Italo Calvino

Cosimo di Rondó, a young Italian nobleman of the eighteenth century, rebels against his parents by climbing into the trees and remaining there for the rest of his life. He adapts efficiently to an existence in the forest canopy—he hunts, sows crops, plays games with earth-bound friends, fights forest fires, solves engineering problems, and even manages to have love affairs. From his perch in the trees, Cosimo sees the Age of Enlightenment pass by and a new century dawn.

The Baron in the Trees

taylor miles hopkins

It was the love that man the hunter has for what is alive but doesn't know how to express except by aiming the gun; Cosimo couldn't yet recognize it and tried to let it out by intensifying his exploration.

…you know what armies are like: every time they move they cause disasters. 

He understood this: that associations make man stronger and bring out the individual's best talents, and offer the joy, rarely felt if we remain on our own, of seeing how many honest and good and capable people there are, for whom is worthwhile to wish for good things (whereas if we live on our own, the contrary more often happens, of seeing people's other face, the one that causes us to keep our hand on the hilt guard of our sword).

…because he considered books a little like birds and didn't want to see them still or caged; otherwise, he said, they grew sad. 

…friend at once of his neighbor, of nature, and of himself.

Rebecca Lum

… it made him understand a lot about lonelines, which was to be of use to him later in life […] he always carried with him the strange image of the Cavalier, as a warning of what can happen to a man who separates his own fate from others, and he managed to never be like him.

The final, and best, paragraph in the book

Ombrosa no longer exists. Looking at the empty sky, I ask myself if it ever did really exist. That mesh of leaves and twigs of fork and froth, minute and endless, with the sky glimpsed only in sudden specks and splinters, pehaps it was only there so that my brother could pass through it with his tomtit's tread, was embroidered on nothing, like this thread of ink which I have let run on for page after page, swarming with cancellations, corrections, doodles, blots and gaps, bursting at times into clear big berries, coagulating at others into piles of tiny starry seeds, then twisting away, forking of, surrounding buds of phrases with frameworks of leaves and clouds, then interweaving again, and so running on and on and on until it splutters and bursts into a last senseless cluster of words, ideas, dreams, and so ends.

cedar winslow

A gorgeous new edition of a playful, romantic fable by one of the twentieth century's master storytellers. From the age of twelve, the Baron Cosimo Piovasco di Rondo makes his home among ash, elm, magnolia, plum and almond, living up in the trees. He walks through paths made from the twisted branches of olive, makes his bed in a holly oak, bathes in a fountain constructed from poplar bark. An aerial library holds the books with which he educates himself in philosophy and mathematics. Suspended among the leaves, the Baron adventures with bandits and pirates, conducts a passionate love affair, and watches the Age of Enlightenment pass by beneath him. 'The most magically ingenious of the contemporary Italian novelists' The Times

Nathan Johnson

Probably my favorite of Calvino’s books so far.

My main critique honestly can be applied to his other books—there’s a need for more editing IMO. Some chapters/short stories in his works are just inconsequential and become repetitive. This one felt the most complete and thoughtful in that sense, all but one chapter in which the POV changes for seemingly no reason.

But a fun and quirky Robin Hood/Peter Pan-like tale. Really lovely storytelling of a charming character like Cosimo. LOVE his pettiness and dedication to self-made rules.

Probably my favorite of Calvino’s books so far.

My main critique honestly can be applied to his other books—there’s a need for more editing IMO. Some chapters/short stories in his works are just inconsequential and become repetitive. This one felt the most complete and thoughtful in that sense, all but one chapter in which the POV changes for seemingly no reason.

But a fun and quirky Robin Hood/Peter Pan-like tale. Really lovely storytelling of a charming character like Cosimo. LOVE his pettiness and dedication to self-made rules.

I would give it like a 3.9 if I could, I wanna live in the treeees 😭

Anna Kors

jess

lucid in its narrative, fable-inspired chronicle perceiving the inward look of Cosimo as a baron who never leave the trees, them being his comfort bubble. tinges of political notes in it, the baron being the embodiment of an intellectual struggling to contribute meaningfully to society, albeit from a position of isolation and distance as well as an allegory about independence from the crutches and demands of society. 

this being my first Calvino felt like a sublime indulgence to brief escapism, that of a pleasant one.

Gabe Cortez

A fantasy of the 18th century, which tells of the story of Cosimo, 12-year old future Baron of Rondo, who took to the trees and lived there for many years.

Joshua Line

i absolutely loved this story. the fantasy factor, natural, pastoral settings, and a love story. i still think about this story, quite a bit.

Dana Kraft

This was a fun book, almost believable in a lot of ways. The Author does a good job of showing how the Baron behaves like a regular person (child, teenager, young man, old man) within a community but just lives without touching the ground. The couple of passages that will stick with me are:

“...it made him understand a lot about loneliness...as a warning of what can happen to a man who separates his own fate from others...” p. 85
“This he understood: that association renders men stronger and brings out each person’s best gifts, and brigs a joy which is rarely to be had by keeping to oneself, the joy of realizing how many honest decent capable people there are for who, it is worth giving one’s best (while living just for oneself very often the opposite happens, of seeing people’s other side, the side which makes one keep one’s hand always on the hilt of one’s sword). P. 106
“What he meant to say is not there, for he understood something else, something that was all-embracing, and he could not say it in words but only by living as he did. Only by being so frankly himself as he was till his death could he give some5ing to all men.” P. 214

oh cosimo, what an interesting life you’ve lived! this was a fun read, although it dragged for me in the beginning and the end. some of the stories i absolutely loved, from ottimo massimo to gian dei brughi to the love story with viola. but overall it didnt quite enthrall me. good book! not stupendous book.

jillian tenner

Pretty and I want to be him and that just reignited my need to be up high in a tree and after that week of mine in the treehouse wow but also the short story aspect is so good but also the political stuff kinda confused me and maybe I wasn’t reading closely enough but I got so lost

Prashant Prasad

4.5 liked this the best out of the trilogy i think

Niki Sotiropoulou-Nassika

'I can think of no finer writer to have beside me while Italy explodes, Britain burns, while the world ends' Salman Rushdie From the age of twelve, the Baron Cosimo Piovasco di Rondo makes his home among ash, elm, magnolia, plum and almond, living up in the trees. He walks through paths made from the twisted branches of olive, makes his bed in a holly oak, bathes in a fountain constructed from poplar bark. An aerial library holds the books with which he educates himself in philosophy and mathematics. Suspended among the leaves, the Baron adventures with bandits and pirates, conducts a passionate love affair, and watches the Age of Enlightenment pass by beneath him. 'The most magically ingenious of the contemporary Italian novelists' The Times

The Baron in the Trees

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