How I Wrote One of My Books
Italo Calvino
Trans. Paul Cohen
Chapter 1
R----B
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| |
b----r
The living reader (R) reads the physical book (B)
The physical book (B) tells the story of the reader who is
in the book (r)
The reader who is in the book does not arrive to read the book
which is in the book (b)
The book which is in the book does not tell the story of the
living reader
The reader who is in the book pretends to be the living reader
The physical book wants to be the book which is in the book
Chapter 2
R----B<
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B>----L
The reader (R) suffers the interruption of his reading (B<)
The interruption of the reading leads to a meeting with the
female reader (L)
The female reader wants to continue the reading (B>)
The continuation of the reading prevents another meeting with the
reader
The reader wants to find the female reader
The interruption of the book becomes the continuation of the book
R----B*
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L----B#
The reader (R) wants to continue the started book (B*)
The reader is satisfied in finding the female reader (L)
The beginning of the started book (B#) doesn't satisfy the female
reader
The started book has no desire to continue
The female reader wants to continue another book
The beginning of this book looks for another reader
Chapter 3
L----N*
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N#---l
The passionate female reader (L) savors the art of the novel (N*)
The art of the novel can assume a person like the intellectual
female reader (l)
The intellectual female reader analyzes the ideology of the novel
(N#)
The ideology does not accept a person such as the passionate
female reader
Ludmilla includes her sister Lotaria
The ideology mangles the poetry
R----B/
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| |
B,---H
The reader (R) looks for a mysterious book (B/)
The mysterious book is in the domain of the hyperreader (H)
The hyperreader gives an unfinished book (B,) to the reader
The unfinished book is not the one for which the reader was looking
The hyperreader doesn't read the same books as the reader
The mystery of a book is not in its end but in its beginning
H----S
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N----s
The hyperreader finds the sublime (S) in the written words
The nonreader (N) sees only silence (s) in the written words
The sublime finds its perfect realization in silence
The hyperreader finds his perfect realization in the nonreader
Not reading is not enough to reach the sublime
One can't reach the hyperreader by reading the silence
Chapter 4
R----p
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l-----L
The reader's investigation (R) takes him to the professor (p)
The professor's ecstasy intrigues Ludmilla (L)
Ludmilla's excitement frightens Lotaria (l)
Lotaria's erudition annoys the reader
R----p
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| |
l-----L
The professor's (p) ecstasy frightens the reader (R)
The reader's investigation intrigues Lotaria (l)
Lotaria's erudition takes him to Ludmilla (L)
Ludmilla's excitement annoys the professor
L----l
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p----R
Ludmilla's (L) excitement takes her to Lotaria (l)
Lotaria's erudition intrigues the reader (R)
The reader's investigation frightens the professor (p)
The professor's ecstasy annoys Ludmilla
R----p
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| |
l----L
Ludmilla's (L) excitement intrigues the professor (p)
The professor's ecstasy takes him to the reader (R)
The reader's investigation annoys Lotaria (L)
Lotaria's erudition frightens Ludmilla
Chapter 5
R^---R
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F----A
The professional reader (R^) envies the condition of the simple
reader (R)
The simple reader stalks the author (A)
The author is afraid of being plagiarized by the forger (F)
The forger escapes from the professional reader
R^---R
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| |
F----A
The professional reader (R^) stalks the forger (F)
The forger envies the condition of the author (A)
The author escapes from the simple reader (R)
The simple reader doesn't want to be in the place of the
professional reader
R^---R
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F----A
The simple reader (R) envies the condition of the professional
reader (R^)
The forger (F) persecutes the professional reader
The forger detests the author (A)
The simple reader remains unknown to the author
R^---R
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F----A
The author (A) envies the condition of the forger (F)
The author pursues the simple reader (R)
The professional reader (R^) pities the simple reader
The professional reader is cool towards the forger
R^---R
| |
| |
F----A
The professional reader (R^) envies the condition of the simple
reader (R)
The simple reader stalks the author (A)
The professional reader stalks the forger (F)
The forger envies the condition of the author
Chapter 6
A----b
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f----F
The author (A) breathes truth into his book (b)
The author's book is stolen by the forger (F)
The forger breathes artifice into his forgery (f)
