Cosmicomics
Italo Calvino
Oh, astronomy, my first love.
Actually astronomy was my second love; Davy Jones won my heart with his dreamy eyes long before I ever got cable. Unfortunately Davy Jones broke my heart in 1987 with an ill-advised concert reunion tour, a tour which culminated by ripping apart my mind with the knowledge that Davy Jones had, seemingly overnight, morphed from this to this. Thankfully my bewilderment and rage were assuaged when my family finally joined the legions of Americans with more than 7 channels. Victory was mine, and I spent many fond years watching hour upon hour of Cosmos, mesmerized by theories regarding worm holes, supernovae, and extrasolar planets.
Apparently, I was alone in my obsession as no one could believe I was actually into this stuff. That’s fine, I suppose; for my part, I just can’t understand those who aren’t utterly fascinated by the infinite expanse above our heads. Don’t you people know what’s up there? Don’t you know that we are on a collision course with Andromeda? That a black hole lies at the center of our galaxy? AM I THE ONLY ONE WHO CARES ABOUT THIS??
Italo Calvino
Oh, astronomy, my first love.
Actually astronomy was my second love; Davy Jones won my heart with his dreamy eyes long before I ever got cable. Unfortunately Davy Jones broke my heart in 1987 with an ill-advised concert reunion tour, a tour which culminated by ripping apart my mind with the knowledge that Davy Jones had, seemingly overnight, morphed from this to this. Thankfully my bewilderment and rage were assuaged when my family finally joined the legions of Americans with more than 7 channels. Victory was mine, and I spent many fond years watching hour upon hour of Cosmos, mesmerized by theories regarding worm holes, supernovae, and extrasolar planets.
Apparently, I was alone in my obsession as no one could believe I was actually into this stuff. That’s fine, I suppose; for my part, I just can’t understand those who aren’t utterly fascinated by the infinite expanse above our heads. Don’t you people know what’s up there? Don’t you know that we are on a collision course with Andromeda? That a black hole lies at the center of our galaxy? AM I THE ONLY ONE WHO CARES ABOUT THIS??
delivering a beatdown in just 3 billion years
Apparently so, based on my “friends.” Such programs, however alone I was in enjoying them, only fueled my desire to become one of these brilliant madmen and women who spent their time with their heads in the clouds, and I long held lofty dreams of becoming an astronomer who, I imagined, would spend her days looking at cool pictures and reading cool facts. Little did I know, there was math to be done. Say what?
So I stuck with books which, I must say, never did me no harm. Besides, reading cool space facts is way better than doing tons of calculus or whatever it is you need to do to determine the mass of a supermassive black hole. Since then, I’ve read the accessible Hawking to the more difficult Kaku to the much confusing Deutsch, but I’ve yet to read a work of fiction that features outer space as a main character.
Thankfully, the late Italo Calvino has done just that, writing a series of stores that weaves together the evolutions of its two protagonists: the universe and a being named Qfwfq. Each story begins with a scientific fact which then becomes the basis for the story; for example, “All at One Point” begins by explaining that all matter and creation used to exist in a single point. Pressed into this single space were several beings, not quite human but with human desires and personalities. Among them is the nurturing Mrs. Ph(i)Nk0, whose love is so expansive that she bursts the single point, "making possible billions and billions of suns..."
As "All at One Point" indicates, at the core of these stories lies the necessity of change, that to remain the same means to invite stagnation and decay. As John Gery notes, "Qfwfq…has only survived by adapting to change, an ability which requires of him the desire always to become what he is not, rather than to protect or preserve what he is." It's difficult to embrace change, especially when it so alters one's universe. Be that as it may, I suppose attending the Monkees reunion tour was a blessing in disguise, because I really couldn't carry such an obsession into my teenage years, now could I? I was a city kid, and obsessing over an aging 60s heartthrob is just asking for trouble and bookworms have enough trouble as it is.
In a nutshell: Beautiful in places, but others get a little bogged down in abstract philosophizing. Cosmicomics is, however, ultimately enjoyable.
Bibliolatry Scale: 4 out of 6 stars
So I stuck with books which, I must say, never did me no harm. Besides, reading cool space facts is way better than doing tons of calculus or whatever it is you need to do to determine the mass of a supermassive black hole. Since then, I’ve read the accessible Hawking to the more difficult Kaku to the much confusing Deutsch, but I’ve yet to read a work of fiction that features outer space as a main character.
Thankfully, the late Italo Calvino has done just that, writing a series of stores that weaves together the evolutions of its two protagonists: the universe and a being named Qfwfq. Each story begins with a scientific fact which then becomes the basis for the story; for example, “All at One Point” begins by explaining that all matter and creation used to exist in a single point. Pressed into this single space were several beings, not quite human but with human desires and personalities. Among them is the nurturing Mrs. Ph(i)Nk0, whose love is so expansive that she bursts the single point, "making possible billions and billions of suns..."As "All at One Point" indicates, at the core of these stories lies the necessity of change, that to remain the same means to invite stagnation and decay. As John Gery notes, "Qfwfq…has only survived by adapting to change, an ability which requires of him the desire always to become what he is not, rather than to protect or preserve what he is." It's difficult to embrace change, especially when it so alters one's universe. Be that as it may, I suppose attending the Monkees reunion tour was a blessing in disguise, because I really couldn't carry such an obsession into my teenage years, now could I? I was a city kid, and obsessing over an aging 60s heartthrob is just asking for trouble and bookworms have enough trouble as it is.
In a nutshell: Beautiful in places, but others get a little bogged down in abstract philosophizing. Cosmicomics is, however, ultimately enjoyable.
Bibliolatry Scale: 4 out of 6 stars
3 comments:
I like Calvino a lot, but I haven't read this one yet. It sounds quite interesting, though! I love the premise. I suppose that, because it's a collection of stories, it's natural that, like you said, some work betters than others, but it definitely sounds worth reading.
Thanks for the review!
Don't feel so bad about Davy Jones...there were a number of young people who had that same reaction it is said, when the group went on tour in the late 80's. I was around in the late 60's the first time, and by the 80's when they had the resurgence, I thought been-there-done-that.... but it was a nice visit to nostalgia. Later, I learned some, like you, thought it was CURRENT....I felt bad, but so hey, you were not the only one who thought so.
Yeah, I was too young to realize the reruns of the tv show had been filmed much, much earlier than my viewing of it...live and learn, as they say.
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