city – Venice, where he was born and eventually died. It reads like a series of vignettes where imaginary dialogues between Marco Polo and the all-powerful Kublai Khan are interspersed with evocative descriptions of cities that the former visited during his expeditions.Įach of the 55 imaginary cities – all named after women – represents an idea, a thought. Originally published in 1972 in Italian as Le città invisibili, this is an unusual piece of literary work. Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino is a remarkable book. ![]()
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