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The Watcher and Other Stories
Alternate cover edition for 9780156949521 / 0156949520.
The three long stories in this volume show the range and virtuosity of Italy's most imaginative writer. “Like Jorge Luis Borges and Gabriel García Márquez, Italo Calvino dreams perfect dreams for us” (John Updike, New Yorker).Translated by William Weaver and Archibald Colquhoun. A Helen and Kurt Wolff Book
The three long stories in this volume show the range and virtuosity of Italy's most imaginative writer. “Like Jorge Luis Borges and Gabriel García Márquez, Italo Calvino dreams perfect dreams for us” (John Updike, New Yorker).Translated by William Weaver and Archibald Colquhoun. A Helen and Kurt Wolff Book
181 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1963
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953 people want to read
About the author
Italo Calvino
559 books9,024 followersItalo Calvino was born in Cuba and grew up in Italy. He was a journalist and writer of short stories and novels. His best known works include the Our Ancestors trilogy (1952-1959), the Cosmicomics collection of short stories (1965), and the novels Invisible Cities (1972) and If On a Winter's Night a Traveler (1979).
His style is not easy to classify; much of his writing has an air reminiscent to that of fantastical fairy tales (Our Ancestors, Cosmicomics), although sometimes his writing is more "realistic" and in the scenic mode of observation (Difficult Loves, for example). Some of his writing has been called postmodern, reflecting on literature and the act of reading, while some has been labeled magical realist, others fables, others simply "modern". He wrote: "My working method has more often than not involved the subtraction of weight. I have tried to remove weight, sometimes from people, sometimes from heavenly bodies, sometimes from cities; above all I have tried to remove weight from the structure of stories and from language."
His style is not easy to classify; much of his writing has an air reminiscent to that of fantastical fairy tales (Our Ancestors, Cosmicomics), although sometimes his writing is more "realistic" and in the scenic mode of observation (Difficult Loves, for example). Some of his writing has been called postmodern, reflecting on literature and the act of reading, while some has been labeled magical realist, others fables, others simply "modern". He wrote: "My working method has more often than not involved the subtraction of weight. I have tried to remove weight, sometimes from people, sometimes from heavenly bodies, sometimes from cities; above all I have tried to remove weight from the structure of stories and from language."
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews
December 18, 2016
Three (long) short stories or novellas from a master. In each of these, Calvino’s style shines through. The style is not so much fantasy or magical realism as it is one of detailed realism, almost scientifically examined until it becomes absurd.
In the title story, The Watcher, a communist party member volunteers to serve as a poll watcher. (From 1943 to 1993 Italy had compulsory voting, although there were no penalties enforced for not voting.) But such a system creates a whole new array of issues. The main character is assigned to a voting precinct in a giant Church-run urban institution that is a combination of convent, school, sanitarium and psychiatric asylum. As the author catalogs the great variety of voters and all their mental and physical needs (paraplegics; blind, deaf, immobile, insane, unresponsive), the story becomes a parody of what is the act of voting about. Even “normal” people run the gamut from anger, suspicions and complaints about spots on their ballot, to those who are gleeful about the process. Calvino makes parallels of the voting act with a religious rite and leaves us with the feeling of “….the certainty of what they were doing, but also a hint of absurdity” and why these elections “…were mistaken for an expression of the will of the people.”
In Smog a young man moves to a large, dirty Italian city to become editor of “Purification,” a journal about air pollution. Of course he becomes obsessive about his dirty apartment, washes his hands constantly, and worries about visits from his upper-class girlfriend.
In Ants, a young couple rents a house in an area overrun with ants. Again, we have the scientific cataloging of how the ants invade the home, insecticides, the learning from neighbors about ways to kill and trap the ants.
Great absurdist stories!
In the title story, The Watcher, a communist party member volunteers to serve as a poll watcher. (From 1943 to 1993 Italy had compulsory voting, although there were no penalties enforced for not voting.) But such a system creates a whole new array of issues. The main character is assigned to a voting precinct in a giant Church-run urban institution that is a combination of convent, school, sanitarium and psychiatric asylum. As the author catalogs the great variety of voters and all their mental and physical needs (paraplegics; blind, deaf, immobile, insane, unresponsive), the story becomes a parody of what is the act of voting about. Even “normal” people run the gamut from anger, suspicions and complaints about spots on their ballot, to those who are gleeful about the process. Calvino makes parallels of the voting act with a religious rite and leaves us with the feeling of “….the certainty of what they were doing, but also a hint of absurdity” and why these elections “…were mistaken for an expression of the will of the people.”
In Smog a young man moves to a large, dirty Italian city to become editor of “Purification,” a journal about air pollution. Of course he becomes obsessive about his dirty apartment, washes his hands constantly, and worries about visits from his upper-class girlfriend.
In Ants, a young couple rents a house in an area overrun with ants. Again, we have the scientific cataloging of how the ants invade the home, insecticides, the learning from neighbors about ways to kill and trap the ants.
Great absurdist stories!
February 22, 2025
Never quite sure how to review novellas/short stories.
