The Castle of Crossed Destinies

By: Italo Calvino

Narrated by: Luis Moreno

A group of travellers chance to meet, first in a castle, then a tavern. Their powers of speech are magically taken from them and instead they have only tarot cards with which to tell their stories. What follows is an exquisite interlinking of narratives, and a fantastic, surreal, and chaotic history of all human consciousness.

©1969, 1973 Franco Maria Ricci Editore, Giulio Einaudi Editore, S.p.a. (P)2019 Recorded Books

Uneven but worth listening to if you like Calvino

An intriguing technical challenge set by a master but execution is muddled. The work is divided into two parts, each leveraging the archetypes of Tarot cards as narrative building blocks. The eponymous first section, though a bit mechanical at times, is more successful than the second section ‘The Tavern of Crossed Destinies’ which becomes repetitive and unfocused. The author’s note at the end of the book helps to explain the root of this imbalance and Calvino’s method in structuring this text; his note leaves the reader with some empathy toward the flawed result.

TLDR: this shouldn’t be the first Calvino book you read but it’s not terrible. Would recommend for Tarot enthusiasts, maybe.