Invisible Cities is a novel written by Italian writer Italo Calvino and published in 1972. The novel is a collection of narratives, the majority of which are interconnected, focusing on the travels of Marco Polo as he praises the magnificence of different cities to Kublai Khan, the Mongol leader. The narrator of this novel is suggested to be Khan himself, looking back on their time together, while the storyteller is Polo, whose tales, over time, become increasingly chimerical. The cities and the settings Polo exposes to Khan, apparently invisible to the rest of the world, are ultimately imaginary settings, beautiful and magnifying, that only exist in Polo's memories and imagination.
The notion of invisibility is pivotal in the novel. Through the city descriptions, Calvino explores themes of power, politics, history, and the human condition. Each of the cities has the potential to be seen in a different way, to be interpreted and explored from different angles, and are bearers of many hidden meanings. Because these cities never existed in literal form, each offers a dissimilar understanding for each individual.
The novel is divided into seven chapters, each centered on a different imaginary city, each with a story lived in it. Among the most treasured cities Polo describes is Zaira, a city that is filled with emptiness and is also oppressed by a sinister tyrant. Khan is captivated by this description and Polo uses it to criticize tyrannical regimes. The city of Ersilia is another city that Polo describes and he once again paints it as a devastatingly empty and sad place in which the people have suffered the worst kinds of oppression. The last of the cities featured in the novel is Isidora, a city brimming with joy, emotion, and ferocity. Here, the vibrant citizens enjoy life and bond to create a strong belief system of love, friendship, and family.
Invisible Cities is not just a book of descriptions. One of Calvino’s major themes is power and how it plays a major role in the development of any civilization. He explains that building a civilization starts from the ground up, from the smallest part of society. He uses khan’s fantasies about conquering and the reality of actual constructions to illustrate this. Polo's connotations of the cities allows Khan to become intrigued and to build a connection with them, thus revealing to him the structure of power and rule.
Throughout history, cities have been destroyed, rebuilt, and amalgamated, and unfortunately, when they weren't visible anymore they were forgotten. But with Invisible Cities, there remains a record that calls attention to the forgotten beauty of these cities and how, despite what we believe to be the unavoidable destruction of cities, each of them has stories and beauty to share and remember for eternity.
Calvino's sources of inspiration for Invisible Cities included tales of Marco Polo, ancient Roman cities, and Renaissance architectures, among other things. His study of the cities' history enabled him to explore the depths of the lives of those who lived in them and to bring to life their stories in the form of a literary masterpiece.
Invisible Cities is one of Italo Calvino’s most acclaimed works and the ingenuity of this masterpiece has been celebrated by literature aficionados around the world ever since its publication. With elements of exploration, philosophy and history, Calvino’s writing style is vivid and captivating, as he reflects on the events of centuries past, traveling to the memories and histories of many unresolved places. He leaves us with the understanding that cities have their own identities, and the world and its inhabitants must never forget them.
