- Paperback: 352 pages
- Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd; New edition edition (1 Aug 2002)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0140293280
- ISBN-13: 978-0140293289
- Product Dimensions: 19 x 13 x 2.6 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,244,391 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
City (Universale economica) (Italian Edition)
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle .
Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. |
Product details |
More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
A Number One bestseller on publication in Italy, CITY is a dazzlingly inventive novel from the prize-winning author of SILK. In Baricco's words: "CITY is an important title for me, because it expresses what this book has always been in my head. A city. No particular city. An impression of a city rather. Its skeleton. I thought of the stories I had in mind as if they were neighbourhoods. And I imagined characters as if they were streets...There is a boy called Gould, and a girl called Shatzy Shell. There are professors, people who play football, a black kid who plays basketball and never fails to score, and there's also a general".
About the Author
Alessandro Baricco was born in Turin in 1958 where he still lives today. He is the author of the highly acclaimed and internationally successful novels SILK and OCEAN SEA.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I've just finished reading City whilst on holiday. Most enjoyable. As a newcomer to Barrico's work, i read this more out of curiosity than anything else. The shift between the axis story - that of child genius Gould who befriends the sexy Satzy Shell - and the metaphysical Western which Shatzy narrates at various intervals is a true joy. The humour that prevails throughout the book is subtle and warm. The regular meetings between Gould and the Professor at the football are sublime.
I found much of the boxing narrative tedious, my only gripe.
Also worth checking out is the narrative album. It's read beautifully by Baricco with music form Air. It concentrates solely on the Western which is in my opinion the finest part of the book.
I found much of the boxing narrative tedious, my only gripe.
Also worth checking out is the narrative album. It's read beautifully by Baricco with music form Air. It concentrates solely on the Western which is in my opinion the finest part of the book.
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
If you've already read something by Baricco, you should definitely get this one! It's so dense, visual... you actually feel like you're walking through a maze of streets and lanes... you often find yourself disoriented at the beginning, but you'll gradually begin to find your way. The atmosphere is so gripping I found it hard to read it "just like a book". It's more like an adventure... like walking side by side with the characters for a while, then suddenly turn the corner and meet another, only to get back to each of them when you least expect it!
I totally enjoyed this book, definitely my favourite in Baricco's production. I have a couple of reservations, though... The first being that you shouldn't read this as your first approach to Baricco's style. Rather start off with Ocean Sea or Silk (though the latter is definitely less intriguing); they'll put you in the right mood, and you'll see how Baricco evolved from the beginning. And finally, I can't really comment on the English translation as I've only read the original Italian version... and being a translator myself I bet the poor girl had a hard time with the author's unique prose!
I totally enjoyed this book, definitely my favourite in Baricco's production. I have a couple of reservations, though... The first being that you shouldn't read this as your first approach to Baricco's style. Rather start off with Ocean Sea or Silk (though the latter is definitely less intriguing); they'll put you in the right mood, and you'll see how Baricco evolved from the beginning. And finally, I can't really comment on the English translation as I've only read the original Italian version... and being a translator myself I bet the poor girl had a hard time with the author's unique prose!
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
One of the best - if not *the* best - modern writers around, Baricco's first two novels, 'Silk' and 'Ocean Sea', were masterpieces of understatement, beautifully written, atmospheric.
'City' is different. 'City' - for the first hundred pages at least - is relatively plainly written. The dialogue is short, punchy, and everywhere. The characters are comic-book - a boy genius, a giant, a mute - and the narrative strays over the city apparently not quite knowing where to stop. If you've read Neil Gaiman's novels you will feel in oddly familiar territory.
At the heart of 'City' are three stories: the central tale of the boy genius; a story about a boxer which he creates; and a "metaphysical Western" which his nanny creates. The last two are what you might expect from Baricco - unusual, special. But you get the feeling that Baricco has created the boy genius narrative as a tidy way of hinging it together - in fact, it only brings the overall quality of writing down.
It's still way ahead of anything else out there, however, and I recommend sticking with it. This is eminently readable stuff from a writer of undoubted quality.
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
This is a literary marvel!
This book shows both the wonderful scope of Baricco's imagination and his literary expertise. Each new episode sparks new thrills with the pace of movies such as Pulp Fiction or... Read more
Published on 30 Nov 2003
City a Great Big Disappointment
When I found thie book I giggled with glee, I was buying a book by the same author who gave me such beautiful pleasure in the form of his two previous publications; Silk and Ocean... Read more
Published on 8 Jun 2003 by "astralnz"
Unimpressive City
I bought this book hoping for something as involving and as ethereal as Silk or Ocean Sea, but I was thouroughly disappointed. Read more
Published on 16 Dec 2002 by "astralnz"
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
|
|
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
