Marcovaldo - Italo Calvino

Collection of twenty short stories on Urbanisation of Mind, Relations and Surrounding physical space. Stories are seen through eyes of Marcovaldo, a considerate simple individual. His Predicaments Curiosities form the basis of all the Plots, through these plots subtexts and overall arc we could try to make sense of what complex changes have swept us in this urbanisation juggernaut. Stories set in a unnamed City in Northern Italy circa 1950s 60s . Published in 1963 in Italian and in English in 1983.

What to look for in a City 

We are in 2020s, Its any ones guess what we look at,  when we look at the city roads and city scapes. But our hero Marcovaldo has eyes set only on living or Natural things you could say. Neon Signs, bill boards cannot move him,Sky scrapers at once irritate him. His pursuits on plants, animals, birds, fishes and insects lead him into unforseen situations evoking a sad and funny picture of way things turn out for Marco. These pursuits also provides us a glimpse of how our cities have turned out to be good or bad. Some of the plots strech the horizon entering surrealist zones of delightful reading.

What we mean when we mean City

Reading these stories one might encounter a pertinent question on for whom the cities are built for ? and at what pace and cost ? Apart from the political dimension of urbanisation is there a secret contest between Man and Nature going on ? About which we still have to uncover the dynamics further. what are those yearnings to be with the hills, to be in the beaches,  to be around the forests ,but we still continue to live in the midst of machine Lights & machine sounds most of the time. These Stories from Calvino are no doubt political in nature too as it attempts to portray working class vs Elite in few of these stories. 

Pursuit in a maze

Marco continues to live in the city despite plethora of subtle anxieties that await him in every turn. His attempt to "sleep in a park in the night "or his considerate affection towards a rabbit turns out to be dangerous to the community. In " wrong stop" Story he gets completely lost in fog only to land himself in an incredulous place. Marcovaldo sometimes is like that rabbit who despite knowing the perilous effects of accepting a dangling carrot has no other choice but to nibble at it to keep himself afloat. He moves around the city by Walk or in his bike amusing himself in this struggle called Life.