The Watcher: 3 stars
Smog: 4 stars
Argentine Ant: 3.5 stars
The Watcher was an interesting premise/dichotomy, but it belabored itself. Found the themes of individual reaction in face of insurmountable external force compelling in the other two; felt Smog explored both on a micro + macro level which I appreciated. I gotta read more Calvino is really my takeaway.
The Watcher: 3 stars
Smog: 4 stars
Argentine Ant: 3.5 stars
The Watcher was an interesting premise/dichotomy, but it belabored itself. Found the themes of individual reaction in face of insurmountable external force compelling in the other two; felt Smog explored both on a micro + macro level which I appreciated. I gotta read more Calvino is really my takeaway.
October 23, 2022
CRITIQUE:
Enemies (and Scourges) of the People
The three stories in this collection are arranged in reverse chronological order (1963, 1958 and 1952).
They're early writings of Italo Calvino, before he had developed an interest in metafiction. He seemed to be working towards literary styles that were suited to urban and rustic life (and its socio-political implications).
Each of the stories depicts some form of alienation, the cause of which is, variously:
* political opponents (the Christian Democrats and the Church were using fraudulent means to undermine the electoral challenge of the Italian Communist Party ["the PCI"] in the 1953 election) ("The Watcher");
* industrialists, lobbyists, academia and media (the equivalent of today's climate change deniers) who resisted the prohibition and regulation of pollution ("Smog") (1); and
* the natural scourge of imported ants in the countryside ("The Argentine Ant").
Calvino regarded each of these causes as an enemy of humanity that limited the ability of people and society to remain healthy and whole.
Calvino was a member of the PCI until shortly after the Soviet invasion of Hungary in 1956 (Image Source)
Optimism About the Remedy
The third story (which was the first to be written, but closes the book) ends on a note of apparent optimism:
However, the three stories as a whole (together with subsequent events) suggest that this optimism, being a pretence, was and is wishful thinking. Perhaps, now, their fictional child and grandchildren have, in their turn, come to recognise it?
Calvino's fiction could do no more than draw attention to the problems. It couldn't solve them. The remedy required political action, as it does now.
FOOTNOTES:
(1) In the 1950's and 1960's the underlying problem was described as pollution (which was more easily identifiable and measurable), as opposed to global warming or climate change. In the story, there is domestic dust and smog everywhere, which is easier to prove than climate change. Climate change is one consequence of pollution, not a fundamental cause of the problem. I don't know why the definition of the problem was changed, but in my opinion, it made it easier to deny, because in a way, climate change was arguably more notional or imaginary. Pollution, in the form of dust and smog, is more empirically observable and provable.
SOUNDTRACK:
Enemies (and Scourges) of the People
The three stories in this collection are arranged in reverse chronological order (1963, 1958 and 1952).
They're early writings of Italo Calvino, before he had developed an interest in metafiction. He seemed to be working towards literary styles that were suited to urban and rustic life (and its socio-political implications).
Each of the stories depicts some form of alienation, the cause of which is, variously:
* political opponents (the Christian Democrats and the Church were using fraudulent means to undermine the electoral challenge of the Italian Communist Party ["the PCI"] in the 1953 election) ("The Watcher");
* industrialists, lobbyists, academia and media (the equivalent of today's climate change deniers) who resisted the prohibition and regulation of pollution ("Smog") (1); and
* the natural scourge of imported ants in the countryside ("The Argentine Ant").
Calvino regarded each of these causes as an enemy of humanity that limited the ability of people and society to remain healthy and whole.
Calvino was a member of the PCI until shortly after the Soviet invasion of Hungary in 1956 (Image Source)
Optimism About the Remedy
The third story (which was the first to be written, but closes the book) ends on a note of apparent optimism:
"Our child was turning around in amazement at everything, and we had to pretend to take part in his marveling; it was a way of bringing us together, of reminding us of the mild flavour that life has at moments, and of reconciling us to the passing days."
However, the three stories as a whole (together with subsequent events) suggest that this optimism, being a pretence, was and is wishful thinking. Perhaps, now, their fictional child and grandchildren have, in their turn, come to recognise it?
Calvino's fiction could do no more than draw attention to the problems. It couldn't solve them. The remedy required political action, as it does now.
FOOTNOTES:
(1) In the 1950's and 1960's the underlying problem was described as pollution (which was more easily identifiable and measurable), as opposed to global warming or climate change. In the story, there is domestic dust and smog everywhere, which is easier to prove than climate change. Climate change is one consequence of pollution, not a fundamental cause of the problem. I don't know why the definition of the problem was changed, but in my opinion, it made it easier to deny, because in a way, climate change was arguably more notional or imaginary. Pollution, in the form of dust and smog, is more empirically observable and provable.
SOUNDTRACK:
Want to read
May 20, 2024Contains the stories:
The Watcher -
Smog -
The Argentine Ant - 4/5 - a family moves to a new home only to be confronted by a major ant problem
The Watcher -
Smog -
The Argentine Ant - 4/5 - a family moves to a new home only to be confronted by a major ant problem
October 14, 2024
The three novellas collected here offer a wide view of Calvino's talents, and all three are worlds to sink into and live in--in fascination and discomfort both. "The Watcher" feels all too present and contemporary, and "The Argentine Ant" is skin-crawling and all too real. I was less sure of what to make of "Smog" and didn't enjoy it was much as the other two, but on the whole, I'm so glad I finally got around to this collection. Certainly, I'd recommend it to readers who enjoy writers such as Calvino and Borges.
