Rating: 
Summary: A Good Intro to Calvino
Review: This book by Calvino is certainly more conventional than something like "Cosmicomics," yet I found myself enjoying it more. Perhaps it's the feeling of flow a more developed plot brings or maybe it's just taken this long to get into Calvino's idiom. Even here, I found myself getting more into "The Cloven Viscount" than the
"Nonexistent Knight." Whether that's because I finally got into Calvino's writing style or one story is better than the other remains to be seen.
"Knight" is a cool fable in any case. Its satire, however, can be slightly off putting. For example, the first time we meet the female protagonist, she's peeing in a lake! Not a great first impression - but Calvino must have meant for that to be the case. Perhaps it's a joke or satire of courtly love. The ending "revelation" doesn't seem to have the impact I think Calvino meant it to have. However, in retrospect it makes sense. I do, however, love the character of "Agilulf" or perhaps "A Gulf" or emptiness, too. It's interesting to contrast him with the Good Un of the following novella.
"Viscount" was more enjoyable, though. I like its violence and thoughtfulness. One would expect one's sympathies to be with good in a good vs. evil fight. However, Calvino shows how even good is half of a whole. Moreover, it's fascinating how much easier it is to understand evil than good. Such themes and vital imagery make this a visceral and intelligent story.
Fables all, but good ones. A great place to start reading Calvino. Perhaps the rest of his work will make more sense after this introduction.
Rating: 
Summary: Ok, but not his best work
Review: As I'd previously read and enjoyed Calvino's The Baron in the Trees, I thought I'd try this collection of two novellas. While I more or less enjoyed the two stories, they're not quite as good as The Baron in the Trees. The first tale is of a knight whose every action is perfect, but has no physical body, he is literally an empty suit of armor. His perfection is an aphrodisiac to a female knight who has contempt for all other men, but finds him irresistible. Meanwhile, a naive young knight follows her around like a puppy. Meanwhile, another young knight seeks out the Order of the Holy Grail, who he claims as having fathered him. There's a kind of Shakespearean comedy element to all of this, especially in the hasty and tidy conclusion. However, one has to read it as a fable instructing us that though we seek spiritual and earthly perfection, they may not turn out to be what we want.The second tale is of a nobleman cut in half whose two halves live separately on: one evil, one good. This is a more straightforward and compact story, and clearly a warning against extremism of any kinds. The evil side is truly nasty, and the good one starts out beloved, but eventfully gets too pushy and interfering for everyone's good. Eventually the two halves are rejoined to make a balanced personality and everyone lives happily ever after. Both stories can also be read as existentialist meditations on the meaning of existence. They can also be read with an eye toward the horrors of WWII and the nature of evil. In the first tale, Charlemagne and his knights are bumbling fools for the most part, but still manage to engage in a bloody war. In the second, a carpenter's expertise is enlisted to create more and more elaborate torture and hanging devices, while a doctor abandons his commitment to helping people. In any event, if you like Calvino's other fabulist work, you'll like these two novellas, but they're probably not the place to start if you're unfamiliar with his work.
Rating: 
Summary: Philosophy and literature mingle...
Review: Calvino rarely, if ever, disappoints. This book includes two early stories, both of which have everything you would expect from Calvino: surrealism, wisdom, fabulism, and poignancy derived from bizarre and unexpected sources. Reading them is a unique experience, much like reading anything Calvino has written; these stories, being earlier works, are slightly more conventional (for Calvino) in that they follow a plot line and a story unfolds linearly (contrasted with later works such as "Invisible Cities" or "Cosmicomics" where there's a story, but not in a completely conventional sense). "The Nonexistent Knight" is about just that: a knight in Charlemagne's army who doesn't exist, but "inhabits" an empty suit of armor. The knight, Agilulf, is an exemplar of chivalry, and annoys almost everyone. When the validity of his knighthood is brought into question, a great chase ensues between the main characters of the story, which, when the smoke clears, culminates in a "confession" of the narrator. The story's mood is a strangely profound tongue-in-cheek. It is moving, funny, and intense. "The Cloven Viscount", by contrast, is a harsh and violent story that includes enough whimsy to keep it from sinking into a hopelessly depressing tale. After the mostly upbeat feel of "The Nonexistent Knight" the brutal imagery of this story is shocking. The story involves a Viscount who is in fact cloven, that is, literally cloven in two by a Turkish cannon. He is not only cloven physically, but in other more interesting ways. The implications this story presents are numerous and incredibly thought-provoking. When the two halves of the Viscount occupy the same town, the feelings of the townsfolk are summed up in this brilliant passage: "...our sensibilities became numbed, since we felt ourselves lost between an evil and a virtue equally inhuman." This short book is another incredible example of the writing of Italo Calvino. It may not be his absolute best work, but even Calvino at his worst makes for engaging and unforgettable reading. His stories defy description and stretch the boundaries of literature beyond what is usually expected. After reading one of his books, you just want to read more.
Rating:
Summary: excellent novella... (The Cloven Viscount)
Review: Calvino writes with a certain flair that is unmistakably pure genius. He covers deeply intellectual themes in seemingly simple manners. I could not help but compare his writing to that of Dickens, written with a sort of erudition that is very difficult to find. The novel flows in such a manner that one cannot put it down, as I read it in one sitting. He is in my opinion one of the best writers of the modern era. In this novel, he wants the reader to see that even goodness in its purest form lacks true wholeness. He intends to show the reader that one cannot have good without evil and vice versa. In order to achieve true happiness, one must find a balance between these two completely opposite forces within oneself. The treatment of the different themes in the story is very appropriate, and he uses ingenious symbolism to illustrate his points. I certainly recommend this novel to anyone with the slightest interest in modern or gothic literature. You can be certain that you will enjoy it.
