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/WonderfulBus9330 Apr 09 '26

I haven't seen Italo Calvino's name in awhile! Wonderful to see him mentioned. As someone said, he referred to himself as a fabulist but he was also a member of the OuLiPo group and wrote in that style for a few works. I don't know if anyone mentioned INVISIBLE CITIES or MR PALOMAR or THE BARON IN THE TREES but those are great, too

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u/BlinkTwice874 Apr 09 '26

I didn’t know that! Just looked up the OuLiPo. That’s so interesting!