My head is hurting

‘If on a Winter’s Night a Traveller’ by Italo Calvino is by far the most uniquely written book I have ever read. Although I cannot say I thoroughly enjoyed it as I found that the author’s tangents, as well as inserting himself into the short stories, caused me to get a headache lol. It is clear this book was written to challenge stereotypical storytelling formats, one that has a clear beginning, middle, and end. This book was broken down into chapter’s in itself, which in between is interupted by “unfinished” short stories, beginning with the book’s title ‘If on a Winter’s Night a Traveller’.

At first I was quite confused by the format of the book, but as you read you begin to understand the author’s writing style, which he points out from the very beginning of the book. The actual chapter’s follow “the reader” but also “you” which implies that there is some sort of protagonist, but also that this is “you”. Meaning, it is expected that you are to place yourself in this story as it goes along. You in a way are not not the protagonist, the protagonist is experiencing a completely different experience of the story as we discover “the reader” and the “other reader” Ludmilla exploring stories such as ‘If on a Winter’s Night a Traveller’ in their own perspective. However, as the story begins by referring to us as “you” it also guides us through the journey of picking up the book and starting it, as if we are the protagonist– making us question how to experience the novel.

This referral of “you” is carried into the “unfinished” short stories written as fiction that somehow relates to what “the reader” is actually reading. The author refers to us as “you” as he wants us again to feel like we are not only emersed in these fictional stories, but are really inside the story. On the other hand, the author refers to himself as “I” in the short stories, which confuses the reader (us) if it is the author in the book, or once again another protagonist.

At the end of the book we can even see “the reader’ discussing the novel ‘If on a Winter’s Night a Traveller’ with other reader’s to which they point out that the egyptians did not consider a novel a novel unless two people married at the end or one died. “The reader” then announces he has decided to marry Ludmilla. Overall, this book explicitly tries to play with our understanding of what is reality, what is not, and everything in between. He even skews reality for character “the reader” inside the novel. Although, I can see how this book can be successfully read whether done from an outside/stand-by or inside/emersed perspective.

When reading this book did you feel that you were inside the story (you were the protagonist) or have the clear seperation that you were an outside reader simply reading a story?