February 24, 2022
Classic Calvino stories..."Smog," published in 1958 was way ahead of its time.
Read
April 10, 2021Started reading this last fall, in the days immediately preceding the last US election, but ended up dropping it for other things. Glad I went back to finish it! Some thoughts on the stories within:
“The Watcher” is deeply polarizing because, though it contains some of the best of Calvino’s wit, style, and constantly evolving philosophical turns, it also has some language and thinking about disability that comes off as fascistic and even eugenicist at times. Now of course we all understand that these ideas are espoused by a character in a novel, and not by Calvino himself, and in fact the narrator’s thinking strays wildly between the two extremes of “thinking these disabled people are effectively subhuman” and “being sympathetic (and even empathetic) to the plight of every member of the human race.” Still, it feels gross, especially because Calvino ties the more unsavory themes into a secondary plot about a potential pregnancy. I don’t think these descriptions are necessarily enough for me to condemn the entire collection (or even the entire story), though, because I think most reasonable modern people are able to read against the narrator here to find the other legitimately thought-provoking parts of the story.
As for the other stories:
“Smog” hits a lot of the right notes for me. It’s amazing to me that the basic archetypes and situations are still literally relevant to today’s world. Further, the writing is generally strong, and as a Calvino fan it’s interesting to see him start to dabble with more scientific concepts and situations, almost like this is a precursor to his Cosmicomics.
“The Argentine Ant” is probably the strongest story here in terms of plot. Its individual scenes are striking: images of ants crawling all over the landscape, up the walls of the small house, around and in to the baby’s cradle; the poisoned neighbors who cannot stop laughing when talking about their ant treatment options, all of which are presumably dangerous chemicals; the genius tinkerer neighbor who would serve as a good interrogator in a different life; the Ant Man and his cowering ways. It’s a really strong story! The only slight I have against it is that the ending is the weakest in the collection, but it’s still serviceable.
Let me say here that Calvino may be my favorite writer of dialogue (though perhaps the credit for this should go to William Weaver, who translated Smog and The Watcher). The way that Calvino’s dialogue bleeds from person to person, sometimes leaving sentences without any literal substance, just enough words for you to get the basic idea of the sentiment being expressed… it’s brilliant to me! It leaves a real sense of the FEELING of how these characters care (or don’t care) for each other. It can be intimate when necessary, can convey confusion or anger, can be totally hilarious. This style does still come across in The Argentine Ant, but the country feel of Archibald Colquhoun loses a bit of the charm present in the other stories.
All things considered: I enjoyed reading the majority of this collection. While “The Watcher” did have quite a few moments that gave me pause and made me consider if my impression of Calvino was totally off-base, the strengths of that story did redeem it for me. With this caveat in mind, I think this would be a good introduction to Calvino’s general style and interests. Recommended!
“The Watcher” is deeply polarizing because, though it contains some of the best of Calvino’s wit, style, and constantly evolving philosophical turns, it also has some language and thinking about disability that comes off as fascistic and even eugenicist at times. Now of course we all understand that these ideas are espoused by a character in a novel, and not by Calvino himself, and in fact the narrator’s thinking strays wildly between the two extremes of “thinking these disabled people are effectively subhuman” and “being sympathetic (and even empathetic) to the plight of every member of the human race.” Still, it feels gross, especially because Calvino ties the more unsavory themes into a secondary plot about a potential pregnancy. I don’t think these descriptions are necessarily enough for me to condemn the entire collection (or even the entire story), though, because I think most reasonable modern people are able to read against the narrator here to find the other legitimately thought-provoking parts of the story.
As for the other stories:
“Smog” hits a lot of the right notes for me. It’s amazing to me that the basic archetypes and situations are still literally relevant to today’s world. Further, the writing is generally strong, and as a Calvino fan it’s interesting to see him start to dabble with more scientific concepts and situations, almost like this is a precursor to his Cosmicomics.
“The Argentine Ant” is probably the strongest story here in terms of plot. Its individual scenes are striking: images of ants crawling all over the landscape, up the walls of the small house, around and in to the baby’s cradle; the poisoned neighbors who cannot stop laughing when talking about their ant treatment options, all of which are presumably dangerous chemicals; the genius tinkerer neighbor who would serve as a good interrogator in a different life; the Ant Man and his cowering ways. It’s a really strong story! The only slight I have against it is that the ending is the weakest in the collection, but it’s still serviceable.
Let me say here that Calvino may be my favorite writer of dialogue (though perhaps the credit for this should go to William Weaver, who translated Smog and The Watcher). The way that Calvino’s dialogue bleeds from person to person, sometimes leaving sentences without any literal substance, just enough words for you to get the basic idea of the sentiment being expressed… it’s brilliant to me! It leaves a real sense of the FEELING of how these characters care (or don’t care) for each other. It can be intimate when necessary, can convey confusion or anger, can be totally hilarious. This style does still come across in The Argentine Ant, but the country feel of Archibald Colquhoun loses a bit of the charm present in the other stories.
