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The ecological aspect of this novel is not the most discussed one, but with [b:The Overstory|40180098|The Overstory|Richard Powers|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1562786502l/40180098._SY75_.jpg|57662223] by Richard Powers still occupying sizable real estate in my head it's the first one that comes up for me. Calvino writes early on here of how the coastal area in Liguria, north-west Italy, used to be covered in trees and woods, which made possible the Baron's mobile life up there in the trees. Since then however they have been lost to development. Cosimo, the Baron of the title, came to an exaggeratedly intimate relationship with trees and nature, Calvino writing as a fabulist, but one that we'd be better off today if we were closer to than we are.

That's just one aspect of Cosimo's rebellion against his society, a rebellion against oppressive strictures but never against human community. Even living up in the trees, he frequently tried to help organize his fellow men down below into more cooperative and egalitarian relationships, from putting out fires to feeding the hungry to overthrowing oppressive government. It's a hopeful rebellion, one that sometimes bears fruit and that sometimes ends in disappointment, as they do. ( )

This book is enjoyable enough if one can suspends a sufficient amount of disbelief. ( )

Ho provato più volte a terminare questa lettura, ma proprio non ci riesco. Il viscobte dimezzato e il cavaliere inesistente invece mi sono piaciuti moltissimo ❤️ ( )

Some time ago Audible offered for free a number of books originally written in languages other than English. (If I recall correctly, it was a promotion in support of International Reading Day.) Of those I selected from the list, [b:The Baron in the Trees|9804|The Baron in the Trees|Italo Calvino|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1344432724l/9804._SY75_.jpg|865256] has easily been the most enjoyable.

To begin, this edition is a success on all counts - the writing is brilliant, the translation fluid, and the narration perfectly attuned to the text. It can easily be read and enjoyed simply as an amusing fable of a young noble of the mid-18th century, from a province along the Italian Riviera, who in typical teen-age fashion declares that he is renouncing his family. What is not so typical is that he follows through on this impetuous stand by taking up residence in the local trees - and not putting foot on the ground for the rest of his life.

Behind this adventurous tale (no other word will appropriately describe the nature of the story, which relates a series of episodes in sparkling prose), [b:The Baron in the Trees|9804|The Baron in the Trees|Italo Calvino|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1344432724l/9804._SY75_.jpg|865256] exists as an allegory for the social, economic and political changes of the time. Our hero, Cosimo, looks down from his arboreal residence, carefully nurtured to create pathways among the trees to facilitate his movements, on a continuously changing world. He sees the ideals of Voltaire and Rousseau and other key Enlightenment figures give way to the French Revolution, followed by the rise and fall of Napoleon.

He encounters many colorful individuals along the way, perhaps most notably Viola, a childhood neighbor who reappears later in his life as the embodiment of free love, stimulating both passions and intellectual argument. Viola's strategy for gaining independence she craved is notable: she married an elderly man, confident that before long he will die and she will have his extensive wealth at her command, with no one to rein her in.

Although the Italian portions of the book are all translated into English, at times brief passages appear in other languages, most notably French, but also a little Spanish and Russian. My limited linguistic skills failed me during the longer discourses, although I could discern the meaning through context.

But that is a small quibble. No way around it, this is a gem of a book. ( )