Read Calvino's 1964 preface to Il sentiero dei nidi di ragno

 

• What were Calvino’s stated motivations for writing Il sentiero?
• How does he describe the collective feeling in Italy at the time of his writing (i.e. at the end of WW2) ?
• What does he say about neo-realism?
• How does he view his first novel?
• What does he say about Chapter 9 of the novel?
• What comments does he make about characterisation in the novel?
• Why did he choose to write in the third person from the perspective of a child?
• What does he say about the memory of the resistance?