Cosmicomics [Paperback]

 

 

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Ever since our ancestors started looking into the night sky, the saw patterns and connections between the stars, moons and planets, and used stories and myths to imbue those patterns with meaning and structure. With the big hindsight of the scientific worldview, all those ancient stories may seem quaint and naïve. And indeed, the advent of modern astronomy and astrophysics has greatly enriched and deepened our understanding of the Cosmos. But these wonderful new insights should not be taken in opposition to our imagination when we stare in the sky. And this is the starting point of Italo Calvino's wonderful book "Cosmicomics." It is in a sense a variation on the theme of Cosmos. Each one of the chapters in the book takes a certain scientific fact about the Cosmos, its evolution and the present state, and turns it into an imaginative story with a deeply personal theme. The main protagonist, whimsically named Qfwfq, is present in many forms throughout history of the Cosmos and he narrates its main events through very personal eyes. Many of the stories are love stories of the most imaginative kind, which is not surprising since Calvino is known and excels at that genre. Overall this is a wonderful book that tries to reestablish a very human face of the Cosmos. I highly recommend it.

In the beginning, there was... Qfwfq? Italo Calvino apparently thought so -- his magical-realist fantasy "Cosmicomics" is one of the two best novels he ever wrote. Enchanting, surreal and whimsical, this is a look at the history of the cosmos that you will never find in any astronomy books.

Qfwfq is an ancient being -- he was a child playing with his family when the matterless void began to produce.... "things." Along with others of his kind, he has lived an immeasurably long lifetime, watching the Big Bang itself -- uniquely described in this case -- and the galaxy form, the earth cool and start to produce life.

And so Qfwfq goes through the ages, with all the rivalries, crushes, lost loves and exciting discoveries that a person experiences in their life (even though his life is uncounted millions long). And behind each of his experiences is a great cosmic event -- the Big Bang itself is caused by a loving aunt-like friend, an adolescent crush follows the moon away from the Earth, a rivalry forms between himself and the nasty Kwgwk, and his first love is doomed by his love of color on Earth's forming surface.

It takes a truly unique imagination to create something like this -- Calvino takes forming planets, whirling galaxies and ultraviolet rays, and gives them a whimsical spin. One moment he is taking your breath away with his descriptions of the Milky Way, the next he's getting smiles for the image of Qfwfq and his pals playing marbles with hydrogen atoms.

It's that mixture of grandeur and innocent whimsy that makes "Cosmicomics" so good. Not to mention, of course, Calvino's talent for poetic prose. In less than a paragraph, he can convey the vastness of the universe; in less than a chapter, he can describe the beauty of primeval Earth. In detail. Now that's really something.

Most striking of all may be the story of a motherly she-particle, whose love for him and the other beings caused "the concept of space and, properly speaking, space itself, and time, and universal gravitation, and the gravitation universe, making possible billions and billions of suns, and of planets, and fields of wheat." It takes a few minutes to sink in that Calvino wrote that the universe was first sparked by love.

Calvino never really explains what Qfwfq is -- I suppose he's an atom or something of the sort, although how atoms have "long silvery arms" or build bamboo bridges. Yet he shows us the lovable, fallible being trying out different forms through the epochs, sometimes lonely and sometimes not. And he gives Qfwfq such life, sweetness and enthusiasm that it's hard not to like him, even if we don't know exactly what he is.

Then again, getting into specifics might wreck the funny, poignant "Cosmicomics" -- it's about love and the universe, and not even the lead character can distract from that.

I think this is a great departure from the typical sci-fi genre. Not a typical style of writing. These are clever and imaginative. I have too many favorite. Its a great book as a gift for others or for yourself.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Back to the beginning
To read Italo Calvino is a strange and wonderful experience - no literary parallels suggest themselves. Read more

Published on April 9 2004 by Vladimir Miskovic

5.0 out of 5 stars Breathtaking Human Stories in Fable form
I recently obtained a new copy of COSMICOMICS after having lost my old, tattered paperback which someone borrowed and forgot to return back in the 1980s. Read more

Published on Jun 10 2003 by Jenny Hanniver

5.0 out of 5 stars None other can compare
When I read Difficult Loves, I was impressed. I recommended it as the collection to read if you never read anything else in your life. Read more

Published on April 9 2003

5.0 out of 5 stars Mind-blowing...
Prepare to read something you are not prepared for. This book will send you into realms of storytelling that seem impossible even as you read them. Read more

Published on Nov 19 2002 by ewomack

5.0 out of 5 stars Works of Tender Imagination
Never would I have thought that a story about, say, an atom could be so memorable and reveal so much about human emotions. Yet in this book, Calvino does just that. Read more

Published on Oct 19 2002 by Mark Englert

5.0 out of 5 stars Short stories for true ADD enthusiasts
Just a great twist on 4th wall style writing and probably the only 4th wall book that doesn't feel like it's written for the Weird Al and Mad mag crowd (of which I was a proud... Read more

Published on Nov 25 2001 by Rat

5.0 out of 5 stars Voyages without end
I have never read a book quite like this one. It is definitely not a novel, in as much as there is not a set beginning, middle, climax and denouement, nor one or more characters... Read more

Published on Oct 5 2001 by IRA Ross

5.0 out of 5 stars Life As We Know It
If you are looking to find out the true meaning of life this is it.

Published on July 7 2001 by Priscilla Vanlaarhoven

5.0 out of 5 stars Want for more
Cosmicomics is just what brought me to Amazon to look for more of Italo Calvino. I was amazed by the unusual styl of his, which gives life and reality to the most fantastic ideas... Read more

Published on Feb 18 2001 by machane

5.0 out of 5 stars Marvelous
Calvino amazes me. This is, by far, my favorite book of his (although If On A Winter's Night A Traveller comes in a close second -- highly recommend it as well). Read more

Published on Sep 23 2000 by Susan Petrone

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