If on a Winter's Night a Traveller by Italo Calvino
The novel is a postmodernist narrative that follows the adventures of the reader, who is trying to read a book called "If on a Winter's Night a Traveller." However, the reader keeps encountering obstacles that prevent him from finishing the book, including printer's errors, censorship, and interruptions from other characters. The story is interspersed with the beginnings of ten different novels, each interrupted at a moment of suspense. The book is a meditation on reading, writing, and the nature of narrative itself.
The 260th greatest book of all time
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Total Points: 1408
This book was first published in 1979
27 Lists
- score: 190 -- 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die - 2006 (Weight: 180)
- score: 190 -- El Pais Favorite Books of 100 Spanish Authors - 2008 (Weight: 190)
- score: 169 -- The Bigger Read List - 2003 (Weight: 160)
- score: 150 -- 50 Best Cult Books - 2016 (Weight: 142)
- score: 97 -- List of the 100 best Italian books of the last 200 years - 2017 (Weight: 92)
- score: 94 -- Fifty French Writers Choose Their Favorite 10 Books - Honourable Mention - 2022 (Weight: 89)
- score: 80 -- The 100 Most Important Translations - 2018 (Weight: 80)
- score: 70 -- 100 Best Books - 2010 (Weight: 70)
- score: 63 -- Harold Bloom's The Western Canon - 1994 (Weight: 60)
- score: 63 -- "Our Readable Century", The Best Books of the 20th Century -- Honorable Mention - 2000 (Weight: 60)
- score: 50 -- 4chan’s Literature Board’s Aggregate Top 100 Books for the Decade 2014 - 2024 - 2024 (Weight: 50)
- score: 42 -- A Century of World Literature 1925 - 2025 - 2025 (Weight: 40)
- score: 37 -- Harvard Book Store Staff's Favorite 100 Books - 2011 (Weight: 33)
- score: 26 -- 50 Books to Read Before You Die - 2012 (Weight: 26)
- score: 21 -- The 500 best books of all time from Culture Café users - 2008 (Weight: 20)
- score: 10 -- The 100 Greatest Novels of All Time: The List - 2003 (Weight: 10)
- score: 10 -- 25 Books to Read Before You Die - 2023 (Weight: 10)
- score: 10 -- Everything You Should Read without Being a Library Rat - 1972 (Weight: 10)
- score: 10 -- The 100 Best Novels in Translation by Boyd Tonkin - 2019 (Weight: 10)
- score: 10 -- The Telegraph’s 100 Novels Everyone Should Read - 2009 (Weight: 10)
- score: 1 -- Our Users' Honorable Mention Favorite Books of All Time - 2024 (Weight: 1)
- score: 1 -- The Well-Educated Mind - 2003 (Weight: 1)
- score: 1 -- The Books You've Always Meant to Read - 2020 (Weight: 1)
- score: 1 -- 501 Must-Read Books - 2006 (Weight: 1)
- score: 1 -- From Zero to Well-Read in 100 Books - 2013 (Weight: 1)
- score: 1 -- 500 Must Read Books - 2013 (Weight: 1)
- score: 1 -- Entertainment Weekly's Top 100 Novels - 2013 (Weight: 1)