Reviews

Fantastic Tales: Visionary and Everyday by

kintsugiulia's review against another edition

4.0

INDICE/sommario perché ho bisogno degli indici per funzionare:
- Introduzione DI Italo Calvino
- Storia del demoniaco Pacheco (ROMANZO, Manuscrit trouvé à Saragosse, 1958) DI Jan Potocki
- Sortilegio d'autunno (RACCONTO, Die Zauberei im Herbst) DI Joseph Von Eichendorff
- L'uomo della sabbia (RACCONTO LUNGO, Der Sandmann) DI E. T. A. Hoffmann
- La novella di Willie il Vagabondo (RACCONTO, Wandering Willie Tale) DI Walter Scott
- L'elisir di lunga vita (RACCONTO, L'Elixir de longue vie) DI Honoré De Balzac
- L'occhio senza palpebra (RACCONTO, L'Oeil sans paupière) DI Philarète Chasles
- La mano incantata (RACCONTO, La Main enchantée) DI Gérard De Nerval
- Il giovane signor Brown (RACCONTO, Young Goodman Brown, 1835) DI Nathaniel Hawthorne
- Il naso (RACCONTO, Nos) DI Nikolaj Gogol'
- La morta innamorata (RACCONTO, La Mort amorouse, 1836) DI Théophile Gautier
- La Venere d'Ille (RACCONTO LUNGO, La Vénus d'Ille, 1837) DI Prosper Merimee
- Lo spettro e il conciaossa (RACCONTO BREVE, The Ghost and the Bone-setter, 1838) DI Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu
- Il cuore rivelatore (RACCONTO BREVE, The Tell-Tale Heart, 1843) DI Edgar Allan Poe
- L'ombra (RACCONTO) DI Hans Christian Andersen
- Il segnalatore (RACCONTO, [No. 1 Branch Line] The Signalman, 1866) DI Charles Dickens
- Il sogno (RACCONTO, Son) DI Ivan Turgenev
- Lo scacciadiavolo (RACCONTO, Certogon) DI Nikolàj Semënovič Leskov
- Più vero del vero (RACCONTO BREVE, A s'y mé prendre) DI Jean-Marie-Philippe-Auguste-Mathias de Villiers De L'Isle-Adam
- La notte (RACCONTO BREVE, La Nuit, 1887) DI Guy De Maupassant
- Amour Dure (RACCONTO LUNGO, Amour Dure) DI Vernon Lee
- Chickamauga (RACCONTO BREVE, Chickamauga, 1891) DI Ambrose Bierce
- I buchi della maschera (RACCONTO BREVE, Les Trous du masque) DI Jean Lorrain
- Il diavolo nella bottiglia (RACCONTO LUNGO, The Bottle Imp, 1891) DI Robert Louis Stevenson
- Gli amici degli amici (RACCONTO, The Friends of the Friends, 1948) DI Henry James
- I costruttori di ponti (RACCONTO LUNGO, The Bridge Builders, 1898) DI Rudyard Kipling
- Il paese dei ciechi (RACCONTO, The Country of the Blind, 1904) DI H. G. Wells

glowe2's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.0

A collection of supernatural short stories.  As with many collections, your interest in the genre will determine your enjoyment of teh book.  I am not that big on fantasy but did enjoy the Robert Louis Stevenson story and a few others.

23149014345613's review against another edition

5.0

This really is a well-selected and well-arranged collection of short stories. The editor has thoughtfully created a comprehensible through-line, and the whole collection has a sense of rising tension and transformation. Great intro to some new authors I've been meaning to read for a while too - Balzac, Hoffman, Leskov, among others. I found myself constantly wanting to read one more, one more, until the whole thing had been gobbled up in record time. Gogol is starting to grow on me, but Robert Louis Stevenson is a clown. Can't believe I forced my way through Treasure Island when I was like 14.

mmarques's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

This large tome contains short stories from the 1800s. While I love Italo Calvino’s fantastic tales, I didn’t care for many of the stories he selected for this collection.  One story by Sir Walter Raleigh, I didn’t finish, because I couldn’t follow the Irish dialog. My favourite story was the final story, by H. G. Wells, The Country of the Blind. 

breadandmushrooms's review against another edition

mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

inesferreira's review against another edition

3.0

In general it was a good book. With so many story’s from so many different artists, sometimes it took me sometime “to get used to” a different type of writing. There were some really good and really bad tales, but overall it was way more positive.

nssmc's review against another edition

3.75

reading this stoned has to be one of my greatest ideas

mui's review against another edition

4.0

It was Calvino's name that drew me to this book and I'm so glad I read it. A fabulous anthology of fantastical tales.

My favorites: E.T.A. Hoffmann's The Sandman, Gogol's The Nose, The Elixir of Life by Honore de Balzac, Maupassant's Night: A Nightmare.

italo_carlvino's review against another edition

5.0

I really enjoyed this short story collection. I thought it would be kind of dull but these stories were some truly fantastic tales!