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Title: The Baron in the Trees by Italo Calvino, Archibald Colquhoun ISBN: 0-15-610680-9 Publisher: Harvest Books Pub. Date: March, 1977 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.45 (29 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Charming and Whimsical but Also Poignant and Sad
Comment: I love everything Italo Calvino ever wrote. His writing has a light, whimsical charm that is present no matter what his subject matter and that never fails to win me over. "The Baron in the Trees" is one of Calvino's most charming and whimsical stories, but it's also touched with poignancy and sadness, a mixture at which Calvino excelled.
When Cosimo makes his decision to live his life in the tree tops, we don't doubt that he'll do it. He's a perfectly believable character and perfectly drawn, as is his more practical, down-to-earth (literally) brother. The supporting characters are also very well-drawn and very believable. I don't know of any writer but Calvino who could make us believe in and sympathize with a person who lives out his life in the trees. Cosimo studies, endures illness and injury and even conducts love affairs from his arboreal home.
I love this book and it's one of my "Calvino favorites." It might not be quite the masterpiece that "If on a winter's night a traveler" is but it comes very close. I think it's a wonderful place to start if you've never read Calvino and you want a good idea of the charm and whimsy and pathos this extraordinary writer was capable of.
I will always remember and treasure this story.
Rating: 4
Summary: Another great book from Italo Calvino
Comment: Interestingly enough, I had read another book about a man who lives up in the trees and is thought of as enlightened (_Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard_ by Kiran Desai) and this book is far superior. _Baron in the Trees_ begins with this idea and takes it so much further. For one thing, the Baron Cosimo doesn't just live in ONE tree, but travels around from tree to tree, extremely far distances. While this seemed a little bit implausible to me, because the book never tries to pass itself off as a literal tale, it's quite acceptable. While I agree that the book has many messages on another level, the aspect of the book that appealed the most to me was the sheer romance of it. His incredible love with the little girl next door (who of course grows into quite a woman!) and his very different love of a girl he meets when he travels to meet others who he has heard live in trees, are the parts of the book that remain the most with me. Also, the number of adventures that he has, and his relationship with his pet dog, as well as the entertaining side characters (his sister, who makes suppers from absolutely horrifying ingredients! his mother, who embroiders military strategies onto pillows! who wouldn't be crazy about THAT stuff??) made this a truly enjoyable read for me.
Rating: 5
Summary: Being True to One's Convictions
Comment: While IF ON A WINTER'S NIGHT A TRAVELER is well regarded as Italo Calvino's masterpiece, I liked THE BARON IN THE TREES almost as much. I first read it in English and lately, because I've been studying Italian in preparation for a move to Italy, I read it in Italian as IL BARONE RAMPANTE. I can say that the English translation I read loses almost nothing and is very, very good.
Italo Calvino is well known for his light, whimsical style of writing that make his books sound more like fairy tales or fables than novels and this is very true of THE BARON IN THE TREES.
The protagonist of THE BARON IN THE TREES is Cosimo Piovasco di Rondo, who, at the tender age of twelve, has a minor spat with his parents and decides to leave his earthly existence behind and live in the treetops of his family's estate instead. The year is 1767, and the narrator, Cosimo's younger brother, tells us that in that day, trees were far more plentiful so Cosimo was able to "walk" from village to village and even to the seashore.
One might think that an arboreal existence would mean a deprived existence. Such was definitely not the case with the inventive Cosimo (and the inventive Calvino). Cosimo manages to educate himself (he is quite well read), groom himself and even conduct a romance...all in the trees...and seemingly with few problems.
Although THE BARON IN THE TREES is as whimsical a book as Calvino ever wrote (except perhaps for IF ON A WINTER'S NIGHT A TRAVELER), it is also a book about being true to oneself and one's convictions. Although Cosimo's reason for ascending to the treetops might have been rather slight, his reasons for remaining there become more and more substantial as the book moves along.
This is a charming (and yes, whimsical) book, but it also has a dark, brooding, sad quality to it that I found pitch perfect. The prose is vintage Calvino and his fans, of which I am one, are sure to love it. I don't think it's his best work; I think IF ON A WINTER'S NIGHT A TRAVELER and INVISIBLE CITIES surpass it for sheer excellence. THE BARON IN THE TREES is still a book that shouldn't be overlooked by anyone who loves good literature and especially by anyone who loves the work of Italo Calvino.
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Title: The Nonexistent Knight and The Cloven Viscount by Italo Calvino, J. Ferrone, H. Wolff ISBN: 0156659751 Publisher: Harvest Books Pub. Date: March, 1977 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: If on a Winter's Night a Traveler by Italo Calvino, William Weaver ISBN: 0156439611 Publisher: Harvest Books Pub. Date: October, 1982 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: Invisible Cities (A Harvest/Hbj Book) by Italo Calvino, William Weaver ISBN: 0156453800 Publisher: Harvest Books Pub. Date: May, 1978 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: Difficult Loves by Italo Calvino, William Weaver, Archibald Colquhoun ISBN: 0156260557 Publisher: Harvest Books Pub. Date: September, 1985 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: Cosmicomics by Italo Calvino ISBN: 0156226006 Publisher: Harvest Books Pub. Date: 04 October, 1976 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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