“128 pages of glory” – that is how critics call Seasons in the City by Italo Calvino. The story is fun, with interesting episodes which are pleasant to read. This story is a connection of 20 short episodes about an unskilled laborer Marcovaldo, who had an eye for nature and “chases hopes for a better life through the revolving seasons”. Each season is connected with some interesting story from his life – mushroom collecting, neon sign, cows and so on. The narrator also describes the city and how it changes according to the season. Marcovaldo studies the leftovers of the nature existence in the city – mushrooms, leaves, trees, birds, small animals and with each of it there is a story to tell.
Marcowaldo was a big dreamer; he cared about nature and hated city because it choked him with all those car fumes, trams, neon signs, big buildings and small cabinets. He was dreaming about life in rural surroundings where nothing would interrupt his dialogue with nature but he knew that it is impossible. His life in this aspect is quite dramatic and, although, there is a lot of irony in the story, the reader feels sorry for him because he cant fulfill his dream and have to adjust to the sad reality of his existence: “Marcovaldo maintains his charms as a lovable loser”. He is adorable man because he believes in happiness and never loses this childish quality even if the life is a failure because he knows that there is something more important more powerful than human progress. Its nature, which is beautiful in all its shapes and forms and it inspires those who can see it properly.
The book is full of irony and sarcasm, Marcovaldo is describes as a “beautiful looser” who has big ambitions but gets nothing in the end. He is innocent and naïve child of a nature, he cares about it, he loves it, but as it happens, people don’t understand him and consider him a peculiar man. He doesn’t have friends and appreciates his loneliness, he even spends a nigh on the bench in park to admire the glory and beauty of the nature but everybody disturbs him to enjoy himself and it is one of the reasons why he hates city – there are too many people who care just of themselves and don’t notice anything around them.