All things considered: I enjoyed reading the majority of this collection. While “The Watcher” did have quite a few moments that gave me pause and made me consider if my impression of Calvino was totally off-base, the strengths of that story did redeem it for me. With this caveat in mind, I think this would be a good introduction to Calvino’s general style and interests. Recommended!
November 18, 2022
The Watcher - 4/5
Smog - 5/5
The Argentine Ant - probably a 4, but difficult to rank as a Calvino story as it's so unique for one
These stories show the signature awareness of Calvino's characters (which has at times bothered me, notably in Mr. Palomar) working to the stories' best advantage. The Watcher is a great reflection on its world, showcasing Calvino's great subtle talent for producing the local and universal almost as one and the same. Smog was by far my favorite and is in my opinion a completely genial piece of writing and specifically character writing, and The Argentine Ant has such an undeniably visceral effect on the reader, easily holding its place as the most Kafka-like (and even Junji Ito-like) of Calvino's texts.
Smog - 5/5
The Argentine Ant - probably a 4, but difficult to rank as a Calvino story as it's so unique for one
These stories show the signature awareness of Calvino's characters (which has at times bothered me, notably in Mr. Palomar) working to the stories' best advantage. The Watcher is a great reflection on its world, showcasing Calvino's great subtle talent for producing the local and universal almost as one and the same. Smog was by far my favorite and is in my opinion a completely genial piece of writing and specifically character writing, and The Argentine Ant has such an undeniably visceral effect on the reader, easily holding its place as the most Kafka-like (and even Junji Ito-like) of Calvino's texts.
June 5, 2015
Hey listen, either you like Italo Calvino or you're a senseless philistine with no sense of beauty and what is important in our lives. No biggie.
But in all seriousness, Calvino is one of the Great Writers of history with a capital 'W'. And because of his reputation and the amount of praise heaped upon him, some people don't get it. These people are probably lacking in a fundamental way a part of them that truly makes them human, but hey, whatever!
Personally, as a non-sub-human offense to creation, I love the shit out of Calvino and got everything I wanted out of this story. You get a political aperitif of absurdity in the Watcher, a main dish of internal strife in the magnificent story of alienation in Smog and it all comes to a nice close with the short, sweet Argentine Ants bringing just the tiniest hints of class-discussion to a beautiful fable of family struggles.
I'm not saying that by not reading this book you are suffocating a little part of you that would truly make you better inside, but that's exactly what I'm saying.
But in all seriousness, Calvino is one of the Great Writers of history with a capital 'W'. And because of his reputation and the amount of praise heaped upon him, some people don't get it. These people are probably lacking in a fundamental way a part of them that truly makes them human, but hey, whatever!
Personally, as a non-sub-human offense to creation, I love the shit out of Calvino and got everything I wanted out of this story. You get a political aperitif of absurdity in the Watcher, a main dish of internal strife in the magnificent story of alienation in Smog and it all comes to a nice close with the short, sweet Argentine Ants bringing just the tiniest hints of class-discussion to a beautiful fable of family struggles.
I'm not saying that by not reading this book you are suffocating a little part of you that would truly make you better inside, but that's exactly what I'm saying.
Currently reading
December 12, 2010The title story, about a member of Italian Communist Party assigned to observe voting at a hospital for "incurables," is a breath-taking story! It's much darker in tone than typical Calvino story -- at least ones in Difficult Loves and Marcovaldo -- but retains the quintessential Calvino compassion and humanity. Scene with elderly peasant father sharing almonds with his brain-damaged son is a microcosm of the story's quietly moving tone.
(I'm jumping around in my reading some these days, so it might be a while before I get back to the other 2 stories in this collection for a final review. Nonetheless, the title story alone makes it worth reading.)
(I'm jumping around in my reading some these days, so it might be a while before I get back to the other 2 stories in this collection for a final review. Nonetheless, the title story alone makes it worth reading.)
Read
April 13, 2021I love Italo Calvino. His writing makes my heart cry. Even when nothing is really happening in the plot, I just love the language, his characters, his turns of phrase. The alien landscapes (it's just mid-century Italy, but to me, it feels like a whole world away, a post-war / Renaissance place all at once). There are maybe three, four stories in this book. I loved them. A story about a terrible smog, a story about terrible ants--they felt like sister-stories, for sure. A kind of echoing effect. I am glad I bought this in paperback form instead of borrowing it digitally from the library, it belongs to me, on my bookshelf forever, until I find someone I think needs to read it, too
August 1, 2016
I just read the "argentine ant" (I was searching for this story and find it in this book which consist of two other short stories. After I finished the "argentine ant" I started to read the other stories, but I did not like them that much. That made the whole rating of three star. If I want to rate just the "argentine ant" story, I will give it four star! :)
December 19, 2024
Even the stories not about ants make you feel like there is a stream of tiny ants crawling all inside you. Abject, unsettling, with one or two references to Baudrillard to top it off. I liked it a lot, also I hated it.
