This is a fabulous book! Cosimo decides after an argument with his father that he will go and live in the trees and not come down! In fact he is true to his word (how many of us made equally silly promises when we were young and couldn't keep them?). He manages to live a full and useful life in the trees, preventing fires spreading, hunting food for himself and even having love affairs. Here is a lesson in sustainability and living closer to nature, a plea for tolerance for everyone who chooses to live their lives differently and a totally entertaining read.
It's by Calvino, of course its brilliant!
The last book of Calvino's that I read was If on a Winter's Night a Traveler but that was back in graduate school. I'll have to look into this one. Thanks for the recommendation.
ReplyDeleteTwo books that I keep recommending to everyone are David Shumate's High Water Mark and David Schickler's Kissing in Manhattan, both of which are just amazing in part because they are unlike anything else I've read.
Sounds like a cool book. Thanks for the info.
ReplyDeleteHope you are having a good weekend.
I'll add it to my reading list - hope it's in our library! I haven't read anything by Calvino, but I keep hearing about him.
ReplyDeleteTime to be adventurous and try something new...glad to have stumbled across your blog and discovered such a highly endorsed bit of adventure.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments - bgfay I loved If on a Winters Night a Traveller too.... Thanks for your recommendations, I'll look out for them.
ReplyDeleteCalvino is one of my favourite authors, his writing is so innovative and so deeply felt too. Read anything by him you can find....
ooh, ooh, isn't it a great book?? this is my favourite book in the world i believe (ties for first place with 'one hundred years of solitude'). calvino was a great, and cosimo is my tree-living hero ...and the ending is really beautiful too. this is part of the 'our ancestors' trilogy by calvino - the other two are 'il visconte dimezzato' and 'il cavaliere inesistente' - i'm not certain how the titles are translated precisely into english, but are also worth reading.
ReplyDeleteShadowsandclouds - I have the whole trilogy in English! I also have The Baron in the Trees in Italian for when I'm feeling confident..... He's a brilliant writer
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