. Spinning .

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.

Chapter 5–the numbered chapters being the story of the 2nd person narrator who along with the Other Reader (Ludmilla) each purchased the book "If on a winter’s night a traveler" only to find that it is a series of unrelated story beginnings (which are here, in the REAL Calvino book, as every other section).  I had just noted that two of the "stories" out of the four were unrelated, though two others were related–if only to each other.  Yet here, in Chapter 5, I read this:

Seated at a cafe table, you sum up the situation, you and Ludmilla.  "To recapitulate: Without fear of wind or vertigo is not Leaning from the steep slope, which, in turn, is not Outside the town of Malbork, which is quite different from If on a winter’s night a traveler.  The only thing we can do is go to the source of all this confusion."  (p. 91)

But that’s not true!  The second story, Outside the town of Malbork, has the first person narrator about to leave his home in Kudgiwa to exchange places with another young man and with any luck, he will also find out more about a girl whose picture the young man carries, a lady by the name of Zwida Ozkart.  There is also mention of Mr. Kauderer, and of his estate at Petkwo.

In the third story, Leaning from the steep slope, it appears that this same character is now at his destination, and he does meet up with Mr. Kauderer as well as the young Zwida.

So what gives?  Is it possible that Calvino has thrown a curve here, perhaps the introduction of an unreliable narrator in the chapters of the one path of story that admittedly continues unbroken?

Ludilla appears to agree, however.  So is it me?

In this next section of the bought book our narrator is reading, the story begins with new characters and setting. Titled "Without fear of wind or vertigo," it takes place in what seems to be a war zone of a country on the brink of revolution.  Therefore, we have intrigue and mystery; we also have some romance in the manner of menage a trois.

Calvino’s strange way of talking about reading and writing the same story he is telling is losing its intrusive quality and it becomes more natural as I read along:

I am narrating this incident in all its details because–not immediately, but afterward–it was considered a premonition of everything that was to happen, and also because all these images of the period must cross the page like the army vehicles crossing the city (even if the words "army vehicles" evoke somewhat indefinite images; it’s not bad for a certain indefiniteness to remain in the air, appropriate for the confusion of the period)…(p. 79)

It is not mere journal-form here, wherein the author may write with the understanding by the reader that the words are meant specifically as documentation, perhaps, or a diary of a certain time.  The words above supposedly are from a novel–albeit within another novel.  Calvino appears to do something, that is, use an element of style, and then proceed to explain and examine it.

On another point, Calvino does not shy away from sensuality in writing, but puts it in a most eloquent manner:

I tried to escape, insinuating myself with crawling movements toward the center of the spirals, where the lines slithered like serpents following the writing of Irina’s limbs, supple and restless, in a slow dance where it is not the rhythm that counts but the knotting and loosening of serpentine lines.  There are two serpents whose heads Irina grasps with her hands, and they react to her grasp, intensifying their own aptitude for rectilinear penetration, which she was insisting, on the contrary, that the maximum of controlled power should correspond to a reptile pliability bending to overtake her in impossible contortions. (p. 89)

Given Calvino’s simple setup for this scene, that the trio are inseparable, there can be no doubt as to the menage a trois taking place here, confirmed by the "two serpents whose heads Irina grasps…"  The plot point, however, is not to inject the reading with sex itself, but to emphasize both the relationship of the trio and to concentrate on the language used in describing the scene: rectilinear, serpentine.  Calvino is drawing lines here that the male characters are desperate to uphold and yet Irina is determined to maneuver into graceful curves.

With the next section of the "corrected" novel our narrator is reading we have a break in pattern; precisely, by a connection with the previous story in the book.  The reason for feeling the novel was improperly printed was the entrance of completely different characters, and yet we find that these two chapters do continue a moving story.

Then we get to Chapter 4 of the book (we are holding physically) and we meet the Other Reader, Ludmilla, and her sister, Lotaria who seem to be at odds about most things, and in particular, the validity of the book in question.

Lots of stories going on here.  Lots of disconnected connections. Links?