The Written World and the Unwritten World
  • Published: 2 May 2023
  • ISBN: 9780141394923
  • Imprint: Penguin Classics
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 384
  • RRP: $24.99

The Written World and the Unwritten World

Collected Non-Fiction

Formats & editions
Paperback
2 May 2023
EBook
12 Jan 2023
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An ingenious exploration of the meaning of literature, from one of Italy's most beloved writers

'If the world is increasingly senseless, all we can do is try to give it a style'

The difference between life and literature; the good intentions of holiday reading; the avante-garde; the fate of the novel; the fantastical; the art of translation: these are just some of the ideas in The Written World and the Unwritten World. A collection of essays, articles, interviews, correspondence, notes and other occasional pieces on writing, reading and interpreting books, this work gives us new insight into Italo Calvino's expansive, curious and generous mind.

Translated by Ann Goldstein
  • Published: 2 May 2023
  • ISBN: 9780141394923
  • Imprint: Penguin Classics
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 384
  • RRP: $24.99
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About the author

Italo Calvino

Italo Calvino was born in Cuba in 1923 and grew up in Italy. He was an essayist and journalist and a member of the editorial staff of Einaudi in Turin. One of the most respected writers of the twentieth century, his best-known works of fiction include Invisible Cities, If on a Winter's Night a Traveller, Marcovaldo and Mr Palomar. In 1973 he won the prestigious Premio Feltrinelli. He died in 1985. A collection of Calvino's posthumous personal writings, The Hermit in Paris, was published in 2003.

Also by Italo Calvino

Last Comes the Raven
Cosmicomics
The Narrative of Trajan's Column
The Baron in the Trees
The Distance of the Moon
Letters 1941-1985
Letters 1941-1985
See all

Praise for The Written World and the Unwritten World

Wonderful . . . surveys his varied interests and discerning style . . . Calvino's prose is sparkling as ever, and he approaches ideas with wit and an open mind, always ready to challenge a stale point of view. This anthology will delight Calvino fans old and new

Publishers Weekly

Electric . . . this rich collection of essays, reviews, interviews and more . . . are not only the backstory to his fictional method, but often another expression of it

Tim Adams, Observer

Glimmering insight and wit . . . incisive . . . reading this book is time spent with a first-rate mind

Chris Power, The Sunday Times

Playful . . . unfailingly stimulating . . . there are plenty of delights

John Self, Guardian

Engagingly whimsical . . . a wry sense of humour . . . there are gems to be mined. And, like real precious stones, they are found in unlikely places

Economist

It is for these moments of pathos, irony and honesty, when palaces of dazzling reflection are swept aside and the most adventurous thinking is undone, that one reads Italo Calvino

Tim Parks, TLS

Intelligent, witty, pleasingly erudite and razor-sharp

Alberto Manguel, Literary Review