Reviews

If on a Winter's Night a Traveler, by Italo Calvino

nipqueen's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful informative lighthearted reflective relaxing fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

ana610615's review against another edition

adventurous challenging funny mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

elisala's review against another edition

3.0

Un bien drôle de bouquin, jouant avec les principes de lecture, avec les idées du lecteur, avec l'écriture, aussi ; c'est à peu près indescriptible sans trop en dire pour les futurs lecteurs, mais en gros l'auteur intercale une histoire de lecteur de plus en plus délirante avec d'autres morceaux littéraires plus ou moins en phase avec la vie du lecteur.
Au final, je ne suis pas vraiment convaincue par le tout, c'est trop absurde, trop n'importe quoi, sans qu'on voit vraiment où l'auteur veut en venir (si tant est qu'il veuille venir où que ce soit d'ailleurs...). Je pense que l'auteur a voulu s'amuser avec les styles d'écriture, se faire plaisir dans le délire, malheureusement je ne l'ai pas trop suivi dans cette voie-là... J'en garderai quelques bons extraits, dans lesquels tout lecteur un tant soit peu accro se reconnaîtra très certainement...

mkufner24's review against another edition

4.0

this made my head spin in a wonderful, mystifying, and slightly nauseous way. I'm still not sure what I just read. but I'd say that any book that leaves me wondering, "misogyny or parody?" deserves a read. and a reread.

gommette's review

4.0

Narration extrêmement intelligente (dans sa structure) qui donne envie de lire le livre pour la forme, pas pour le contenu. Male gaze gênant, comme le faisaient nos vieux croutons dans les années 80.

bethegaycowboy's review against another edition

3.0

I didn't really like this book. At first, I was fascinated by the incipits of the novels and the story of the Readers was interesting, but then it all kinda got messed up and I stopped following the story and the novels all sounded the same (really, I liked the first four or five, but after? I can't seem to recall a single one of them). The prose was nice and I'm going to give Calvino another try sooner or later, but for now this book gets two and a half stars from me.

all_piss_and_vinegar's review

adventurous challenging mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

_grmlin's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

i think more books should just have openings of random books that way i can be delusional about several books at once 

saucysaucepan's review

4.0

4.5 stars

What a book!
What. a. book.

librelivre's review

5.0

This was stupendous. After all is said and done, (mostly said), this is such an inventive metaphysical tale that it deserves to be read and reread for the ages. It is not without its faults but will mark you. I recommend it to the writers and philosophers, to lovers of books and solitude. In short— to us! I absorbed this on Audible, but while the narrator was remarkable, I’d say pick it (physically) up instead.