Welcome to the blog for Prof. John Talbird's English 251 class. The purpose of this site is two-fold: 1) to continue the conversations we start in class (or to start conversations before we get to class) and 2) to practice our writing/reading on a weekly basis in an informal forum.
I love 'Desire in Nov." and all the stories in this section (though I have a weakness for "Wartime Stories" since they're so dark). I think it captures a key element of Calvino's early fiction (and maybe all of his fiction): it's a balance of humor and kindness. The people in line, the priest, the furrier shop owner, they all regard Barbagello as a freak, an object of amusement. But it seems that usually in a Calvino story, there is someone who shows kindness to the fool, who cares about him and treats him kindly. Linda in this story. She doesn't turn him in to the police, she shares her apples and washes his clothes so they don't itch.
A lot of Calvino's stories seem to end suddenly. They have open endings (Alex, I believe, as already mentioned this). This seems to be an open ending, but I think it's relevant. Barbagello has been an object of derision, a clown, a type of person we might see in the circus (shades of Fellini/La Strada). At the end, he seems to have embraced this future as he imagines giving exhibitions of feats of strength.
I would just like to add on to what you said professor. I see Barbagello as the beast from Beauty and the Beast. A "beast" who cannot be recognized for anything other than his appearance. Barbagello is something positive always being put down whether it's being laughed at or being made fun of. Linda is his beauty who doesn't treat him like the others. I believe Calvino was sending a clear message that we cannot judge those by their looks but by their personality.
The first section had a shadow of emptiness or fulfillment or kind of bad forecasting. The second sections has the disappointment people went through during the war. This section discusses the after math of the war. Corruption is everywhere as people don't have place to sleep and food to eat. We see stealing, prostitution, trafficking of cigarettes and dollars. There is a sense of order in this section. Almost in every story we see the appearance of police but they are also into corruption. So outwardly it seems that law enforcement is there to establish order in the society but in reality the officers are also the contributors to the crimes not the problem solver. So all together all three section is pessimistic. There is no hope of anything good waiting for the people.
Postwar stories involve almost always thief and/or prostitution. It is understandable due to the economical difficulty that Italy experienced in post-WWII. However, interestingly, there is no violence compared to other criminal stories. Although the stories involve some criminal, these are not as dark as the wartime stories.
I would say that most of the Calvino stories that we've read have seemed a little outlandish. The overall themes are pretty ordinary, until you come across the surreal element-- like when the men robbing the pastry shop start eating the pastries and hiding them in their shirts, or when Emanuele brought loads of women into the bar for the Americans. The postwar stories are more light-hearted than the war stories.
In the beginning of the book the stories are more about love and fantasy world. As you read further down it starts to get intense when it starts to speak about the reality some people were living like in wartime stories in the “hunger at bevera it speaks of the people living there the peasants and refugees that were starving but afraid to go anywhere because of the Germans but there’s this old dead man that decides to take a chance and go to a village to get bread for some people he’s staying with which shows his bravery. The stories shows love is different types of ways while still being different
It can also show you the corruption that were in the stories like in post war stories showing how people were starving the prostitution and people taking advantage of others so at the same time it shows the surreal part and survival of these people.
The first section seem to be generally the life of teenagers and kids around that time period and just shows how they played around and interacted with their environment like sneaking into pools or showing someone frogs and such. The war stories are a lot more and gritty stories where people actually get shot and die. The post war section is much more like the first section of the book where it is less dramatic than the war stories where the focus is in everyday life of adults during that time period with strange stories about trespassing and sex stories.
I characterize Calvino stories, as short meaningful stories. This stories resembles to everyday life but in a more complex way. "The Exchanted Garden" describes how this two kids found a magical and beautiful garden. This isolate garden was fill with flowers and a large pool. And at the end they felt trap in that beautiful garden. To me his stories are some what surreal as he tells a story but the ending always end up with a confusing point. Meaning it would have you thinking that the story could somewhat be real but at the same time he takes it to a more imagination level.
A major difference I seemed to notice is the absence of that intense anxiety expressed in the first two sections. Also, there seems to be a difference in tone between War stories and Postwar stories. This is evident in even the classification of each section. In War stories, there was a dark setting and tone throughout the stories. Death is prominent and seemed to be involved in every story. However, the change from War stories to Postwar stories might not be that drastic since there are still heavy themes and morals discussed in Postwar stories that still fit in the dark world of the War stories. Greed, and the aftermath of destruction is talked about in Postwar stories. Although there is an almost feeling of relief that settles from the idea of "post-war", Calvino's stories in this section still come packed with depth. The key difference is that with the Postwar stories, there's a touch of kindness and humor.