Rating:
Summary: A fascinating mix of Existentialism and Medieval History
Review: Calvino's fascination with the Middle Ages seems almost satirical in these two very tongue-in-cheek novellas. In no way a beach read, these two pseudo-existential stories deal with basic principles of existence (or non-existence) after the fashion of a parable with omniscient narration. The characters are colorful, although sometimes the development is somewhat open-ended. Calvino molds his characters is such a way that one is not sure with whom to have sympathy. This perhaps is the novelist's greatest statement in showing the definitions of "good" and "evil" to be somewhat grey. Highly recommended read...think Italian Beckett.
Rating:
Summary: Fairy tales for adults
Review: I'm a huge fan of Italo Calvino, but it is hard to describe exactly what quality makes his books so wonderful. In one sense, this book is two fables that read like adult fairy tales: a knight who inhabits or doesn't a suit of armor and a nobleman who is split into two distinct personalities. He also has a style of writing that is almost liquid and translucent - it absolutely glitters. I would add that the translation is superb. I highly recommend this book to anyone.
Rating:
Summary: Please Read It
Review: If you are considering reading this book, you should read it. Calvino's prose is the wittiest, funniest, silliest and wisest prose written in the last fifty years. The uncanny ability to combine universals with particulars is a vanishing skill, yet Calvino pulls us along his philosophical adventures, sweetening the path with hilarious characters and wonderful scenarios. This will certainly open your eyes to a different world.
Rating:
Summary: Knights and viscounts
Review: Magical realism was never more magic than when Italo Calvino wrote it. While the two novellas "The Nonexistent Knight and The Cloven Viscount" are early work, his quirky satire and strange fantasy are in fine form here. The best description of Calvino's writing is: fairy tales for adults, which are smart and funny at the same time.
"The Nonexistant Knight" opens with Charlemagne and his army preparing for a massive battle -- except that one knight named Agilulf is, technically, nonexistant. Okay, he's the very image of honor and chivalry, but he's also a walking empty suit of white armor. For some reason, Charlemagne doesn't seem disturbed by this.
Fortunately, Agilulf is able to do his job despite not existing; Calvino's meditations on this are outstanding. Because of his ultra-perfection, Agilulf ends up attracting a naive young soldier, a feisty warrior woman, and an odd young knight who is looking for the Order of the Holy Grail. A Shakespearean tangle of sorts emerges before things start to sort themselves out...
"The Cloven Viscount" is a simpler work: A viscount is hit by a Turkish cannonball that somehow splits him in half. Surprisingly, he's not dead -- they're able to save the right half of his body. But when the right half goes home, it becomes increasingly clear that it only has half the personality as well. And unfortunately, it's the evil half.
As the various peasants try to deal with the viscount's vicious acts, the left half shows up as well. As it happens, the left half is the good half. He's also, despite his goody-goody personality, as much of a menace as the evil side. Can the two halves somehow get back into a whole man, or will they drive everyone else nuts?
Italo Calvino's work is always a bit whimsical, but there is actual substance under the whimsy. For example, Agilulf is rigidly devoted to protocol and form, because he has nothing inside him. I'm pretty sure every person has met someone like Agilulf. Or, for that matter, glimpsed the two halves that lie inside every human being.
Don't think it's all stuffy philosophy, though. One of Calvino's greatest talents was to make a hugely entertaining story that never became preachy, only funny. While the subtext of "Viscount" is obvious, "Knight" is a sort of satire on medieval chivalry tales. And that is where Calvino excels; "Viscount," while good, is a bit heavy-handed in places. But his macabre, slightly strange sense of humor keeps it from being goofy or preachy.
His writing is formal, clear and evocative and starkly pretty, with only some key details. But it is peppered with funny lines and undignified characters. One of the best lines of "Knight" is at the beginning, where Charlemagne comments (entirely seriously), "Well, for someone who doesn't exist, you seem in fine form."
Calvino's offbeat parables and satires are always excellent, and his early pair of novellas are no exception. Funny, strange and thought-provoking, these are a pair of modern classics.
Rating:
Summary: Highly Recommended, Friends
Review: These are wonderful novellas. Written as fables, there appeal lies on one level as simple fictional tales about knights and castles, so it could be something that children could enjoy quite easily. From there, it grows. Calvino packs so much wisdom and inquisitiveness into these stories, that it takes on the form of a metaphysical inquiry into morality, epistomology, and science. In "The Nonexistent Knight," the penultimate hollow man shuffles through Charlemagne's Europe maintaining some kind of external order, at least. That's all he has to offer to the world, of course, because there is nothing inside the shell. Don't you know people like that? Then in "The Cloven Viscount," a parable in an ethical style, Calvino splits a person in two and takes the reader on the journey of exploring all the ramifications of that fissure. I believe these could be taught in a philosophy course, a literature course, read at the bedside with junior, and taken to the beach for summer reading, and an easy book to talk about at a dinner party or in a book group.
Rating:
Summary: Morality Tales with a Brain
Review: These two novellas do not disappoint. Both are fables written for adults. If you feel like simply being entertained, read them as such, laugh and go no farther. If you want to delve a little deeper, read these as wonderful stories about the existence of the human soul, war, and morality. Either way, they are plainly speaking fantastic.
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