Invisible Cities ITALO CALVINO
EX LIBRIS
VINTAGE CLASSICS
ITALO CALVINO
INVISIBLECITIES
ItaloCalvinowasborninCubain1923,andgrew upinItaly.Hewasanessayistandjournalistanda memberoftheeditorialstaffofEinaudiinTurin.
Hisothernovelsinclude Ifonawinter’snighta traveller and TheCastleofCrossedDestinies. In 1973hewontheprestigiousPremioFeltrinelli.He diedin1985.
ALSOBYITALOCALVINO
ThePathtotheSpiders’Nests
Last Comes the Raven
Adam,OneAfternoon
OurAncestors
WhyReadtheClassics?
Marcovaldo
Cosmicomics
TimeandtheHunter
TheWatcherandOtherStories
ItalianFolktales
Ifonawinter’snightatraveller
TheCastleofCrossedDestinies
MrPalomar
TheLiteratureMachine
SixMemosfortheNextMillennium
UndertheJaguarSun
TheRoadtoSanGiovanni
NumbersintheDark
DifficultLoves
HermitinParis
ITALOCALVINO InvisibleCities
TRANSLATEDFROMTHEITALIANBY
WilliamWeaver
Vintage Classics is part of the Penguin Random House group of companies whose addresses can be found at global.penguinrandomhouse.com
This edition published in Vintage Classics in 2023
First published in Great Britain by Secker and Warburg in 1974
First published in Italy with the title Le città invisibili
Copyright © Giulio Einaudi Editore SpA, Turin, 1972
English translation copyright © Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc., 1974
Italo Calvino has asserted their right to be identified as the author of this Work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988
penguin.co.uk/vintage-classics
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 9780099429838
Printed and bound in Great Britain by Clays Ltd, Elcograf S.p.A.
The authorised representative in the EEA is Penguin Random House Ireland, Morrison Chambers, 32 Nassau Street, Dublin D02 YH68
Penguin Random House is committed to a sustainable future for our business, our readers and our planet. This book is made from Forest Stewardship Council® certified paper.
1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2
C O N TE N TS 1 ..... 5 Cities & Memory • 1 6 Cities & Memory•2 7 Cities & Desire• 18 Cities & Memory•3 9 Cities & Desire•2 10 Cities & Signs• 1 11 Cities & Memory • 413 Cities & Desire•3 14 Cities & Signs•2 16 ThinCities• 1 17 ..... 18 2 ..... 23 Cities & Memory•5 26 Cities & Desire• 4 28 Cities & Signs•3 29 ThinCities•2 30 Trading Cities• 1 31 ..... 32 3 ..... 37 Cities & Desire•5 39 Cities & Signs• 440
ThinCities•3 42 Trading Cities•2 44 Cities & Eyes• 145 ..... 47 4 ..... 51 Cities & Signs•5 53 ThinCities• 4 55 Trading Cities•3 56 Cities & Eyes•2 58 Cities &Names• 1 59 ..... 61 5 ..... 65 ThinCities•5 67 Trading Cities• 4 68 Cities & Eyes•3 69 Cities &Names•2 70 Cities & theDead • 172 ..... 74 6 ..... 77 Trading Cities•5 79 Cities & Eyes• 4 81 Cities &Names•3 83 Cities & theDead •2 84 Cities & theSky• 186 ..... 88
7 .... 93 Cities & Eyes•5 95 Cities &Names• 4 96 Cities & theDead •3 98 Cities & theSky•2 100 ContinuousCities• 1102 ..... 104 8 ..... 109 Cities &Names•5 112 Cities & theDead • 4 114 Cities & theSky•3 115 ContinuousCities•2 116 HiddenCities• 1 117 ..... 118 9 ..... 123 Cities & theDead •5 127 Cities & theSky• 4130 ContinuousCities•3 131 HiddenCities•2 133 Cities & theSky•5 135 ContinuousCities• 4137 HiddenCities•3 139 ContinuousCities•5 141 HiddenCities• 4 143 HiddenCities•5 145 ..... 147
InvisibleCities
ITAL OC ALVIN O
1
KublaiKhandoesnotnecessarilybelieveeverythingMarco Polosayswhenhedescribesthecitiesvisitedonhis expeditions,buttheemperoroftheTartarsdoescontinue listeningtotheyoungVenetianwithgreaterattentionand curiositythanheshowsanyothermessengerorexplorerof his.Inthelivesofemperorsthereisamomentwhichfollows prideintheboundlessextensionoftheterritorieswehave conquered,andthemelancholyandreliefofknowingweshall soongiveupanythoughtofknowingandunderstanding them.Thereisasenseofemptinessthatcomesoverusat evening,withtheodoroftheelephantsaftertherainandthe sandalwoodashesgrowingcoldinthebraziers,adizziness thatmakesriversandmountainstrembleonthefallowcurves oftheplanisphereswheretheyareportrayed,androllsup,one aftertheother,thedespatchesannouncingtousthecollapse ofthelastenemytroops,fromdefeattodefeat,andflakesthe waxofthesealsofobscurekingswhobeseechourarmies’ protection,offeringinexchangeannualtributesofprecious metals,tannedhides,andtortoiseshell.Itisthedesperate momentwhenwediscoverthatthisempire,whichhadseemed tousthesumofallwonders,isanendless,formlessruin,that corruption’sgangrenehasspreadtoofartobehealedbyour scepter,thatthetriumphoverenemysovereignshasmadeus theheirsoftheirlongundoing.OnlyinMarcoPolo’saccounts wasKublaiKhanabletodiscern,throughthewallsandtowers destinedtocrumble,thetraceryofapatternsosubtleitcould escapethetermites’gnawing.
5