October 19, 2023
I found this collection very enjoyable. It was discussed on the London Review of Books Past, Present, Future podcast, and I love that show so much I had to read this before I listened to the episode. As a consequence, it's months since the episode was released, but now I can finally listen to it. In fact, that podcast is just about the first story, "The Watcher", as the politics of the story and what it says about democracy are discussed by David Runciman and Ian McEwan.
It's not out of the question this collection of stories could be categorised as horror. That's not really a genre I read, and this would be the mildest possible form, but there's an unsettling, disquieting element to each of the stories. There's absolutely nothing supernatural going on, but a slight sense of a grotesque threat.
I could see myself rereading this because there was so much to unpack in "The Watcher" that just one reading doesn't seem to do it justice. It's only 75 pages long, so by the time I'd got used to Calvino's style and his perspective, the story was half over. I sort of wish I'd read one of the other stories first to get into his way of writing so that I was fully prepared to engage with "The Watcher" from page 1.
The second story, "Smog" - also unsettling and unsettled - contains this gem,
It's not out of the question this collection of stories could be categorised as horror. That's not really a genre I read, and this would be the mildest possible form, but there's an unsettling, disquieting element to each of the stories. There's absolutely nothing supernatural going on, but a slight sense of a grotesque threat.
I could see myself rereading this because there was so much to unpack in "The Watcher" that just one reading doesn't seem to do it justice. It's only 75 pages long, so by the time I'd got used to Calvino's style and his perspective, the story was half over. I sort of wish I'd read one of the other stories first to get into his way of writing so that I was fully prepared to engage with "The Watcher" from page 1.
The second story, "Smog" - also unsettling and unsettled - contains this gem,
There are those who condemn themselves to the most gray, mediocre life because they have suffered some grief, some misfortune; but there are also those who do the same thing because their good fortune is greater than they feel they can sustain.
May 29, 2019
I've read all the great Calvino, now I'm reading the rest. This is a collection of 3 long short stories, or short novellas.
The first, The Watcher, is about a member of a political party watching the election polls at an area densely populated with a different political party. Lots of philosophizing about politics. And, oh yeah, he finds out his gf is pregnant on the phone at lunch.
The second, Smog, is about a guy who lives in a polluted city and writes for a magazine entirely devoted to covering air pollution. It turns out the owner of the magazine also owns one of the largest factories in town, so is a big cause of pollution. Also, the guy has a model (or at least rich, famous, and gorgeous) girlfriend that drops in on him a few times. Eventually a communist convinces him to come hang out, but not much happens because of it.
The last, The Argentine Ant, is about a young couple with an infant who move into their first house. And it is crawling with Ants. Everywhere, inside and out. The entire town has this problem, and they go through all the different townsfolk's techniques for ridding themselves of the ants, but really those are just coping mechanisms.
The first, The Watcher, is about a member of a political party watching the election polls at an area densely populated with a different political party. Lots of philosophizing about politics. And, oh yeah, he finds out his gf is pregnant on the phone at lunch.
The second, Smog, is about a guy who lives in a polluted city and writes for a magazine entirely devoted to covering air pollution. It turns out the owner of the magazine also owns one of the largest factories in town, so is a big cause of pollution. Also, the guy has a model (or at least rich, famous, and gorgeous) girlfriend that drops in on him a few times. Eventually a communist convinces him to come hang out, but not much happens because of it.
The last, The Argentine Ant, is about a young couple with an infant who move into their first house. And it is crawling with Ants. Everywhere, inside and out. The entire town has this problem, and they go through all the different townsfolk's techniques for ridding themselves of the ants, but really those are just coping mechanisms.
July 30, 2023
I bought this book on the recommendation of Ian McEwan, who discussed 'The Watcher' on the LRB 'Past, Present, Future' podcast. He spoke about how this titular short story was the perfect depiction of representative democracy and told us all we need to know about how it functions. This would not have been my takeaway from this collection. Instead, I was taken by Calvino's consistency, each short story was as good as the last and each seeming to intertwine so perfectly, despite their diverse subject matter. The disquiet felt by the watcher in witnessing the abject lives of the Cottolengo, the dread that the journalist feels in 'The Smog', the tickling anxiety that the family feel in 'The Argentine Ant', all seemed to complement each other so perfectly. A wonderful collection.
August 4, 2025
Four stars – The book presents three of Calvino's longer stories, The Watcher (1963), Smog (1958) and The Argentine Ant (1952).
All are written in a style similar to journalism, or social commentary, are close in format to the personal essay, but use story elements of character, dialog and plot. The style is used frequently by Calvino, perhaps in all of his writing. The stories in "The Watcher" have a stronger documentary slant than the stories in, say, Difficult Loves (1949, 1958) and Marcovaldo (1963), which lean more toward folktale or even fable.
