The Nonexistent Knight and the Cloven Viscount (Harbrace Paperbound Library; 73) [Paperback]

The second tale is of a nobleman cut in half whose two halves live separately on: one evil, one good. This is a more straightforward and compact story, and clearly a warning against extremism of any kinds. The evil side is truly nasty, and the good one starts out beloved, but eventfully gets too pushy and interfering for everyone's good. Eventually the two halves are rejoined to make a balanced personality and everyone lives happily ever after.

Both stories can also be read as existentialist meditations on the meaning of existence. They can also be read with an eye toward the horrors of WWII and the nature of evil. In the first tale, Charlemagne and his knights are bumbling fools for the most part, but still manage to engage in a bloody war. In the second, a carpenter's expertise is enlisted to create more and more elaborate torture and hanging devices, while a doctor abandons his commitment to helping people. In any event, if you like Calvino's other fabulist work, you'll like these two novellas, but they're probably not the place to start if you're unfamiliar with his work.

"The Nonexistant Knight" opens with Charlemagne and his army preparing for a massive battle -- except that one knight named Agilulf is, technically, nonexistant. Okay, he's the very image of honor and chivalry, but he's also a walking empty suit of white armor. For some reason, Charlemagne doesn't seem disturbed by this.

Fortunately, Agilulf is able to do his job despite not existing; Calvino's meditations on this are outstanding. Because of his ultra-perfection, Agilulf ends up attracting a naive young soldier, a feisty warrior woman, and an odd young knight who is looking for the Order of the Holy Grail. A Shakespearean tangle of sorts emerges before things start to sort themselves out...

"The Cloven Viscount" is a simpler work: A viscount is hit by a Turkish cannonball that somehow splits him in half. Surprisingly, he's not dead -- they're able to save the right half of his body. But when the right half goes home, it becomes increasingly clear that it only has half the personality as well. And unfortunately, it's the evil half.

As the various peasants try to deal with the viscount's vicious acts, the left half shows up as well. As it happens, the left half is the good half. He's also, despite his goody-goody personality, as much of a menace as the evil side. Can the two halves somehow get back into a whole man, or will they drive everyone else nuts?

Italo Calvino's work is always a bit whimsical, but there is actual substance under the whimsy. For example, Agilulf is rigidly devoted to protocol and form, because he has nothing inside him. I'm pretty sure every person has met someone like Agilulf. Or, for that matter, glimpsed the two halves that lie inside every human being.

Don't think it's all stuffy philosophy, though. One of Calvino's greatest talents was to make a hugely entertaining story that never became preachy, only funny. While the subtext of "Viscount" is obvious, "Knight" is a sort of satire on medieval chivalry tales. And that is where Calvino excels; "Viscount," while good, is a bit heavy-handed in places. But his macabre, slightly strange sense of humor keeps it from being goofy or preachy.

His writing is formal, clear and evocative and starkly pretty, with only some key details. But it is peppered with funny lines and undignified characters. One of the best lines of "Knight" is at the beginning, where Charlemagne comments (entirely seriously), "Well, for someone who doesn't exist, you seem in fine form."

Calvino's offbeat parables and satires are always excellent, and his early pair of novellas are no exception. Funny, strange and thought-provoking, these are a pair of modern classics.

The tales of a suit of armor out to vindicate himself, and a count with literally "split personalities" is colored with heavy doses of wit, and a dab of philosophical discourse. Prose flows effortlessly accross your tongue as you read. And you don't seem to notice the passage of time.

The characters, especially the protagonists, prove to be very endearing. For anyone who hasn't read Calvino, this is as good as any book to start with. It gets the bandwagon rolling.