ame3_33's review against another edition
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.75
Lezioni importanti che mi hanno fatto riflettere sugli elementi che si dovrebbero tenere conto durante la scrittura. Ricco di esempi e di autori che certamente andrò a spulciare.
el30n0rabru's review against another edition
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
cocoawolf29's review against another edition
4.0
A very interesting look into how to write for this next millennium
dayface's review against another edition
4.0
A. Gravity. Implied lightness, a focus on weight and pressure through motion and expression. One must be graceful, dart the clouds and soar the skies; and then apply pressure, and pressure, pressure, pressure. Then suffocate. Stab. Break. Light as Perseus's ascent to the clouds, and as true as his strike.
B. Swiftness. Mercury and Vulcan; the wordsmith and the adventurer together create the author - of various compositional percentages. I am 20% Mercury, out in the clouds, returning to advise my blacksmith, and 80% Vulcan, deep underground, equipping my Mercury with equipment. I should strive for 40/60 in either direction, I think.
C. Precision. Maat - the Egyptian goddess of scales, of balance. Write not exact, not vague, but with an exactness FOR vagueness. It is, in Calvino's opinion, wholly vague is the territory of the postmodern and the poets; film and television that has diminished a desire for excruciating exactitude. Leonardo da Vinci turned to writing more so in his later years, evolving his poor Latin into something professional, because the exactitude achieved through it brought him a satisfaction akin to his sketches and esteemed works.
D. Visualisation. Shocked by a sudden reference to Godel, Escher, and Bach (though this hypertext cross-referencing has become commonplace, now). Eludes to the cinema of the mind (I know a German word for this, Kopfkino), and it being forbidden for most of history to utilise in language (for visualisation could lead to sin). Now free, this power should be wielded – the ability to draw from the wellspring of the collective consciousness and our memories to create iconic images in the reader’s mind.
E. Multiplicity. That is, bite-size moments of encyclopaedic knowledge and wisdom, not necessarily trivialised but incorporated succinctly. Keep it short, even when long. There are infinite permutations possible when crafting, nurturing, maintaining a universe – but it is a UNI-VERSE, one song, and you must determine the right components in the right balance, like the inter-playing melodies of a fugue.
B. Swiftness. Mercury and Vulcan; the wordsmith and the adventurer together create the author - of various compositional percentages. I am 20% Mercury, out in the clouds, returning to advise my blacksmith, and 80% Vulcan, deep underground, equipping my Mercury with equipment. I should strive for 40/60 in either direction, I think.
C. Precision. Maat - the Egyptian goddess of scales, of balance. Write not exact, not vague, but with an exactness FOR vagueness. It is, in Calvino's opinion, wholly vague is the territory of the postmodern and the poets; film and television that has diminished a desire for excruciating exactitude. Leonardo da Vinci turned to writing more so in his later years, evolving his poor Latin into something professional, because the exactitude achieved through it brought him a satisfaction akin to his sketches and esteemed works.
D. Visualisation. Shocked by a sudden reference to Godel, Escher, and Bach (though this hypertext cross-referencing has become commonplace, now). Eludes to the cinema of the mind (I know a German word for this, Kopfkino), and it being forbidden for most of history to utilise in language (for visualisation could lead to sin). Now free, this power should be wielded – the ability to draw from the wellspring of the collective consciousness and our memories to create iconic images in the reader’s mind.
E. Multiplicity. That is, bite-size moments of encyclopaedic knowledge and wisdom, not necessarily trivialised but incorporated succinctly. Keep it short, even when long. There are infinite permutations possible when crafting, nurturing, maintaining a universe – but it is a UNI-VERSE, one song, and you must determine the right components in the right balance, like the inter-playing melodies of a fugue.
asiaeffe's review against another edition
5.0
"L'opera letteraria è una di queste minime porzioni in cui l'universo si cristallizza in una forma, in cui acquista un senso, non fisso, non definitivo, non irrigidito in un'immobilità mortale, ma vivente come un organismo".
dancingprince's review against another edition
5.0
Fascinating for a bibliophile. The academic nature of the writing renders it complex and slightly inaccessible at times, but overall amazing.