"The Watcher" story is quite complex in its telling about the experience of a poll watcher, one who observes the votes being cast for an election, at the unlikely setting of a hospital and asylum that cares for people with one or more permanent physical and/or mental disabilities. The narrator appreciates the civic importance of his task, and of voting, but ultimately reveals the absurdity of placing a polling place where the residents are not capable of understanding the ballot choices or of marking the ballot themselves. Most voters are assisted by the nuns who manage the facility. The narrator is genuinely sympathetic to the government's effort to enable literally everyone to vote (in reaction to the recently defeated fascism that had ruled Italy) but also sees therein a potential limit or boundary to universal democracy. Calvino adds to the story's complexity by making the poll watcher a Communist but one who is a strong believer in his own individual opinions and decisions. The narrator contrasts his rather non-party-aligned views with reactions of other poll watchers who are more doctrinal than he is, or are more casual about the process. Ultimately, the narrator's story becomes less important than the questions Calvino raises about democracy, party tactics, individuality, social responsibility and more.
"Smog" similarly confronts a social problem, and an environmental one, namely urban smog, by telling about the personal experiences of an editor for an anti-pollution magazine which happens to be published by the city's major polluter. There is no solution to this conundrum. The tale concludes with the editor figuring out who washes the laundry in the polluted city and discovers a somewhat idyllic but odd answer. As he gazes at a rural scene of "broad meadows" crisscrossed with clotheslines and of washerwomen busy at a pool of water, he says, "It wasn't much, but for me, seeking only images to retain in my eyes, perhaps it was enough."
"The Argentine Ant" relates the experiences of a couple who buy a home in what appears to be a prosperous suburban neighborhood but soon discover that every house is overrun by ants. The story moves from the couple's individual anger to a comprehension that everyone in the area is experiencing the same difficulty. The story concludes with a scene where the couple accompanied by their new baby sit beside the ocean. "My wife said: 'There are no ants here.' I replied, 'And there's a fresh wind; it's pleasant.'"
As in a great many Calvino works, all three stories present a situation that is ridiculous and yet plausible, similar to so many problems we all face, and conclude with a shrugged acceptance but also with a momentary glimpse of something charming and in a way transcendent.
I think this last quality in much of Calvino's writing (acceptance with moments of transcendence) shows his deep empathy with the human situation, in other words his humanity. I don't think I have seen any outright bitterness, cruelty or cynicism in Calvino's writing despite the difficult situations he poses and the serious questions he raises. He is the gentlest and most forgiving of social critics.
On a different note, I also have to say that Calvino does not really offer possible ideas for solutions to the problems he raises, and also, more noticeably, does not really conclude his stories; they all seem to end more or less arbitrarily (sometimes with the added note of transcendence which is a kind of escape). This gives to Calvino's writing an anecdotal and Kafka-like sensibility, minus Kafka's psychological trauma, which is also modernist and existential with a socially conscious (humane) and gently humorous core.
All are written in a style similar to journalism, or social commentary, are close in format to the personal essay, but use story elements of character, dialog and plot. The style is used frequently by Calvino, perhaps in all of his writing. The stories in "The Watcher" have a stronger documentary slant than the stories in, say, Difficult Loves (1949, 1958) and Marcovaldo (1963), which lean more toward folktale or even fable.
"The Watcher" story is quite complex in its telling about the experience of a poll watcher, one who observes the votes being cast for an election, at the unlikely setting of a hospital and asylum that cares for people with one or more permanent physical and/or mental disabilities. The narrator appreciates the civic importance of his task, and of voting, but ultimately reveals the absurdity of placing a polling place where the residents are not capable of understanding the ballot choices or of marking the ballot themselves. Most voters are assisted by the nuns who manage the facility. The narrator is genuinely sympathetic to the government's effort to enable literally everyone to vote (in reaction to the recently defeated fascism that had ruled Italy) but also sees therein a potential limit or boundary to universal democracy. Calvino adds to the story's complexity by making the poll watcher a Communist but one who is a strong believer in his own individual opinions and decisions. The narrator contrasts his rather non-party-aligned views with reactions of other poll watchers who are more doctrinal than he is, or are more casual about the process. Ultimately, the narrator's story becomes less important than the questions Calvino raises about democracy, party tactics, individuality, social responsibility and more.
"Smog" similarly confronts a social problem, and an environmental one, namely urban smog, by telling about the personal experiences of an editor for an anti-pollution magazine which happens to be published by the city's major polluter. There is no solution to this conundrum. The tale concludes with the editor figuring out who washes the laundry in the polluted city and discovers a somewhat idyllic but odd answer. As he gazes at a rural scene of "broad meadows" crisscrossed with clotheslines and of washerwomen busy at a pool of water, he says, "It wasn't much, but for me, seeking only images to retain in my eyes, perhaps it was enough."
"The Argentine Ant" relates the experiences of a couple who buy a home in what appears to be a prosperous suburban neighborhood but soon discover that every house is overrun by ants. The story moves from the couple's individual anger to a comprehension that everyone in the area is experiencing the same difficulty. The story concludes with a scene where the couple accompanied by their new baby sit beside the ocean. "My wife said: 'There are no ants here.' I replied, 'And there's a fresh wind; it's pleasant.'"
As in a great many Calvino works, all three stories present a situation that is ridiculous and yet plausible, similar to so many problems we all face, and conclude with a shrugged acceptance but also with a momentary glimpse of something charming and in a way transcendent.
