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Our Ancestors

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( 4,058 ratings, 279 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Our Ancestors by Italo Calvino is a whimsical trilogy exploring the fantastical journeys of three unconventional heroes. Through enchanting narratives, the books delve into themes of identity, society, and the human condition, set against vibrant and imaginative backdrops. Each story features a distinct protagonist facing surreal challenges, blending playful storytelling with profound reflections on life.
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

This book may appeal to you if you appreciate imaginative storytelling that combines elements of fantasy, allegory, and satire. Known for its whimsical and thought-provoking narratives, it offers a unique blend of humour and deep philosophical insights, inviting you to reflect on human nature and society.

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Viscount Medardo is bisected by a Turkish cannonball on the plains of Bohemia; These three vivid images are the points of departure for Calvino's classic triptych of moral tales, now published in one volume and all displaying the exuberant talent of a master storyteller.

'The most magically ingenious of the contemporary Italian novelists' The Times

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

A triptych of allegorical fables told in Calvino's ingenious genre-defying style.

Viscount Medardo is bisected by a Turkish cannonball on the plains of Bohemia; Baron Cosimo, at the age of twelve, retires to the trees for the rest of his days; Charlemagne's knight, Agiluf, is an empty suit of armour. These three vivid images are the points of departure for Calvino's classic triptych of moral tales, now published in one volume and all displaying the exuberant talent of a master storyteller.

'The most magically ingenious of the contemporary Italian novelists' - The Times

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Italo Calvino's Our Ancestors is celebrated for its whimsical and ingenious storytelling, bringing life to allegorical tales with extraordinary creativity. His ability to craft fantastical narratives with stunning prose and unique conceits sets him apart, offering readers a blend of humour and insight. The trilogy's tales invoke a sense of familiarity unearthed in new light, creating a delightful and thought-provoking reading experience.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780099430865

Publisher: Vintage Publishing

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 20 February 1992

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Vintage Classics

Contributors:

  • Translated by Archibald Colquhoun

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 25.0mm

Width: 130.0mm

Height: 198.0mm

Weight: 281g

Pages: 400

About the Author

Italo Calvino (Author, Introducer) Italo Calvino was born in Cuba in 1923 and grew up in Italy. He was an essayist and journalist and a member of the editorial staff of Einaudi in Turin. One of the most respected writers of the twentieth century, his best-known works of fiction include Invisible Cities, If on a Winter's Night a Traveller, Marcovaldo and Mr Palomar. In 1973 he won the prestigious Premio Feltrinelli. He died in 1985. A collection of Calvino's posthumous personal writings, The Hermit in Paris, was published in 2003.

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