For this week’s blog post I read the novel “If on a Winter’s Night a Traveller” by Italo Calvino. At first, while I started to read this novel I was a bit confused as to what was going on as a new story would emerge while trying to finish a chapter. This is the first metafiction novel I read so it took a bit of time to adjust to the style. However, as I kept reading I was quite intrigued with the novel style as it dove into different perspectives of reading. With that, I will discuss one of the main themes in the novel which was reading. Reading is something that could be done in many different ways, viewed through many perspectives, and interpreted through different lenses.

This novel explored two different perspectives of reading which were reading for pleasure and reading for academic critique. Ludmilla represented that people read for personal pleasure whereas Lotaria looks into the behind the scenes and what goes into writing and publishing a book. Ludmilla does not really know what to expect while she starts reading something new while Lotaria has expectations for what she is going to read. I found this very interesting as when I start a new novel, I do not really think of the process that went into writing it or publishing it. I sometimes search for a summary of what is to come in a novel before I start reading but it is not extensive research by any means. This perspective depicted by Lotaria is important to consider as it can shape the way you interpret the book and the meaning of it. Although I now realize the importance of this, I found that I always seem to read for pleasure. I pick up a book and continue reading it if I find it amusing or if I can learn something from it. I recognize that this may be a narrow minded approach and that there is more to reading than just the surface level. 

Furthermore, this novel showcased the importance of the different reading mechanisms but it did seem to me that it emphasized that the correct way to read is for pleasure. I don’t particularly agree with this as reading can be individualistic and done differently. People read for different means and some people enjoy reading and do it whenever they can while others do not. Therefore, I really enjoyed how this novel expanded my view on reading as a whole. 

Discussion Question:

Do you find yourself relating more to Ludmilla’s approach of reading for pleasure or Lotarias of reading for academic purposes?