Italo

September 27, 2026

The Nonexistent Knight (Review)

kay, don’t dismiss this out of hand, but I got this book from a young (and sharp) kid who attends my Zen class. But, yeah, we both read a lot and we both like China Miéville so there’s that. Anyway, The Nonexistent Knight is a delightful tale by Italo Calvino, written (I’m thinking) in 1950 or so (judging from the copyright). I’m going to make a guess and figure the entire point of this novel is to mock the ideas of chivalry, of knighthood, and the tales which speak worshipfully of them. We begin with King Charlemagne riding along his assembled army, […]
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October 11, 2026

The Cloven Viscount (Review)

nother novella from Italo Calvino, who brought us the strange and insightful The Nonexistent Knight. In this one, a Viscount is fighting the Turks and finds himself on the wrong end of a cannon. As the author notes, with good reason, the best way to attack a cannon is from the sides or rear. But, oh well, our Viscount Medardo literally takes the full load dead center. The field surgeons struggle with that remains and manage to preserve him. Most of him. Well, half. He only exists as the left side of himself, the rest of his absent body cloaked […]
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