I think this last quality in much of Calvino's writing (acceptance with moments of transcendence) shows his deep empathy with the human situation, in other words his humanity. I don't think I have seen any outright bitterness, cruelty or cynicism in Calvino's writing despite the difficult situations he poses and the serious questions he raises. He is the gentlest and most forgiving of social critics.
On a different note, I also have to say that Calvino does not really offer possible ideas for solutions to the problems he raises, and also, more noticeably, does not really conclude his stories; they all seem to end more or less arbitrarily (sometimes with the added note of transcendence which is a kind of escape). This gives to Calvino's writing an anecdotal and Kafka-like sensibility, minus Kafka's psychological trauma, which is also modernist and existential with a socially conscious (humane) and gently humorous core.
July 26, 2024
My first venture into Calvino's literary works. This one got on my list because of a podcast episode by David Runciman naming this ' one of the best political novels in history '; and also coinciding with the UK general election.
This book of short stories is a great work of how to write something 'serious but not too heavy'. The element of absurdity brings forth the focus upon important philosophical questions within each story.
This book of short stories is a great work of how to write something 'serious but not too heavy'. The element of absurdity brings forth the focus upon important philosophical questions within each story.
March 10, 2023
Collection of 3 short stories. Really enjoyed Smog and to a lesser extent Argentine Ant, which both have a good balance of comedic insights and thought provoking ideas. Watcher, on the other hand I could not get into at all and it felt dated and lacks the entertaining farcical tone of the other two stories.
July 5, 2023
This was recommended by Past Present Future podcast by the LRB. I enjoyed the conversational sections more, though some of it is pretty unintelligible and consists mainly of complicated observations relating to political theory. Perhaps the translation has clouded some of the key points, however, the setting and descriptions of the residents of Cottolengo are really engaging and evocative.
May 26, 2024
Calvino, first and foremost, exhibits a curiosity towards the strangeness of life's little pleasures as they come-- interspersed-- between man's innate desire to be something remarkable, something important.
Humanity reaches as far as love reaches; it has no frontiers except those we give it.
September 15, 2018
Three long stories. The one about a neighborhood invaded by ants is amazing. The other two are kind of sleepy pieces that didn't do much for me. BUt in all three, Calvino created amazing last paragraphs. Stunning endings for all his work, even the lesser ones.
May 12, 2023
The watcher - perfect barely coherent ramblings of a conflicted socialist
February 29, 2024
Very fascinating look at the edges of democracy and how voting works.
April 6, 2024
“smog” might be an all-timer for me tbqh
April 2, 2025
I liked a lot! The Watcher and The Argentine Ant were funny. Classic Calvino.
September 27, 2025
Good ! Ant rocked.
March 2, 2022
A strong three stars; I really liked these scenarios and stories and the perspective Calvino brings, they just fall into the same bleak / miserable / misanthropic zone that makes it tough for me to get into Beckett and Nabakov and such.
March 24, 2017
Almost every Calvino work has at least one great story or segment. The titular story of Under the Jaguar Sun is excellent, the beginning chapters of Mr. Palomar are great, The Road to San Giovanni has a great essay on garbage, even the subpar collection Numbers in the Dark features a story I consider excellent ("Wind in a City"). This is to say nothing of Calvino's works that are brilliant throughout, foremost among them Invisible Cities and If on a Winter's Night a Traveller. Sadly, The Watcher and Other Stories does not feature a standout moment. Instead we receive three longer-than-normal short stories, all of which are thematically similar, though none of the three explore the shared theme in interesting ways.
The Watcher is the weakest of the three stories in my opinion, featuring a rambling and disjointed narrative that never gains any momentum. The premise of a communist monitoring a polling station in a huge hospital complex, full of both the physically and mentally impaired, has more promise than Calvino manages to manifest. There are some strong segments where the main character muses on democracy while watching the inhabitants of the hospital, shunned by most of society, cast their votes. Such imagery is watered down with a tangential relationship story that never resolves, political history inserted in an inorganic manner, and an ending that attempts to establish a final feeling of tranquility, but fails.
The second story, Smog, has a more focused narrative, but by its end it was just as underwhelming as The Watcher. A man moves to a city to start a new job and finds that it's impossible to keep anything clean. He struggles with this feeling of uncleanliness, which is the focus of his work as well. His girlfriend manages to remain unbesmirched, but the main character takes little comfort in this. In the end though he finds a little oasis of cleanliness out in the countryside. The main problem that I had with this story is that it's not at all clear what the constant dirtiness is supposed to represent: is it politics, or loss of idealism, or class issues, or stress, or actual pollution, or what? The story contains references to all of these things, so it's all but impossible to parse, a fact not made any easier when Calvino introduces the specter of nuclear war as well. The best guess I have for what the smog is supposed to represent is the blanket topic of "modern concerns," the problem being that, not only is that topic so broad as to be rendered nebulous, but Calvino fails to say anything new or interesting about it.