Each section is takening you through each different stage of life back then. Before the war turning the ear and after. These stories are giving a little insight into the past and the things that were going on. Just be for the war things seamed kinda calm then turning the ear things got dark but after the war everything didn't just go back to normal. Things were down and people needed to survive and thujngs were still a mess. So people did bad things like stealing and committing crimes.
The post war stories showed alot of poverty. I felt like Calvino spoke alot about people having to steal, people being homeless, people selling themselves. doing whatever they needed to to survive or stay warm. In the first section his stoies were very dark i felt that the War stories showed the people in that time very scared for their lives, like the 3 naked men being throw in the hole to die, and the family sleeping in the train station because they barely had anything. Calvino showed the struggles before and after the war.
I found more humor in these stories. In "Theft in a Pastry Shop" the humor is constant. "Theft" and "Dollars at the Demimondaine" were more fun to read than the stories from the other sections. Poverty is the common thread in the Postwar Stories but the stories can be very different from each other. "Sleeping Like Dogs" is more grounded then "Demimondaine". You and a classmate talked about in a class how Calvino's writing often involves surrealism. That is the definitely the case in "Demimondaine". He conjures up surreal images with his metaphors and similes. In "theft" he uses a lot of metaphors that have to do with war, dead bodies and attacks
Some stores were funny,but in the 40s after the war it was hard the people were struggling. The post war were terrible people were hungry and starving.In De Sicas flim the people were standing out side in long lines to get jobs. It was good when the guy got a bike a nd a job. Then things took turn when the bike was stolen; frustration step in and we see him trying to steal someone's bike and getting caught. The war stores had asd endings.
It's about corruption, disorder, fear, hopelessness, and pain. People were starving. The lower class were struggling for jobs and happiness. Misery seemed to be flying in the air. Life was very gloomy.
I love 'Desire in Nov." and all the stories in this section (though I have a weakness for "Wartime Stories" since they're so dark). I think it captures a key element of Calvino's early fiction (and maybe all of his fiction): it's a balance of humor and kindness. The people in line, the priest, the furrier shop owner, they all regard Barbagello as a freak, an object of amusement. But it seems that usually in a Calvino story, there is someone who shows kindness to the fool, who cares about him and treats him kindly. Linda in this story. She doesn't turn him in to the police, she shares her apples and washes his clothes so they don't itch.
ReplyDeleteA lot of Calvino's stories seem to end suddenly. They have open endings (Alex, I believe, as already mentioned this). This seems to be an open ending, but I think it's relevant. Barbagello has been an object of derision, a clown, a type of person we might see in the circus (shades of Fellini/La Strada). At the end, he seems to have embraced this future as he imagines giving exhibitions of feats of strength.
I would just like to add on to what you said professor. I see Barbagello as the beast from Beauty and the Beast. A "beast" who cannot be recognized for anything other than his appearance. Barbagello is something positive always being put down whether it's being laughed at or being made fun of. Linda is his beauty who doesn't treat him like the others. I believe Calvino was sending a clear message that we cannot judge those by their looks but by their personality.
DeleteThe first section had a shadow of emptiness or fulfillment or kind of bad forecasting. The second sections has the disappointment people went through during the war. This section discusses the after math of the war. Corruption is everywhere as people don't have place to sleep and food to eat. We see stealing, prostitution, trafficking of cigarettes and dollars. There is a sense of order in this section. Almost in every story we see the appearance of police but they are also into corruption. So outwardly it seems that law enforcement is there to establish order in the society but in reality the officers are also the contributors to the crimes not the problem solver. So all together all three section is pessimistic. There is no hope of anything good waiting for the people.
ReplyDeletePostwar stories involve almost always thief and/or prostitution. It is understandable due to the economical difficulty that Italy experienced in post-WWII. However, interestingly, there is no violence compared to other criminal stories. Although the stories involve some criminal, these are not as dark as the wartime stories.
