Journal Entry 1 by Random-Poet from Edinburgh, Scotland United Kingdom on Saturday, January 08, 2005

Continuing a slight obsession with all things Italian.....

This book is fascinating, a novel about reading and writers and the relationships between reader and author. How does narrative work? Why do we read? A book that anyone interested in reading should read. However I found because there are several unfinished novels included as chapters in this book that i couldn't sustain the momentum while reading it and had to keep getting back into it every time I picked it up. I know its brilliant but I think I need to read it again to fully appreciate it. 

Journal Entry 2 by Random-Poet from Edinburgh, Scotland United Kingdom on Friday, August 19, 2005

I'm setting up a ring with this - please PM me if interested!
Participants:
Nell-Lu - UK
Turquiosefloyd - UK
Miss-Owl - Australia
ldpaulson - US
terrabruciata - US
pumpkin-head - UK
Random-Poet me! (UK) 

Journal Entry 3 by Random-Poet at on Tuesday, September 13, 2005

Released 6 yrs ago (9/13/2005 UTC) at

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Given to Nell-Lu to start ring. Enjoy! 

Journal Entry 4 by Nell-Lu from Edinburgh, Scotland United Kingdom on Tuesday, September 13, 2005

Thanks for sharing, Random-Poet. Great cover! I'm looking forward to reading it and will start as soon as I finish my current book (The Electric Michelangelo). 

Journal Entry 5 by Nell-Lu from Edinburgh, Scotland United Kingdom on Tuesday, September 20, 2005

I'm not sure what I expected, but this wasn't it. It's not exactly a novel (although it includes the first chapters of quite a few novels...or perhaps just the first paragraph of one?). It's more a prolonged meditation on the subject of reading novels, examining everything from the physical sensations and emotions of the reader, to the reader's search for truth in fiction. It manages to namecheck a wide range of sources - one particularly memorable page includes both The Peanuts and Crime and Punishment. All this, in a slim 200 pages, while still being an entertaining read - very impressive!

Thanks, Random-Poet, for letting me start this ring. I popped the book into the post to turquoisefloyd this morning. Happy reading! 

Journal Entry 6 by abitstormyout from Ely, Cambridgeshire United Kingdom on Wednesday, September 21, 2005

Received from Nell-Lu this morning. Looking forward to reading it asap! Thanks! 

Journal Entry 7 by abitstormyout at Bookring in Bookring, A Bookring -- Controlled Releases on Monday, November 28, 2005

Released 6 yrs ago (11/28/2005 UTC) at Bookring in Bookring, A Bookring -- Controlled Releases

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Alas, my Mount TBR is looking worryingly high so I've sent this onto Miss-Owl in Australia. Godspeed little book! 

Journal Entry 8 by Miss-Owl from Chiang Mai, Chiang Mai Thailand on Monday, December 12, 2005

Retrieved from my PO box this afternoon. I usually read 'winter' books in winter & it's summer here, but don't worry everyone, I won't keep it for that long!

I've always picked this up in bookshops & read the first few pages... over and over. This must classify it as "The Book You Mean To Read But There Are Others You Must Read First" or "Books You Can Borrow From Somebody"... so thanks so much Random-Poet! 

Journal Entry 9 by Miss-Owl from Chiang Mai, Chiang Mai Thailand on Wednesday, December 28, 2005

"You prepare to recognise the unmistakeable tone of the author. No. You don't recognise it at all. But now that you think about it, who ever said this author had an unmistakeable tone? On the contrary, he is known as an author who changes greatly from one book to the next. And in these very changes you recognise him as himself."

I have never read a book as simultaneously compelling and frustrating as this. With its multiple beginnings & the ever-receding promise of an actual ending it bugged me no end! At the same time I was endlessly fascinated - Calvino's playful, cheeky treatment of reading, writing, & the worlds created in the process, was so acutely observed I sometimes felt his hand reaching out of the book and pulling me into it. On the other hand, sometimes it seemed that he climbed out of the book and stood next to me while I read it.

And if that sounds a little surreal, you should read the book!

Loved it. Thank you so much for sharing, Random-Poet.

On its way back to winter with ldpaulson. 

Journal Entry 10 by ldpaulson from Ventura, California USA on Monday, January 09, 2006

Loved INVISIBLE CITIES, so I'm looking forward to reading this book by Italo Calvino. I'm anticipating great things. Especially since I've read the first couple of chapters, sneaky reader that I am. The first chapter alone had me laughing and crying. Maybe it's because it's difficult to read in the car while running errands. I wanted to be somewhere with my feet propped up and with all the things at hand needed to relax with a book, just as he describes. Ah, he knows his readers so well.

There are other rings and rays ahead of this. Discipline. Discipline! 

Journal Entry 11 by ldpaulson from Ventura, California USA on Sunday, January 22, 2006

What a wonderful, playful and intellectually challenging read!

