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The Castle of Crossed Destinies
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Wikipedia article
'The Castle of Crossed Destinies' is a 1973 novel by Italian writer Italo Calvino. Its narrative details a meeting among travelers who are inexplicably unable to speak after passing through a forest. The characters in the novel recount their tales via tarot cards, which are reconstructed by the narrator. The novel is in two parts, each using a different style of tarot deck. The first part was published alone in 1969 as 'Tarocchi: Il mazzo visconteo di Bergamo e New York' (Tarots: The Visconti Pack in Bergamo and New York). The second part, with the header "The Tavern of Crossed Destinies", features the Tarot of Marseilles.
The novel is an exploration of how meaning is created, whether that be written via words (by the author, via the book, since the characters in the book cannot speak to each other), or by images (the tarot cardsconsidered prophetic by some, and themselves open to many symbolic interpretations). It is, as often in Calvino's works, multilayered, and several levels of interpretations and readings are possible, based on the authornarratorcharacterreader relationship.
See also
* 1973 in literature
* Italian literature
Category:1973 novels
Category:Novels by Italo Calvino
Category:Tarot in fiction
Category:20th-century Italian novels
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