ReplyDeleteI would say that most of the Calvino stories that we've read have seemed a little outlandish. The overall themes are pretty ordinary, until you come across the surreal element-- like when the men robbing the pastry shop start eating the pastries and hiding them in their shirts, or when Emanuele brought loads of women into the bar for the Americans. The postwar stories are more light-hearted than the war stories.
ReplyDeleteIn the beginning of the book the stories are more about love and fantasy world. As you read further down it starts to get intense when it starts to speak about the reality some people were living like in wartime stories in the “hunger at bevera it speaks of the people living there the peasants and refugees that were starving but afraid to go anywhere because of the Germans but there’s this old dead man that decides to take a chance and go to a village to get bread for some people he’s staying with which shows his bravery. The stories shows love is different types of ways while still being different
ReplyDeleteIt can also show you the corruption that were in the stories like in post war stories showing how people were starving the prostitution and people taking advantage of others so at the same time it shows the surreal part and survival of these people.
ReplyDeleteThe first section seem to be generally the life of teenagers and kids around that time period and just shows how they played around and interacted with their environment like sneaking into pools or showing someone frogs and such. The war stories are a lot more and gritty stories where people actually get shot and die. The post war section is much more like the first section of the book where it is less dramatic than the war stories where the focus is in everyday life of adults during that time period with strange stories about trespassing and sex stories.
ReplyDeleteI characterize Calvino stories, as short meaningful stories. This stories resembles to everyday life but in a more complex way. "The Exchanted Garden" describes how this two kids found a magical and beautiful garden. This isolate garden was fill with flowers and a large pool. And at the end they felt trap in that beautiful garden. To me his stories are some what surreal as he tells a story but the ending always end up with a confusing point. Meaning it would have you thinking that the story could somewhat be real but at the same time he takes it to a more imagination level.
ReplyDeleteA major difference I seemed to notice is the absence of that intense anxiety expressed in the first two sections. Also, there seems to be a difference in tone between War stories and Postwar stories. This is evident in even the classification of each section. In War stories, there was a dark setting and tone throughout the stories. Death is prominent and seemed to be involved in every story. However, the change from War stories to Postwar stories might not be that drastic since there are still heavy themes and morals discussed in Postwar stories that still fit in the dark world of the War stories. Greed, and the aftermath of destruction is talked about in Postwar stories. Although there is an almost feeling of relief that settles from the idea of "post-war", Calvino's stories in this section still come packed with depth. The key difference is that with the Postwar stories, there's a touch of kindness and humor.
ReplyDeleteEach section is takening you through each different stage of life back then. Before the war turning the ear and after. These stories are giving a little insight into the past and the things that were going on. Just be for the war things seamed kinda calm then turning the ear things got dark but after the war everything didn't just go back to normal. Things were down and people needed to survive and thujngs were still a mess. So people did bad things like stealing and committing crimes.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThe post war stories showed alot of poverty. I felt like Calvino spoke alot about people having to steal, people being homeless, people selling themselves. doing whatever they needed to to survive or stay warm. In the first section his stoies were very dark i felt that the War stories showed the people in that time very scared for their lives, like the 3 naked men being throw in the hole to die, and the family sleeping in the train station because they barely had anything. Calvino showed the struggles before and after the war.
ReplyDeleteI found more humor in these stories. In "Theft in a Pastry Shop" the humor is constant. "Theft" and "Dollars at the Demimondaine" were more fun to read than the stories from the other sections. Poverty is the common thread in the Postwar Stories but the stories can be very different from each other. "Sleeping Like Dogs" is more grounded then "Demimondaine". You and a classmate talked about in a class how Calvino's writing often involves surrealism. That is the definitely the case in "Demimondaine". He conjures up surreal images with his metaphors and similes. In "theft" he uses a lot of metaphors that have to do with war, dead bodies and attacks
ReplyDeleteSome stores were funny,but in the 40s after the war it was hard the people were struggling. The post war were terrible people were hungry and starving.In De Sicas flim the people were standing out side in long lines to get jobs. It was good when the guy got a bike a nd a job. Then things took turn when the bike was stolen; frustration step in and we see him trying to steal someone's bike and getting caught. The war stores had asd endings.
ReplyDeleteIt's about corruption, disorder, fear, hopelessness, and pain. People were starving. The lower class were struggling for jobs and happiness. Misery seemed to be flying in the air. Life was very gloomy.
ReplyDelete