The forgery is attributed to the author
There is a truth of the author that only the forger knows
In every true book there is an artifice which forgery can catch
F----A
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f----b
The forger (F) struggles to imitate the style of the author
The author struggles to express himself in his true book (b)
The true book struggles to distinguish itself from the forgery
(f)
The forgery doesn't force itself to express the truth of the
forger
The forger can express a truth which is not his
The author can produce forgeries of his own
F----a
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O----A
The forger (F) dreams a hyperauthor (the Father of Stories, a)
The hyperauthor knows all the novels which the author (A) dreams
of writing
The author has a nightmare: his novel was written by an ordinator
(O)
The ordinator has been able to realize the dreams of the forger
The dreams of the author and those of the forger resemble each other
The ordinator-author of novels is a dream like the father of the
stories
F----O
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X----A
The forger (F) dreams of the perfect literary ordinator (O)
The literary ordinator needs the input of the author (A)
The author is obsessed by the characteristic tone (X) of his soul
The characteristic tone escapes the grasp of the forger
The ordinator is confused by the characteristic tone
The forger has not chosen his author well
a----A
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X----b
The Father of Stories (a) no longer inspires the author (A)
The author no longer manages to write the novel which he wishes
to write (b)
The novel written in the tone (X) is somber
The tone is the source from which all the stories come
A novel is a failure if it does not have a mythical source
It is in the tone that the author's truth is hidden
A----b
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f----F
The author (A) abandons his true novel (b)
The author is compelled to produce his own forgeries (f)
The forger (F) does not have the right to write the true book
The forger can produce all the forgeries he wants
Among the forgeries is hidden the true book
The author writes the story of the forger
Chapter 7
L----B
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H----N
The female reader (L) is never satisfied with the book which she
reads (B)
The books which she reads say nothing to the nonreader (N)
The nonreader finds himself in a house full of books (H)
A house full of books contains the story of the female reader
The nonreader and the female reader are complementary
It is hard to find a book in a house full of books
L----N
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H----B
The female reader (L) is complementary with the nonreader (N)
The female reader is never satisfied with the book which she
reads (B)
The nonreader likes a house full of books (H)
The book which is sought is hidden in a house full of books
The female reader never stops exploring her house
The nonreader always finds the book which is sought
R----L
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M---B
The reader (R) finally reads the female reader (L)
The female reader wanted to finally read the book (B)
The book does not reveal the mystery (M)
The mystery is hidden from the reader
The female reader hides a mystery
The book is not finished by the reader
L----R
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M----B
The female reader (L) also reads the reader (R)
The female reader always hides a mystery (M)
A suspect book (B) is discovered by the reader
The suspect book does not surrender its mystery
In vain, reader, you pursue this sacred mystery
In vain, female reader, you pursue this sacred book
F----B
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R----L
The forger (F) has hidden a book (B) in the house
The hidden book does not astonish the female reader (L)
The female reader does not surrender her secrets to the reader
(R)
The reader is jealous of the forger
A hidden book makes the reader suspicious
The female reader knows the forger well
L----F
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B----R
The female reader (L) knows the forger well (F)
The forger crosses the reader's (R) path
The reader does not recognize the suspect book (B)
The suspect book is taken from the female reader
But it is not certain that the book is connected with the forger
But it is not certain that the female reader is connected with
the reader
Chapter 8
A----L
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Z----B
The author (A) takes the female reader (L) for a model
The female reader abandons herself to the happiness of reading (B)
The happiness of reading ignores the fatigue of writing (Z)
The fatigue of writing torments the author
The female reader ignores the fatigue of writing
The author has forgotten the happiness of reading
A<---b
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B^---A>
The tormented author (A<) wants to be the author of the book read
by the female reader (B^)
The productive author (A>) wants to be the author of the book read
by the female reader (B^)
The tormented author does not recognize in his own book the book
read by the female reader
The productive author does not recognize in his own book the book
read by the female reader
