No, not because of the threesome in the story prior to this, Chapter 5, but rather that the thought occurred to me that if this novel were to be held to sexual standards, that’s where it’d likely settle most comfortably, in the realm of kinky.
It goes beyond the point of view to bring such innovation into the first and second person that includes the reader in its intricate web of intrigue. The last book that I read that touched on the idea of so intimate an access to a novel being written was Flann O’Brien’s At Swim Two Birds. Calvino brings everybody into the novel to stand there alongside you; here, a history of writers:
"What does the name of an author on the jacket matter? Let us move forward in thought to three thousand years from now. Who knows which books from our period will be saved, and who knows which authors’ names will be remembered? Some books will remain famous but will be considered anonymous works, as for us the epic of Gilgamesh; other authors’ names will still be well known, but none of their works will survive, as was the case with Socrates; or perhaps all the surviving books will be attributed to a single, mysterious author, like Homer." (p. 101)
This, (the above) was the response from the translator who put the impossibly mixed up versions of several novels into being.
There is such a free flow of time travel here, not only because of the different stories that the main story readers are pursuing, but in bringing in the reader of this whole work itself. It plays with and off and against all the rules of narrative. It does not accept that this goes here and that should follow, but rather tests and explores as one would go beyond missionary position.
I will want to read more of Calvino’s work, but I can already say, halfway through this novel, that it’s one of my favorite books.
The Lost Children: A Charity Anthology