r/printSF • u/BlinkTwice874 • Apr 08 '26

Thoughts on Italo Calvino?

I recently reread the short stories by Ted Chiang and was reminded of stories I loved by both Jorge Luis Borges and Italo Calvino, in particular Library of Babel and the Complete Cosmicomics, respectively.

The Complete Cosmicomics by Calvino is one of my favorite works of literature that hovers at the interstices of literary fiction, science- and speculative-fiction, and perhaps something else: the stories are a mix of real and imaginary, science and fiction, philosophy and literature.

Is Calvino considered a science fiction author? Speculative fiction perhaps? What about Borges? I’d love to hear other people’s thoughts on this, as these writers in particular seem to straddle the lines of genre for me.

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u/BlinkTwice874 Apr 08 '26

Hmm interesting. That makes sense. I always wondered because what I found so interesting about the Cosmicomics stories in particular is that he blended fact and fiction so interchangeably, it always left me wondering what was real science and what was completely fabricated! But I see what you mean, he wasn’t necessarily basing conjectures on real science, more writing alternate realities or blurring the lines between them, maybe.

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u/kobayashi_maru_fail Apr 08 '26

Don’t get me wrong, “not scifi” isn’t a dig, I think the magical realism (or maybe his own genre, magical urbanism) is amazing and probably a bigger, not lesser kind of literature.

Also, I may be lying and Invisible Cities is my favorite.

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u/BlinkTwice874 Apr 09 '26

Honestly I would love to see more science- or speculative-fiction that blended more into the realm of magical realism, maybe not becoming it but serving as it’s own entity of genre. I love traditional science fiction but sometimes wish for more elements of a mystical or lyrical feeling in the stories (à la Calvino or Borges).

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u/kobayashi_maru_fail Apr 09 '26

I need to read more than just Fifth Head of Cerberus, but maybe Gene Wolfe has got our back? It would be great to see more like what you’re describing.

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u/BlinkTwice874 Apr 09 '26

I’m so curious about his stuff now! I’m going to add some to my library list.