The Cloven Viscount

by Italo Calvino

In this fantastically macabre tale, the separate halves of a nobleman split in two by a cannonball go on to pursue their own independent adventures

In a battle against the Turks, Viscount Medardo of Terralba is bisected lengthwise by a cannonball. One half of him returns to his feudal estate and takes up a lavishly evil life. Soon the other, virtuous half appears. When the two halves become rivals for the love of the same...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0544960068
• ISBN13: 9780544960060
• Release Date: August 2017
• Publisher: Mariner Books Classics
• Length: 128 Pages
• Weight: 0.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.2" x 7.8"

Customer Reviews

Well worth the effort

You must be either a native speaker or a very advanced Italian speaker to read this, but it is well worth the effort. One of the coolest ideas for a story ever. A count returns from war literally half a man (half a face, half a torso and one leg). His other half becomes evil and terrorizes his small town. But is the good half really evil? And is the bad half all that bad? What happens when the two halves fight over a woman? A comment on the dual nature of man.