IF ON A WINTER'S NIGHT A TRAVELLER demands everything from a reader, otherwise, it's just words on a page. It is best read in lengthy, uninterrupted sittings for this reason.

Since I want to read this again, I will be looking for my own copy of this book as well as other copies to be shared.

Thank you Random-Poet!

On to the next reader ... as soon as it is repaired. Some of the pages are loose. I cleared this with Random-Poet and explained the situation to the next reader in line. With minor repairs completed, this book continues its journey. 

Journal Entry 12 by terrabruciata from Harleysville, Pennsylvania USA on Tuesday, February 21, 2006

Received in the mail today; looking forward to beginning shortly! 

Journal Entry 13 by pumpkin-head from Glasgow, Scotland United Kingdom on Friday, May 05, 2006

Something exciting in the mail this morning alongside the bills and tax notices. And I'm excited because it's the first bookring book to come visiting. The bookmark made me smile and I immediately went to talk to my rat.

Looking forward to finding some quiet time and reading. 

Journal Entry 14 by pumpkin-head from Glasgow, Scotland United Kingdom on Monday, May 22, 2006

It was a beautiful hot sunny day, I went for a walk to the park, lay on the grass in the sun and started to read.

I loved the opening, it was just about perfect, but I found myself flagging with the introduction of Ludmilla, the Other Reader, and became steadily more lost from that point. It's been a while since I attempted to read anything as challenging as this, and though I enjoyed it overall, I think I'll have to read it a few more times before I can start to put it all together in my mind. Like others I will be looking out for my own copy now.

Thanks Random-Poet, I'm going to try and make a point of reading more 'literature' and less trashy crime before my brain rots completely!
 

Journal Entry 15 by Random-Poet from Edinburgh, Scotland United Kingdom on Tuesday, June 06, 2006

Received back from pumpkinhead. Thanks everyone for reading the book and looking after it on its travels! 

Journal Entry 16 by Random-Poet at By post in Edinburgh, By Post -- Controlled Releases on Sunday, June 10, 2007

Released 4 yrs ago (6/10/2007 UTC) at By post in Edinburgh, By Post -- Controlled Releases

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Off to CaterinaAnna as a trade! 

Journal Entry 17 by Caterinaanna from Coventry, West Midlands United Kingdom on Thursday, June 21, 2007

After catching up with rings & rays and finally beginning to chip away at Mount Toobie this week has seen not only the arrival of this, but also a BCUK NSS parcel, a RABCK, another ring and a book from those horrible tempters who put boxes of cheap goodies in staff rooms and entice one into spending a fortune. And it's the Uncon soon, will I ever catch up!

However, many many thanks: this is a book I've wanted to read for a long time and even more so now I have read the JEs this copy has garnered so far. 

Journal Entry 18 by Caterinaanna from Coventry, West Midlands United Kingdom on Monday, May 26, 2008

Wow!

How could I not succumb when within the first few pages Calvino presents the reader's way of classifying books: a way that we all recognise. (Oh fellow readers of the 1001, do you ever wonder how many you have inadvertently ticked off that are actually in the category 'Books That Everybody's Read So It's As If You Had Read Them Too' or even 'Books You've Always Pretended To Have Read And Now It's Time To Sit Down And Really Read Them'?)

The whole premise is striking, the interweaving of the plot, such as it is, with the fiction and the philosophy had me smiling and scratching my head and laughing and re-reading to get what on earth he was on about.

Other 'ah' moments were in Chapter Four, on ...a wordless language with which books cannot be written, but whcih can only be lived, second by second ...; one's house making clear the place books have in one's life (Chapter Seven); and, later in the same chapter, the tactile reading of Ludmilla.

I did get a little confused towards the end, but I thoroughly enjoyed this book and, like others, will be looking for a PC copy. I'm tempted to keep this one, as it is beginning to crack under the strain, but I think it could survive another two or three careful readers, so it is going on offer as a ray to end in the 1001 library or the book cemetary depending on how it survives its travels.
 

Journal Entry 19 by Caterinaanna from Coventry, West Midlands United Kingdom on Saturday, March 14, 2009

Off on a ring, as soon as I PM the first person on the list. The participants are:
Bibliocrates
perfect-circle
fredam (has asked to be skipped) and
jellyfish67
who is due to send it back to me.
 

Journal Entry 20 by Caterinaanna at Coventry, West Midlands United Kingdom on Monday, March 16, 2009

Released 3 yrs ago (3/16/2009 UTC) at Coventry, West Midlands United Kingdom

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Taken to the Post Office today. 

Journal Entry 21 by Bibliocrates on Saturday, May 16, 2009

It's here in Trinity, Alabama. Thanks CaterinaAnna, wasn't expecting to get five books in one lot, will get them read and pass them on as quickly as possible!