About this title: Enchanting stories about the evolution of the universe, with characters that are fashioned from mathematical formulae and cellular structures. "Naturally, we were all there, - old Qfwfq said, - where else could we have been? Nobody knew then that there could be space. Or time either: what use did we have for time, packed in there like sardines?" ...
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Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Harvest Books
Date Published: 1976
ISBN-13:9780156226004ISBN:0156226006
Description: Good. Clean pages good condition overall minor shelf wear sharp corners tight spine All new inventory received to basement All orders guaranteed and ship within 24 hours. Your purchase supports More Than Words, a nonprofit job training program for youth, empowering youth to take charge of their lives by taking charge of a business. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Harvest Books
Date Published: 1976-10-04
ISBN-13:9780156226004ISBN:0156226006
Description: Good. A good study copy with clean readable pages, cover and edges show signs of use. FREE TRACKING in US and email to you when shipped. Inquires welcomed and we want your complete satisfaction! read more
Description: Very Good. 0156226006 Paperback, Condition: Very Good; this book is in very good condition with light curve to the spine / light reading creases to the covers. read more
Description: Very good. No dust jacket as issued. Text in English, Italian. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 168 p. Harbrace Paperbound Library, 69. Audience: General/trade. Totally clean & unmarked inside & out. Light wear to covers with a few light creases, slightly rough edges, and slightly bent or turned up corners. Great copy. read more
Description: Fine. 0156226006 NEVER USED! . There are no highlights, No pen marks, No missing pages. The binding is sturdy. This book may have slight shelf wear. Upgraded shipping on orders over $49.99. Customer Satisfaction Guaranteed! read more
Description: Rubin Pfieffer. Fine. No dust jacket as issued. Found in collectable plastic bag so it's in really nice shape. Text in English, Italian. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 168 p. Harbrace Paperbound Library, 69. Audience: General/trade. Nice looking cover design with blurb form Gore Vidal "Calvino does very what few writers can do: He describes imaginary worlds with the most extraordinary precision and beauty"(new York Review Of Books) read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Harvest Books
Date Published: 1976-10-04
ISBN-13:9780156226004ISBN:0156226006
Description: Very Good. Harvest Books [Published date: 1976]. Soft cover, 153 pp. Reprint. Very good/ NO dust jacket. Cream pictorial soft covers have very light bumping to edges and corners. Light overall rubbing. Binding tight. Pages crisp clean and bright with no markings. NOT Ex-library. NO remainder marks. read more
Description: New. Orders placed after Dec. 7 cannot be guaranteed delivery before Christmas. GREAT BUY. Brand New From US Distributor. WE ARE A 5 STAR SELLER with OVER 3, 500, 000 BOOKS SOLD. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Abacus
Date Published: 1984
Description: Good. PAPERBACK. Contents clean and tight, covers rubbed, bumped and lightly creased. Clean and sound with some reading wear. Over twenty years selling secondhand books. read more
"As a practicing scientist (I don't think you can ever get it quite right) this book is a good example of the poetry that is infused with science. From the first page Calvino starts you off by introducing the concept that the Moon is slowly moving away from the Earth and then launches the reader into a world where beings exist at a time when the Moon and Earth nearly touched. The story transforms what could be seen as a cold scientific fact into a playful erotic compelling story about love, lust, and lunar milk. The book continues this way-- each short story not equal to the next-- but since they are short stories you can just skip them if you want!"
"The 'Cosmicomics' stories are a unique form of storytelling - a mixture of science fiction, humour, fantasy and romance. They are told through the eyes of old Qfwfq, who was there at the Big Bang ('...where else could I have been?') and has experienced everything from evolution in action to the formation of stars, narrating as an old man might to his grandchildren. The other stories here are just as interesting, turning mathematical conjectures into real scenarios. For example, one story takes place in just one frozen second, as a hunter wonders whether the arrow he has fired at a leaping lion will hit or miss. This is truly a wonderful compilation, and I would strongly recommend it to anybody."
"Calvino takes on scientific discourse and the narrative of creation: would be my one sentence take on Cosmicomics. And he doesn't do a half-bad job of it, in fact his look at signs is almost readable, and his story of otherness and Dinosaurs is pretty fun, not to mention the excellent (if short lived) All at one point. However, the above being said, it often feels as if Calvino is hindered, rather than inspired, by the urge to retain a strong fidelity to the science; as a result sometimes the writing lacks lustre, the stories become mechanical. This tendency is heightened by the (un)fortunately wondrous first story. Though it does not follow the general narrative creation story of the collection, it is still head and shoulders above all the rest, and worth the purchase/borrow/find all on its own. Read the first story, put the book down, and then find that other Calvino book you'd been meaning to read and sit down with that, then, maybe, pick up Cosmicomics again, read the first and marvel anew, and then read a few more of the stories and figure out if you want to read them.
"Essentially a book of short stories, Calvino weaves everything together by looking at various points of the evolution of the universe. Each of these points -- each of these stories -- is written as though beings with human-like thought processes/emotions existed. How amazing to imagine the Big Bang Theory from a rational perspective, or the extinction of dinosaurs, or the creation of the eye. It's always hard to review Calvino, because although the original plots he creates are fantastic, it's truly the way he crafts the sentences that makes his books so compelling. Just read him! It's not as dense as it appears."
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