Invisible Cities
Invisible Cities by Italo Calvinoby Italo Calvino
Ranked 9 of 122 novels by recommenders
Readers recommend it as a dreamy, imaginative book that lets each reader picture the cities in their own way and stays with them.
Readers recommend it as a dreamy, imaginative book that lets each reader picture the cities in their own way and stays with them.
16 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 16
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 2 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 16 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 2 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Favorite book for many readers
“Invisible Cities is my absolute favorite of his short stories.”
Comment from 11 Apr 2026 in “Italo Calvino: A Traveller in a World of Uncertainty” “my favorite piece of literature hands down”
Comment from 8 Oct 2026 in “I gave Opus 5.5 one prompt and six hours to visualize Invisible Cities” “it being one of my favorite books”
Comment from 8 Oct 2026 in “I gave Opus 5.5 one prompt and six hours to visualize Invisible Cities” - Comment from 8 Oct 2026 in “I gave Opus 5.5 one prompt and six hours to visualize Invisible Cities”
Beautiful, rich, sublime prose
“Seeing the same thing done to Calvino (and Weaver's) sublime prose feels downright criminal.”
Comment from 9 Oct 2026 in “I gave Opus 5.5 one prompt and six hours to visualize Invisible Cities” “it blew my mind. I didn't know art could be this rich or deep”
Comment from 8 Oct 2026 in “I gave Opus 5.5 one prompt and six hours to visualize Invisible Cities” “my favorite piece of literature hands down”
Comment from 8 Oct 2026 in “I gave Opus 5.5 one prompt and six hours to visualize Invisible Cities” Dreamy, imaginative, open to interpretation
“The book is a trip and the dreamy sort of narration matched it perfectly.”
Comment from 8 Oct 2026 in “I gave Opus 5.5 one prompt and six hours to visualize Invisible Cities” “Part of the joy of reading this book is letting your mind’s eye run wild”
Comment from 8 Oct 2026 in “I gave Opus 5.5 one prompt and six hours to visualize Invisible Cities” “everybody sees the cities different in their minds eye”
Comment from 8 Oct 2026 in “I gave Opus 5.5 one prompt and six hours to visualize Invisible Cities” Great travel read, lingers in mind
“It's a great "travel" read and always puts me in the mood to explore.”
Comment from 8 Oct 2026 in “I gave Opus 5.5 one prompt and six hours to visualize Invisible Cities” “You are bound to find at least one city that will stay with you.”
Comment from 11 Apr 2026 in “Italo Calvino: A Traveller in a World of Uncertainty”
Other novels people recommend
The four most recommended other novels, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crime and Punishmentby Fyodor Dostoevsky | 39 | 9 | 81% | 6 | — | Approved |
| The Brothers Karamazovby Fyodor Dostoevsky | 28 | 8 | 78% | 5 | — | Approved |
| Infinite Jestby David Foster Wallace | 26 | 5 | 84% | 9 | 10 yrs6 owners | Approved |
| The Great Gatsbyby F. Scott Fitzgerald | 24 | 9 | 73% | 6 | — | Approved |
| Invisible Citiesby Italo CalvinoThis page | 16 | 0 | 100% | 2 | — | — |
What people said
14 of the 19 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Seeing the same thing done to Calvino (and Weaver's) sublime prose feels downright criminal.”
“It's a great "travel" read and always puts me in the mood to explore.”
“everybody sees the cities different in their minds eye”
“I don't think OP ever stopped to ask if there was more to Calvino's work than 'cool city descriptions'”
“it blew my mind. I didn't know art could be this rich or deep”
“It's one of my favorite books”
“it being one of my favorite books”
“I can't imagine a worse thing happening to a better book.”
“is also done so beautifully and can't recommend it more”
“my favorite piece of literature hands down”
“The book is a trip and the dreamy sort of narration matched it perfectly.”
“Part of the joy of reading this book is letting your mind’s eye run wild”
“Invisible Cities is my absolute favorite of his short stories.”
“You are bound to find at least one city that will stay with you.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.