The Cloven Viscount

Italo Calvino

Oct 2012 · Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

About this ebook

When a nobleman is split in two, his separate halves pursue different adventures in a fantastically macabre tale by the author of Invisible Cities.
 
It is the seventeenth century, and the Viscount Medardo of Terralba must go into battle against the Turks. But the inexperienced warrior is soon bisected lengthwise by a cannonball. Through a miracle of stitching, one half of him survives, returning to his feudal estate to lead a lavishly evil life. But soon his other, virtuous half appears—also very much alive. When the two halves become rivals for the love of the same woman, there’s no telling the lengths each will go to in order to win.
 
Now available in an independent volume for the first time, this deliciously bizarre novella of is Calvino at his most devious and winning.

Ratings and reviews

Despite Harcourt's unedited scanned text, this is a darkly mischievous comedy only Calvino could write. With the weight of myth and the symmetry of classic folk tale, it has the flavor of a ballad sung by a bard. The end a bit of a let-down, but still uniquely moving.

About the author

ITALO CALVINO (1923–1985) attained worldwide renown as one of the twentieth century’s greatest storytellers. Born in Cuba, he was raised in San Remo, Italy, and later lived in Turin, Paris, Rome, and elsewhere. Among his many works are Invisible Cities, If on a winter's night a traveler, The Baron in the Trees, and other novels, as well as numerous collections of fiction, folktales, criticism, and essays. His works have been translated into dozens of languages.