Cosmicomics by Italo Calvino

[Wilde woman]

Cosmicomics is a series of vignettes about the creation and evolution of the universe, as seen through the eyes of a seemingly immortal, omniscient, but endearingly emotional creature named Qfwfq. Qfwfq recounts his experiences of such cataclysmic events as the creation of the universe (mixed with his emergence into consciousness), the expansion of the universe, the coming of colors into a gray world, the creation of signs and of matter, his foresight of things to come, and his existence as a dinosaur on the edge of extinction. Throughout, we never come to know exactly what Qfwfq is - because he is constantly changing his form - from an amorphous bit of matter to a mollusk to a dinosaur and even, it is implied, into a human. But the beauty of the book, in my opinion, is the juxtaposition of such cosmic occurrences and grand philosophical musings with the personal, even petty experiences of Qfwfq. For example, in "Games without End", Qfwfq plays a game of marbles with his rival Pfwfp, and - in the process - creates new elements, because their "marbles" are actually atoms of elements. And in "The Light Years", Qfwfq communicates with planets light-years apart...but does so in a hilarious exchange which is meant to help him keep face after an embarrassing incident. While Qfwfq races to repair his reputation, he must wait longer and longer (the "light-years" on the title) for his frantic messages to reach their recipients.

The book is astonishing in its originality and I don't even know what genre it's considered (sci-fi? fiction? fable?). Admittedly, I'm biased because these stories were among the first I read in their original Italian during my undergrad years. However, this particular translation (by William Weaver) is also wonderful. My favorites are "The Distance of the Moon", in which the orbit of the moon is intertwined with a poignant story of unrequited love; "The Aquatic Uncle", in which a love-struck Qfwfq must accept the fact that his beloved is literally evolving into a new species; "The Dinosaurs", which could be read as a fable about racism or prejudice; and "The Spiral", a gorgeous meditation on the artist and creation. I'm now looking forward to reading Calvino's t-zero, which features the return of Qfwfq.

Highly highly recommended.

[Virgil]

I have not read that work Wilde Woman, but I do love Calvino, and you have really piqued my interest in this. By the way, whenever you see a work translated from Italian of any author by William Weaver, grab it. He is probably the best.

And by the way, Calvino should have won the Nobel prize, and I believe he was going to but unfortunately died prematurely.

[prendrelemick]

A great review of a brilliant book. My favorite story is "The Form of Space", that menage-et-trois between Ursula, Lieutenant Fennimore and Qfwfq as they "fall" through space with parallel trajectories.

[Babbalanja]

I love Calvino. Cosmicomics and its semi-sequel t zero are both among my favorite of his works.

I admit I thought If on a Winter's Night a Traveler was his best and most satirical work, and Invisible Cities his most poetic. But the Cosmicomics novels were phenomenal.

Regards,

Istvan

[stlukesguild]

I absolutely loved Cosmicomics... at least the expurgated American edition. Now I discover that the Complete Cosmicomics runs some 432 pages as opposed to the edition I read at 150+ pages. It seems that a copyright dispute is holding up the release of the Complete Cosmicomics in the US. Hopefully that will be ironed out soon... or I will have to bite the bullet and pay for the imported edition... being a Calvino fanatic and all. I thin only Borges made a deep an impact on me of Post-Modern writers.

[IceM]

I've never actually read anything by Italo Calvino yet (I know, I'm still a literature nub) but you can't believe how excited I am to read this for the summer. My 10-book requirement has a companion now. Great review. Thanks.