The tormented author and the productive author are jealous of one
another
The book read and the book written are not the same book
A----o
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b----U
The book which he ought to write (b) escapes the author as "I"
(A)
The author wants to give up his "I" to be an impersonal "one"
(o)
The impersonal "one" could write unlimited libraries (U)
The unlimited libraries contain the book of the author as "I"
The author is haunted by the image of unlimited libraries
The impersonal language is crystallized in the words of the book
A----l
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F----L
The forger (F) wants to steal the work of the author (A)
The intellectual female reader (l) wants to mangle the work of
the author
The intellectual female reader wants to distinguish herself from
the passionate female reader (L)
The forger wants to win the love of the passionate female reader
The passionate female reader does not interest the author
The work of the forger is enough for the intellectual female reader
A----B#
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B*---R
The author only manages to write the beginning of the novel
(B#)
The reader only manages to read the beginning of the novel
The author does not manage to write a complete novel (B*)
The reader does not manage to read a complete novel
The reader does not find the solution to his problems with
the author
The complete book is perhaps only its beginning
Chapter 9
R----W
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b----f
The reader (R) is not interested in the world (W)
The world takes the form of a forgery (f)
Forgeries replace the true books (b)
The book always wants to escape the reader
The world is never a book
Forgery is the story of the reader
P----b
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f----R
Power (P) mistrusts the books (b)
The books no longer find their reader (R)
The reader trusts the forgeries (f)
The forgeries are signed by power
One can no longer distinguish the true books from the forgeries
The reader's story is determined by power
F----P
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f----b
Only the forger (F) understands the logic of power (P)
The book (b) is disarmed in the face of power
The forger hurries the forgeries (f)
Each book is its own forgery
For the forger the truth does not exist
For power only falsehood exists
l----P
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f----R
Is the intellectual female reader (l) for or against power (P)?
Is the intellectual female reader mixed up in the affair of the
forgeries (f)?
Can the reader (R) escape from his prison?
Does the reader know how to read anything other than a forgery?
Is the intellectual female reader the ally or enemy of the reader?
Are the forgeries a weapon against power?
Chapter 10
R----b
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f----C
The reader (R) always searches for the true book (b)
The true book is prohibited by the censor (C)
The censor allows the forgeries (f) to circulate
The forgeries give the reader no rest
The true book is always hidden among the false ones
The reader addresses himself to the censor
C----F
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b----L
The censor (C) wants to assist the forger (F)
The forger wants to get the better of the female reader (L)
The female reader wants to be carried away by the true book (b)
The true book wants to put the censor in check
The censor can do nothing against the female reader
The true book is the elusive dream of the forger
C----f
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R----b
The censor (C) watches the reader (R)
The censor is fooled by the forgeries (f)
The true book (b) is disguised as a forgery
The true book is unrecognizable to the reader
The true book escapes the censor
The reader believes that all books are forgeries
Chapter 11
R----R2
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B----B2
The reader (R) spies on another reader (R2)
The other reader reads another book (B2)
The other book is really this book (B)
This book is addressed to you, reader
You, reader, may read another book
You, reader, may be read by another reader
R----B
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R2---B2
You, reader (R), may want to read this book (B)
You, reader, have read the story of another reader (R2)
This is another book, that which tells the story of this book
That other book is addressed to another reader
The book read by each reader is always another book
The reader is always another reader to each book that he reads
Chapter 12
R----B
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n----AL
The reader (R) is finishing the book (B)
The female reader (L) is finishing the book
The female reader turns off the light
The reader is approached by her in the night (n)
The reader and the female reader are in bed together
Life goes on and the book remains
Note
The book in question is If on a winter's night a traveler.
More precisely, this refers to the numbered chapters in that
book. (The "novels" which in the book are interspersed with the
chapters follow other schemes and other constraints.)
The square diagram is a personal adaptation of the formulations
of structural semiology by A. Greimas (especially Du Sens).