If on a Winter's Night a Traveller (Vintage classics) Book

This is like nothing you've ever read before.

There aren't many books about which you could make such a bold statement with such confidence. But Italo Calvino's "If On a Winter's Night a Traveller" is such a unique book - telling such a unique story and structured in such a unique way - that I think I'm on pretty safe ground.

At first glance, the book appears to be a reasonably straightforward affair, telling the tale of a reader who is enjoying a book that he unfortunately finds impossible to finish for a variety of reasons (such as printing errors or missing pages). As he embarks on a quest to seek out a complete version of his book, a convoluted series of mildly farcical events leads him to stumble across a host of other works of literature - as well as throwing him into contact with a woman who soon becomes a partner in his quest, as well as a potential love interest.

But beyond this simple outline, there's something far more special at play here, with the structure of Calvino's novel immediately marking it out as unusual. Each odd-numbered chapter - which describes the story outlined above - is written in the second person, effectively making the reader the protagonist of the book (since all of the events described are happening to 'you'). And every even-numbered chapter is an extract from a book that 'you' are reading as part of your continue your quest to complete the book that 'you' started with - which just so happens to be called "If On a Winter's Night a Traveller"...!

If that sounds a little confusing, then don't let it put you off, as the informal tone of the book and the clear distinctions between sections help the structure of the novel to fall into place almost unnoticeably. However, it's nevertheless incredibly inventive, and filled with postmodern touches - including an entire tangent towards the end of the book which debates the meaning of the second-person (is it really 'you', or just an abstract idea of 'you'?) before beginning an entirely separate second-person segment that temporarily casts 'you' in the role of the book's female protagonist rather than the male.

There's also a lot of fun to be had with Calvino's decision to apply completely different writing styles to the various books that 'you' encounter throughout the story. Not only does this offer a huge amount of variety (providing chapters that parody detective thrillers; kitchen-sink drama; erotica; science-fiction; and historical non-fiction), but it also casts an influence over the overarching story. The plot of each odd-numbered chapter - depicting the "real world" action, remember - is influenced in subtle ways by the tone of the extract that precedes it, meaning that the central story is able to take as many twists and turns as there are different literary styles to explore. In this way, Calvino comments not only on individual genres of writing - demonstrating a real gift for pastiche - but also on the way that literature as a whole affects the reader, ultimately making the point that our real lives are so complex that they simply can't be pigeonholed into a single genre in the way that so much of our reading material is.

I hope this review doesn't put you off the book by making it sound overly high-minded and pretentious, because whilst it's certainly full of innovative, post-modern elements, it's also a hugely fun, farcical and imaginative romp in its own right. However, for those who want to look a little further than the main story, there are plenty of hugely interesting ideas here, in terms of both structure and content. If you love books and you love reading - and if you didn't, why would you be perusing find-book.co.uk in the first place? - you're sure to get a lot out of "If On a Winter's Night a Traveller".

If on a Winter's Night a Traveller : Paperback : Vintage Publishing : 9780099430896 : : 20 Feb 1992 : You go into a bookshop and buy If on a Winter's Night a Traveller by Italo Calvino. You try to track down the original book you were reading but end up with a different narrative again. This remarkable novel leads you through many different books including a detective adventure, a romance, a satire, an erotic story, a diary and a quest.