Marcopolo and I

On my previous blog I questioned about what was the purpose of Kublai Khan and Marco polo.  Finally I have the answer.  I kept on reading and I still didn’t understand until we had a discussion in class that made me realize that the explanation was right in front of me, only that I hadn’t realized it. “Kublai Khan does not necessarily believe everything Marco Polo says when he describes the cities visited on his expeditions, but the emperor of the Tartars does continue listening to the young Venetian with greater attention and curiosity than he shows any other messenger or explorer of his.”  (pg. 5) This is the first page of the book, and as I said before this book was just confusing. When I read that paragraph it didn’t mean anything but now it is the essence of the explanation. The reader is Kublai Khan and the Calvino is Marco polo. Weird isn’t it? But it makes it even more exciting.

I would be Kublai Khan due to the fact that I didn’t understand what Calvino was saying, just like Kublai Khan didn’t believe everything Marco polo said, but both of us kept on paying attention to him.  Although I didn’t understand what was going on I kept on reading and the question would still remain but it didn’t matter.  Now that I have the answer I have to pay more attention to what Calvino, or Marco polo is saying, because every little thing that he says, he will be giving us important clues about what is going on. Although this book is confusing I find it more interesting because it makes me be alert about what is going on so I can figure out the figurative meaning. Before it was just a book about weird cities, but now it is an equation that I have to solve. This reminds me about “Slaughter House-Five” in the way that we weren’t sure who was speaking to us. Although I know that it is a person that is passing through all the cities I still haven’t found out who it is. Is the person that is passing through the cities actually the reader who is reading the book but doesn’t get what is happening? I still don’t know. I have seen a pattern in all my blogs, which is that I always have questions. Sometimes having them can be irritating but it also makes the reading more interesting because I always want to find the answers. The answers to my question in this book are all hidden and some may never be answered, but I do look forward on my adventure on answering them.

This is one of the weirdest books I have ever read, I don’t understand what it wants to say but I look forward on finding that out.  I admire the way that Calvino writes, it is unique because it is not clear but when you find out the message you realize that it was right in front of you.  The way that he makes allegories and writes a story about a story makes it even more exciting.

Italo Calvino's, "Invisible Cities" is one word, confusing. As I started to read, I thought that I would somehow understand what was going on but I didn't. It is odd how Calvino starts describing cities right away, that I don't even understand. It is as if he expected for us to understand what he was talking about. But again this book has so many weird things, like the way that one can read it in tow ways. So maytbe Calvino just wants to keep on confusing us and figyure out his mesage on our own. Although it is frusturating, at the same time it is a challenge that I would like to pass. Also how he includes the dialogue between Kublai Khan and Marco Polo. How do these two relate?

I just kept on reading. I read about Isidora, Zirma, Despina and all of the cities had speacial characteristics. The one that grabed most my attention was Anastasia. "When you believe you are enjoying Anastasia wholly when you are only its slave." (pg. 12) How can a city which you believe you are enjoying end up to be one that is destroying you? I hand not understood how this could happen but then I remembered an important word, "allegory". This couldn't be a book just describing crazy cities, it has to have a meaning. That is when I started to think about something in our lives that makes you feel good but is actually destroying you. Drugs.

This book reminds me of Dantes Inferno, because it too was an allegory. It was the path of the life of a man, and I believe "Invisible Cities" is also doing so. " I too am returning from Zirma." (pg 19) That "I" I haven't figured out yet, but I hope I can. This book is one that we have to figure out what everything means, it is all figurative. Although reading it frusturates me because I don't understand clearly what is going on, it intrigues me to find out the meaning. The dialogue that shows up between Kublai Khan and Marcopolo makes my head spin even more because I don't understand the purpose of those two. Kublai Khan doesn't understand well what Marcopolo is saying but he still pays attention to him. And Marcopolo who is a great explorer tells him about the lands that he explors. In a way Marcopolo relates to this book because he would dicover new lands which can be seen as cities that we too as readers are exploring. But I still don't understand what the purpose of their dialogue or there presence in the book is. I would like to find out.