This week completes my study of Italo Calvino’s Six Memos for the Next Millennium. Calvino died before writing this final lecture in his series on values of literature. So I get to extrapolate from the other memos and imagine his ideas of consistency as a literary value. I found Andrei Codrescu’s attempt to do justContinue reading “Calvino’s Sixth: The unwritten memo – consistency”
Tag Archives: Italo Calvino
Multiplicity: the dot that becomes a universe
Let’s continue to explore that smallest thing–the dot, the pixel, the eye mote, the speck of dust, the atom, the cell–that when multiplied “spreads out, encompassing ever vaster horizons, and would end by embracing the entire universe. (Calvino)” In an old set of geometry tools, I found two compasses: one regular with a point onContinue reading “Multiplicity: the dot that becomes a universe”
Calvino’s 5th Memo: Multiplicity – The finite in the infinite and the infinite in the finite
“Literature remains alive only if we set ourselves immeasurable goals, far beyond all hope of achievement. Only if poets and writers set themselves tasks that no one else dares imagine will literature continue to have a function. . . . the grand challenge for literature is to be capable of weaving together the various branchesContinue reading “Calvino’s 5th Memo: Multiplicity – The finite in the infinite and the infinite in the finite”
Visibility: Fantasy in Reality, and Reality in Fantasy
This week I’m looking at Italo Calvino’s fourth value of literature: Visibility. After reading the lecture, I still wasn’t sure what he meant by “Visibility,” but after some time with my dictionary, I think I figured it out. Visibility, or visibleness, can mean “conspicuousness” or “conspicuity”–which I like the sound of–which means: Easily discovered, seen,Continue reading “Visibility: Fantasy in Reality, and Reality in Fantasy”
Calvino’s 3rd Memo: Exactitude – Crystal & Flame
I’m continuing to find inspiration in Six Memos for the Next Millennium by Italo Calvino. This week I’m looking at Exactitude and Vagueness as contradictory abstractions. Let’s start with some definitions: exactitude: precision, accuracy, meticulousness vagueness: unspecific, imprecise; obscure, hazy, shadowy Calvino uses the symbols of crystal and flame, so I decided to start there.Continue reading “Calvino’s 3rd Memo: Exactitude – Crystal & Flame”
Quickly Capturing Lingering Light
It’s amazing how energizing one cool, cloudy day was. Today, was back to hot and sweaty, but it didn’t feel as oppressive. I finally set up my new mobile mirrorworld to my satisfaction, and played with an interesting purple and green light palette. I find it amusing that these random globs of dried hot glueContinue reading “Quickly Capturing Lingering Light”
The Values of Literature
Last week I stumbled upon Italo Calvino’s Six Memos for the Next Millennium which are a series of planned lectures about literary values he was working on when he died. He died before he finished writing the sixth. His six values of literature are: Lightness, Quickness, Exactitude, Visibility, Multiplicity, and Consistency. In each of hisContinue reading “The Values of Literature”
Experience Writing 