Okay, so it’s time to be honest. When we first started reading “If On a Winter’s Night a Traveler,” I absolutely hated it. There was just something about the text that didn’t allow me to get involved. And when I’m not involved in a text….well….i usually stop reading it. But not this time. And I’m glad that I didn’t.
See, 260 pages after getting frustrated with the book, I had an epiphany and realize why I could not stand the book at first. Up until this novel, every book that I have read has had its substance at face value – i.e. I knew what I was reading – the plot, the characters, the setting, everything. And Calvino totally threw me a curveball with this text – and the discomfort made me automatically thrown up a guard a say “Ugh. I hate this book.”
As Pr. Schwartz said in reply to my whining – “Well, maybe the book hates you back.” But no. Because now I have an inkling of the book’s point. Calvino doesn’t care about plot summary or linear timelines or anything that makes up a traditional book. He is giving almost a social commentary on the way that people expect to read a book. He is informing me and the thousands out there like me that reading isn’t so cookie-cutter; every book doesn’t have to follow the cycle of rising action, climax, falling action, and all the other “literary terms” in between.
So I applaud you, Calvino. But it was like pulling teeth the entire time.
I see your point, but what I want to know is why Calvino feels so inclined to teach society a lesson? Sure, all books are different and therefore differ in the way they are read, but I wouldn't call the way society reads "cookie-cutter."
ReplyDeleteWhat is so wrong with expecting a storyline that the reader can follow throughout the entire book? A book can have many different layers and even many different timelines, but taking that away makes it really hard to enjoy a book.
As I discussed in my post, it is like he is trying to strip us of individuality in that we each read a different way but he is saying our ways are wrong.
I don't necessarily think Calvino was saying that the way people reads is wrong, rather I think he was just commenting on how people read. Like how we discussed in class- no matter how we interpret something every book can only be read one way. I think Calvino was trying to highlight this concept.
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