165 pages
English language
Published Oct. 29, 1974 by Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
"Kublai Khan does not necessarily believe everything Marco Polo says when he describes the cities visited on his expeditions, but the emperor of the Tartars does continue listening to the young Venetian with greater attention and curiosity than he shows any other messenger or explorer of his." So begins Italo Calvino's compilation of fragmentary urban images. As Marco tells the khan about Armilla, which "has nothing that makes it seem a city, except the water pipes that rise vertically where the houses should be and spread out horizontally where the floors should be," the spider-web city of Octavia, and other marvelous burgs, it may be that he is creating them all out of his imagination, or perhaps he is recreating fine details of his native Venice over and over again, or perhaps he is simply recounting some of the myriad possible forms a city might take.
Vignettes, charged with antiquity and universality.
Invisiville is beautiful, populated with fascinating people in homes of spectacular inventiveness, with undiscovered cultural traditions. You can enter Invisiville through several similar passages, to see the varied parts of the city. Once you leave, however, you will not remember which passages you have used before. It is frustrating, as you want to see all of this wondrous city, without missing any, but you find yourself using the same entrances again and again. Your best bet is to put aside your itinerary and see all of Invisiville at once.
