Why IF ON A WINTER'S NIGHT A TRAVELER was a difficult read for me
*Originally posted on Goodreads.
Having the Reader as a character seemed an interesting take to me as soon as I started Italo Calvino's If on a Winter's Night a Traveler. Then you end the first chapter and enter the story said Reader (you, in a way) is reading. You finish that section, and up come Chapter 2, revealing that you've been cut off, that you are missing the rest. Now, have this repeat, over and over again, the Reader going on a search for the completed story, evolving into stories, because again and again, you receive only that portion, and nothing else, of the story.
For me, this was extremely frustrating, as it is meant to. It's a lack of completion, anticipation being cut off. And while I knew precisely why this annoyed me, at least the Reader's story continued (though I was skeptical, expecting Calvino to pull the rug from there as well, revealing that, surprise, you will get no ending). Once more or less adjusted to this style, I entered Calvino's book each time already frustrated, knowing what was coming. I hate the incomplete. It is something I could never stand. But I needed to read this collection of incomplete stories for my class (for creative writing, finishing about a week ago). Even more than when reading Raymond Queneau's Exercises in Style, I knew that I'd never have read this had it not been assigned. It was an interesting read, especially when you get to the conspiracy with books in the Reader chapters, but my frustration was too much, making me feel distant from the book as a whole. But this is a personal problem, my need to always complete something, and the fact that the author is searching, and failing, for the rest of the stories, it just drives me mad. The ending did give a bit of a resolution, though not entirely what I was hoping for. Chapter 11 is immediately followed after by Chapter 12, no cut off story in between, and we see the Reader married, so there is somewhat of an ending.
To be honest, I do believe others should read this book, and not just to frustrate them as well. It's an interesting style, and the stories separating the Reader's paragraphs are intriguing (a few more than others). What I saw this book more as was a way to get others to write. Those books with prompts or pictures to help you write, for example, but this time you get a chapter, and need to continue on your own. After each "story", my mind was thinking of what could have happened next but never occurred. So, while not my favorite read, I am glad that I stuck through it, though me rereading If on a Winter's Night a Traveler seems rather unlikely.
Having the Reader as a character seemed an interesting take to me as soon as I started Italo Calvino's If on a Winter's Night a Traveler. Then you end the first chapter and enter the story said Reader (you, in a way) is reading. You finish that section, and up come Chapter 2, revealing that you've been cut off, that you are missing the rest. Now, have this repeat, over and over again, the Reader going on a search for the completed story, evolving into stories, because again and again, you receive only that portion, and nothing else, of the story.
For me, this was extremely frustrating, as it is meant to. It's a lack of completion, anticipation being cut off. And while I knew precisely why this annoyed me, at least the Reader's story continued (though I was skeptical, expecting Calvino to pull the rug from there as well, revealing that, surprise, you will get no ending). Once more or less adjusted to this style, I entered Calvino's book each time already frustrated, knowing what was coming. I hate the incomplete. It is something I could never stand. But I needed to read this collection of incomplete stories for my class (for creative writing, finishing about a week ago). Even more than when reading Raymond Queneau's Exercises in Style, I knew that I'd never have read this had it not been assigned. It was an interesting read, especially when you get to the conspiracy with books in the Reader chapters, but my frustration was too much, making me feel distant from the book as a whole. But this is a personal problem, my need to always complete something, and the fact that the author is searching, and failing, for the rest of the stories, it just drives me mad. The ending did give a bit of a resolution, though not entirely what I was hoping for. Chapter 11 is immediately followed after by Chapter 12, no cut off story in between, and we see the Reader married, so there is somewhat of an ending.
To be honest, I do believe others should read this book, and not just to frustrate them as well. It's an interesting style, and the stories separating the Reader's paragraphs are intriguing (a few more than others). What I saw this book more as was a way to get others to write. Those books with prompts or pictures to help you write, for example, but this time you get a chapter, and need to continue on your own. After each "story", my mind was thinking of what could have happened next but never occurred. So, while not my favorite read, I am glad that I stuck through it, though me rereading If on a Winter's Night a Traveler seems rather unlikely.
-Thanks, Covy
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