Eusapia

"... the inhabitants have constructed an identical copy of their, underground. All corpses, dried in a such a way that the skeleton remains sheathed in yellow skins, are carried down there, to continue their former activities." 

"The latest pearl set in the Great Khan's crown"

Khan the owner of the Invisible Cities? He doesn't even care about the beauty or descriptions used in each section, of each chapter of the book. He is so ignorant and stubborn, the lack of experiences and knowledge gives him vulnerability to loose all the lands he "achieved". It's obvious the true leader and owner of the cities is Marco Polo, he knows them from head to toe and has memories unlike the Khan. In chapter 5 after Polo described new cities to Kahn, the emperor asked for a description of the city Polo had never dared to describe, Venice.

"There is still one of which you never speak."

Marco Polo bowed his head.

"Venice," the Khan said.

Marco smiled. "What else do you believe I have been talking to you about?"

The emperor did not turn a hair. "And yet I have never heard you mention the name"

And Polo said: "Every time I describe a city I am saying something about Venice."

"When I ask you about other cities, I want to hear about them. And about Venice, when I ask about Venice." (86)

                  

Even though Marco Polo is the helper of the emperor, the competition between the two is obvious. Yet I find it annoying that Polo doesn't do anything to change that, it's obvious of who should be the leader of the empire. After all, the correct leader would rise the land economically, socially and politically, still Marco Polo does nothing to gain power and stays being a "helper".

Do you believe Marco Polo feels fear? Does Khan have so type of power over him?

While I jolted the pomegranate tree, hypochondria raced my body. I was standing in the pinnacle of the largest rock i've ever seen, I really needed a balustrade to keep my balance. All I needed was sojourn.

Reading the book obligates me to keep a dictionary in my hand too, many words are really unknown and weird. Because the text is based in description, many adjectives are really unfamiliar, yet it's a way to enlarge my vocabulary. These where some examples of word I found out in chapter 4 and 5 of Invisible Cities. 

• Amethyst: Precious stone consisting of violet or purple variety of quartz. (Violet color)

• Hypochondria: Rare anxiety about one's health. Unwanted fear. 

• Gauge: Way to measure the magnitude, amount or contents of something. 

• Filigree: Gold or silver ornamental work. 

• Sojourn: A temporary stay.

• Jolts: To push or shake

• Oddity: Strange person.

• Balustrade: The ornamental placed in the on balconies or terrace for support. 

• Pomegranate: An orange sized sweet fruit.

• Hierarchies: Organization system to categories people according to their status or authority. 

• Pinnacles: High pointed piece of rock.

• Abyss: A deep or bottomless surface.

• Bantering: Playful and friendly acts. 

Filigree

Balustrade

Pomegranate

Surreal Cities and Real Cities?

Can all the cities described in the book be compared with cities in real life? The background information tells us that this cities explores by Polo are invented, we are not literally told. But the name of each location seems inexistent. Maybe  the surreal cities invented but Italo where locations he actually visited, and some descriptions can be consider as a point of view.



Zoe: The place of invisible existence. 
"The man who is traveling and does not yet know the city awaiting him along his route wonders what pa;ace will be like, the barracks, the mill, the theater, the bazaar."

Now with the small description of the city of Zoe, I'm to translated it into a New York City description using almost the same words.

"The tourist who is traveling and does not yet know the city awaiting him along

"In every point of this city you can, in turn, sleep, make tools, cook, accumulate gold, disrobe, reign, sell, question oracles..."
The fact that every corner, street or sidewalk is able to introduce you into different feelings and different adventures. Zoe reminded me of the New York City,
"The traveler roams all around and has nothing but doubts: he is unable to distinguish the features of the city," (34)

Invisible Cities?

     Italo Calvino an italian journalist, short story and novel writer created the book Invisible Cities in 1972. It's a book about the expeditions of Marco Polo, filled with a complete descriptions of the different cities he explored, or that's what I think the book will be filled with. Evading the descriptive cliché will be the format of this book, to make it unique and unforgettable. 

 
    Cliché is defined as an expression that has been overused by writers, readers, directors or just people in general. Due to the overuse, the word starts to loose its original meaning.
Invisible Cities' preface describes a little of how 

Kublai Khan, the Khagan of the Mongol Empire, will connect in the story with Marco Polo, the European merchant that economically created a bond with Central Asia and China. 

The cities description is shorter than a page, the words in each city are so accurate that with a few sentences the description is almost perfect and understandable yet they are surreal cities. The author gives us the opportunity to come up with a visual idea of each city and in the end just notice a pattern that relates each one of them.

Why make a book about cities? Reading the book personally gives me the sensation of a poem with a strange format, the description gives the words and exquisite and almost harmonic touch. Is Italo trying to describe the perfect place to live in? The good and bad is describe, yet essential things human need to maintain a good life are mention a lot, like spirituality, wilderness or nature. Trying to bring back the way we humans used to live before without technology.


   Each section of each chapter is written as a school text book, the descriptions, the format or the seriousness. Because the author is writing in first person, as if they where his own experiences, the text seems full of facts of the city but at the same time it has a touch of opinion and personal experience. 


  This first chapter of the book was a new type of reading for me, I though Prep Ap english books would be complicated and almost impossible to understand hens I was scared of reading a book about cities by an italian author. Yet I have grown a taste towards the book. 


  Because it's based around descriptions and adjective, I don't understand many words but I know it will be a way to expand my vocabulary ;).