The Argentine Ant is possibly the strongest work in this collection, but remains unimpressive. When a man, his wife, and their infant son move to Argentina they find that their house- and indeed, all the surrounding houses- are infested with ants. The different neighbors have all adopted different approaches to dealing with the pests, from the neighbors that try to block off the invaders, to the neighbor that creates elaborate machines to destroy them, to the neighbor that just attempts to ignore them. Here, just as with the symbolism in Smog, the symbolism of the ants seems to be generic instead of specific: daily worries is what I think they're intended to represent. The ants are what get into the kitchen and ruin your food, they're what makes your baby cry, they're what keep you from sleeping soundly at night. The neighbors show us some of the strategies people adapt to defeat their daily worries, but the truth is you'll never be able to do away with such worries entirely. There are places of temporary respite, like the beach, but the problems will be waiting for you when you come back. These are pretty uninteresting thoughts about your everyday troubles. The ending also rang false, mimicking the ending of Smog note for note despite it being a strange way to end the story in terms of tone.
Nothing great here, unfortunately. Check out Calvino's other collections and give this one a pass unless you're a devoted fan.
The Watcher is the weakest of the three stories in my opinion, featuring a rambling and disjointed narrative that never gains any momentum. The premise of a communist monitoring a polling station in a huge hospital complex, full of both the physically and mentally impaired, has more promise than Calvino manages to manifest. There are some strong segments where the main character muses on democracy while watching the inhabitants of the hospital, shunned by most of society, cast their votes. Such imagery is watered down with a tangential relationship story that never resolves, political history inserted in an inorganic manner, and an ending that attempts to establish a final feeling of tranquility, but fails.
The second story, Smog, has a more focused narrative, but by its end it was just as underwhelming as The Watcher. A man moves to a city to start a new job and finds that it's impossible to keep anything clean. He struggles with this feeling of uncleanliness, which is the focus of his work as well. His girlfriend manages to remain unbesmirched, but the main character takes little comfort in this. In the end though he finds a little oasis of cleanliness out in the countryside. The main problem that I had with this story is that it's not at all clear what the constant dirtiness is supposed to represent: is it politics, or loss of idealism, or class issues, or stress, or actual pollution, or what? The story contains references to all of these things, so it's all but impossible to parse, a fact not made any easier when Calvino introduces the specter of nuclear war as well. The best guess I have for what the smog is supposed to represent is the blanket topic of "modern concerns," the problem being that, not only is that topic so broad as to be rendered nebulous, but Calvino fails to say anything new or interesting about it.
The Argentine Ant is possibly the strongest work in this collection, but remains unimpressive. When a man, his wife, and their infant son move to Argentina they find that their house- and indeed, all the surrounding houses- are infested with ants. The different neighbors have all adopted different approaches to dealing with the pests, from the neighbors that try to block off the invaders, to the neighbor that creates elaborate machines to destroy them, to the neighbor that just attempts to ignore them. Here, just as with the symbolism in Smog, the symbolism of the ants seems to be generic instead of specific: daily worries is what I think they're intended to represent. The ants are what get into the kitchen and ruin your food, they're what makes your baby cry, they're what keep you from sleeping soundly at night. The neighbors show us some of the strategies people adapt to defeat their daily worries, but the truth is you'll never be able to do away with such worries entirely. There are places of temporary respite, like the beach, but the problems will be waiting for you when you come back. These are pretty uninteresting thoughts about your everyday troubles. The ending also rang false, mimicking the ending of Smog note for note despite it being a strange way to end the story in terms of tone.
Nothing great here, unfortunately. Check out Calvino's other collections and give this one a pass unless you're a devoted fan.
February 9, 2020
Maratonando Calvino pra ver quais livros dele pego na bienal LOL
"Então, de todas as coisas o que conta seria apenas o momento em que começam, quando todas as energias estão retesadas, quando só existe o futuro? Não chegará, para todo organismo, o momento em que o hábito, a rotina diária ganham lugar?" Opa, mais esse pra lista de desejados hihi
Esse é o tipo de livro que me comprova o potencial dos clássicos: com 96 páginas, SÓ 96 páginas, o cara tratou do retorno à democracia numa Itália pós-fascista, dos questionamentos do protagonista que pertence ao Partido Comunista com relação a seu posicionamento político, do relacionamento que ele tem com a companheira, de todos os envolvidos no processo de eleições (de mesários a eleitores). E com muito mais profundidade que muito livro de 500 páginas por aí. Ah, um acréscimo de fangirl: Italo Calvino é foda e a obra dele não podia ser editada por outra editora. Companhia das Letras s2
"Então, de todas as coisas o que conta seria apenas o momento em que começam, quando todas as energias estão retesadas, quando só existe o futuro? Não chegará, para todo organismo, o momento em que o hábito, a rotina diária ganham lugar?" Opa, mais esse pra lista de desejados hihi
Esse é o tipo de livro que me comprova o potencial dos clássicos: com 96 páginas, SÓ 96 páginas, o cara tratou do retorno à democracia numa Itália pós-fascista, dos questionamentos do protagonista que pertence ao Partido Comunista com relação a seu posicionamento político, do relacionamento que ele tem com a companheira, de todos os envolvidos no processo de eleições (de mesários a eleitores). E com muito mais profundidade que muito livro de 500 páginas por aí. Ah, um acréscimo de fangirl: Italo Calvino é foda e a obra dele não podia ser editada por outra editora. Companhia das Letras s2
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