Image, Eye and Art in Calvino

This scholarly work explores the vital connection between visual perception and literary creation in Italo Calvino's fiction, examining how the celebrated Italian author translated visual experiences into narrative form. Grundtvig meticulously analyzes Calvino's fascination with optics, visual phenomena, and artistic representation across his major works, revealing how seeing becomes a fundamental narrative device. The book demonstrates how Calvino's writing consistently engages with questions of perspective, visual memory, and the translation of images into words, making the visual-textual relationship central to understanding his innovative approach to storytelling.

Grundtvig's analysis stands out for its comprehensive approach to Calvino's visual imagination, tracing the evolution of his engagement with art, photography, and optical science throughout his career. Readers with background in literary theory, visual studies, or Calvino scholarship will find this particularly rewarding, though anyone interested in the intersection of literature and visual culture will discover fresh perspectives. The book ultimately illuminates how Calvino's unique visual-textual synthesis created new possibilities for contemporary fiction, making visible the often-unseen connections between how we see and how we read.