伊塔洛·卡尔维诺（Italo Calvino, 1923—1985）是二十世纪后期最伟大的作家之一。 他主要作品有小说《分成两半的子爵》《树上的男爵》《不存在的骑士》等。卡尔维诺于1985年被提名为诺贝尔文学奖获奖者，却因于当年猝然去世而与该奖失之交臂。但其人其作早已在意大利文学界乃至世界文学界产生巨大影响。他无疑是世界上最著名的翻译作家，以至于他代表着意大利作家。 他写了许多讲述战争和抵抗运动的小说，但在他生命的最后十年中，他还写了许多实验小说。 伊塔洛·卡尔维诺也对戏剧，电影，音乐，漫画和艺术世界感兴趣。
Italo Calvino (1923 -- 1985) was one of the greatest writers of the late twentieth century. His best known works include novels such as "The Cloven Viscount”, “The Baron in the Trees”, and "The Nonexistent Knight”. Italo Calvino was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature Award in 1985, but he missed it because of his sudden death. However, his works have already exerted a great influence on the Italian and even in the world literary circles. He is for sure the most famous writer in the world and the most translated one, so much so that he represents all Italian writers. He wrote many novels about war and the Italian Resistance, but in the last decade of his life he also wrote many experimental novels. Italo Calvino was also interested in the theatre, cinema, music and art.
1959年11月初，36岁的意大利作家伊塔洛·卡尔维诺经由福特基金为欧洲年轻作家专设的赞助启程前往美国。正如长久以来的习惯，卡尔维诺总是力图深入理解事物的内涵，从人类学家和控制论的角度去观察，比如美国社会体系的运行；但在旅居过程他也同样完成了埃依纳乌迪出版社的任务，将J.D.塞林格、伯纳德·马拉默德、索尔·贝娄等美国作家的作品引入意大利。他将旅途见闻变作一封又一封长信写往都灵，这些信件介于日记和报告文学之间，其中的部分也成为周刊刊载的系列文章。《一个乐观主义者在美国》（译林出版社，2018年5月出版）便是由这些素材汇编而成。
In early November 1959, at 36 years old, Italo Calvino, set off for the United States under a grant from the Ford Foundation for Young European Writers. As has been his habit for a long time, Italo Calvino has always sought to gain a deeper understanding of things, from an anthropological and cybernetic point of view, such as the functioning of the American social system; But during his stay, he also completed the mission of Einaudi Press (second largest Italian publisher on the trade market), which introduced the works of J. D. Salinger, Bernard Malamud, Saul Bellow and other American writers to Italy. He turned his travels into long letters to Turin (The Einaudi publishing house was established in Turin in 1933), between the diaries and the non-fiction novel, some of which became part of a weekly series. “An Optimist in America” (Yilin Press, May 2018) is is his travel diary.
伊塔洛·卡尔维诺在中国也受到了很大的欢迎，他在中国的知名度也不低。对于文艺青年来说，卡尔维诺易读，这就比《尤利西斯》和《万有引力之虹》不知优势到哪里去了。而且他的意象是如此的显明，很多作者都会很容易地受到他的影响。中国人最喜欢的书就是《看不见的城市》，《宇宙奇趣》，《命运交叉的城堡》，《命运交叉的Lost Temple》，《我们的祖先》。某些作品略有重复感之外，他的每一部都有突破，都令人惊喜。《寒冬夜行人》，那是超超超级快感的阅读经验。
Italo Calvino has also been well received in China, where he is well known. For the young people, Italo Calvino is easy to read, or at least it’s easier than reading “Ulysses” and “Gravity’s Raibow” for “Ulysses” and “Gravity’s Rainbow”. And his images are so obvious that many writers are easily influenced by him. The most popular books in China are the “Invisible Cities”, “The Complete Cosmicomics”, “The Castle of Crossed Destinies”, and “Our ancestors". Some of his work is slightly repetitive, but every one of his films has a breakthrough, and are amazing. “If on a winter's night a traveler” is a super high reading experience.
美国新闻报刊登出的卡尔维诺的讣告仓促而苍白无力，而《时代》和《新闻周刊》的表现不算坏，尽管一家认为他是“超现实主义者”，另一家称他是“幻想大师”；但他不折不扣是个写实主义者，坚信“惟有从文体的坚实感中才能诞生创造力：幻想如同果酱；你必须把它涂在一片实在的面包片上。如果不这样做，它就没有自己的形状，像果酱那样，你不能从中造出任何东西。”这个朴素的比喻来自卡尔维诺死后，意大利电视台播出的对他的访谈。
The obituaries of Calvino published in the U.S. News were hasty and pale, but surprisingly, those on Time and Newsweek were not as bad, although one referred to him as “Surrealist” and the other one as a “Visionary”; but he was a veritable realist who thought that “creativity can only be born from stylistic solidity: imagination is like jam; you must spread it on a solid slice of bread, if you don’t, it doesn’t have a shape of its own, like jam, and you can’t make anything out of it”.
欧洲将卡尔维诺之死视为文化的一次灾难。一位文学批评家为此撰写长文以哀之，而在意大利，两个星期内的每一天医院都对外发布病情公告，全国因为共同的尊敬之情被团结在一起，这位伟大的作家不仅通过他收集的童话故事进入了小学生的心中，也不时地被每一个读书的成年人阅读着。
Europe saw Italo Calvino’s death as a cultural disaster. A literary critic wrote a long article for this in mourning and every day for two weeks in Italy, the hospital issued a public announcement of the condition of the writer. The country was united by a common sense of respect: This great writer and his fairy tales not only enter in the hearts of young children, also adults who read them get touched.
阅读卡尔维诺的小说，你会感到一种完全不同的阅读体验。在他的世界里，智慧和趣味才是首要的标准，那里没有现实生活中的沉重和乏味，更多的是一种轻盈的灵巧和优美的创造力，同时又不缺乏深度。读着读着，你自身的想象力也会不由自主的迸发出来。
卡尔维诺的世界，不同于我们生活的世界。那里是更理想、更值得追随的世界。Reading Italo Calvino’s novels, you will feel a completely different reading experience. In his world, wisdom and fun are the primary standards. There is no heaviness and boringness in real life, but a kind of lightness, dexterity and graceful creativity without lack of depth. As you read, your own imagination will burst out involuntarily.
Italo Calvino’s world is different from the world we live in. It’s a better more worthy world to follow.
