World Human Cultural Heritage: Temple of Heaven

Author: (Italy) Italo Calvino
Translator: Xiao Tianyou
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2001-01-01
Features: Italo Calvino is one of the most influential contemporary Italian writers in the world. In his four decades of creative practice, he continuously explored and innovated, striving to express the spirit of modern society and modern people, as well as his insights and beliefs about life, through the most appropriate methods and forms. His works are diverse in style, each reaching an extremely high level, reflecting the era while also transcending it. In 1985, he was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature, but tragically passed away suddenly that same year, missing out on the award. However, his influence in the international literary world has grown steadily, and his works have garnered increasing attention. (The Collected Works of Italo Calvino in Lin Edition consists of 5 volumes; for details, see the volume Invisible Cities!)
Detailed Introduction: Our ancestor Calvino compiled three novels about jazz into a single work titled Our Ancestors. The third novel is titled The Non-existent Knight. The narrator is a Catholic nun. This story discusses medieval jazz from the perspective of the nun. A jazz musician named Achilov does not actually exist. He is merely a set of silver armor for a warrior, yet he has a voice and participates in the atrocities of the warriors of the time—killing, stealing, committing acts of violence, and burning. Strangely enough, a noblewoman falls in love with this non-existent jazz musician. The story becomes increasingly complex. In the end, Achilov admits that he does not exist and hands over his armor—without armor, there is no jazz. Meanwhile, the nun who is telling the story finally reveals her identity: she is the girl who fell in love with the non-existent jazz musician. Calvino allows his imagination to soar freely, creating a delightful narrative that satirizes human vanity and the psychologically distorted nature of love.
The Baron in the Shape of a Half-Moon is Calvino's second novel. It is a fable that satirizes the "modern man," and Calvino's unique and special writing style has attracted the attention of the literary world! The narrator is an orphan whose uncle is a nobleman. During the Austrian-Turkish War of 1716, the uncle was split in half from head to toe by an artillery shell on the battlefield. A battlefield doctor saved the half of the baron and sent him home. This strange figure, with only one eye, half a nose, half a mouth, one arm, and one leg, had a particular fondness for killing and destruction. Not only did he burn half of his own fortress, but he also split everything he saw in half. Here is the description from the orphan's perspective:
"My uncle lay prostrate on the rocks, stroking a half-seized octopus that was twitching. 'If I could split everything in half like this, it would be wonderful,' he said. 'We could all be free from the constraints of the foolish concept of wholeness. I used to be a whole person too, and everything seemed natural and chaotic to me, as dull as the air. I thought I had seen everything, but in reality, I had only seen the shell. If you happen to become half a person too, nephew, for your own sake, I hope you become half. Then you will understand things that ordinary intelligence cannot grasp. You will lose half of yourself and half of the world, but the remaining half will be a thousand times deeper and more precious.' However, Calvino's unique and special writing style has attracted the attention of the literary world.