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TOS: Assignment - Book Review

TOS Assignment – Book Review

Invisible Cities…

The name of the book by Italo Calvino describes the depth of it. According to me, every city lives by one rule – it HAS to die one or the other day no matter what it has gone through. The book portrays a conversation between the emperor of the Tartars, Kublai Khan and the young Venetian Marco Polo about cities that may or may not have existed. It is a book solely based on imagination to help a person eliminate the odds and to create a perfect city.

This book makes a point not only to describe the city, the layout, but also the inhabitants, their habits, their way of living. The special part about it is, the book forced me to think out of the box and compare it with reality.

The conversations between Marco Polo and the Emperor Kublai Khan kept me engrossed in the story and also interestingly read and understand the descriptions of each and every city out of the fifty five cities. It acts as a strong link as to what the author tries to explain and what the reader understands.

The architecture of the built cities is well described by Italo Calvino, the author. For eg., the city of Zenobia where it is described the way the bamboo houses are made with stilt supports for the balconies at different levels. This also makes me think of aesthetical view of the city.

The cities described are just the game of imagination of the human mind. For example, Marco Polo gives a description of cities ranging from posh cities like Diomira, to hidden ones and cities with no walls, floors or ceilings. It goes as far as cities where only those people live who have already faced death. It clearly is the creative human mind which can make one think of such cities of imagination as well. The cities are built in a planned way or just constructed by chance.

This wonderful book does not only make you enjoy reading but also helps you exercise your imagination to the fullest. ’Invisible Cities’ also has the capability to make a person think of different kinds of architecture in different terrains to create a city of his own.