If on a Winter's Night a Traveller by Italo Calvino

Calvino's anti-novel is about the efforts of his two characters — a man called only The Reader, and the Other Reader, a woman named Ludmilla — to read ten very different novels. They are never able to get to the second chapter of any of them; nor are the actual readers of this novel, who share their puzzlement and frustration — as well as their delight in the situation. Finally, the two marry and settle down to read in bed — a novel called If on a Winter's Night a Traveler by Italo Calvino. Among other things, Calvino insists that novels cannot be a form of "escape" from the world, because reading and life are inseparable. The text provides an examination of the different ways of reading and of the expectations of different kinds of readers; it is also an exploration of the relationship between the writer and the reader.

The 225th greatest fiction book of all time


This book is on the following lists:

  1. - 13th on El Pais Favorite Books of 100 Spanish Authors (El Pais)
  2. - 22nd on Harvard Book Store Staff's Favorite 100 Books (Harvard Book Store)
  3. - 38th on 50 Books to Read Before You Die (Complex)
  4. - 69th on The Telegraph’s 100 Novels Everyone Should Read (Telegraph)
  5. - 72nd on 100 Best Books (Montana State University)
  6. - 82nd on The 100 Greatest Novels of All Time: The List (The Observer)
  7. - 96th on Entertainment Weekly's Top 100 Novels (Entertainment Weekly)
  8. - 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die (The Book)
  9. - From Zero to Well-Read in 100 Books (Jeff O'Neal at Bookriot.com)
  10. - The Bigger Read List (English PEN)

Buy This Book

Name Binding Sales Rank Lowest New Lowest Used Published
If on a Winter's Night a Traveler (Everyman's Library Classics) Hardcover 1044189 $40.97 $19.76 1993
If on a Winter's Night a Traveller Paperback 2539415 $0.98
If on a Winters Night Paperback 2636956 $61.00 $2.58 2002
If on a winter's night a traveler Kindle Edition 30375 $8.45 2012
If on a Winter's Night a Traveler Paperback 9824 $6.02 $0.57 1982
If on a Winter's Night a Traveler (Everyman's Library (Cloth)) Hardcover 374266 $12.51 $3.48 1993
if on a Winter's Night a Traveller Hardcover 12754547 $17.55
If on a Winter's Night a Traveller Paperback 743241 $7.29 2015
If on a Winter's Night a Traveller Paperback 79175 $8.18 $4.19 2002