Visibility

For me this reading was a bit challenging and I needed to go back a reread a few different sections. One of the main ideas I took away from Calvino is that the world has been transformed into one filled with images and words in a way have become reduced in importance. For a writer to be successful in painting a picture for their reader they must be able to “distinguish between two types of imaginative process: the one that starts with the word and arrives at the visual image, and the one that starts with the visual image and arrives at its verbal expression” (83). This was an interesting concept to read about and can be quite difficult to achieve since everyone has a different way of visualizing words. This can lead to the reader having a completely different image of the setting, characters, and other details than the author intended. 

I find this idea of imagination extremely powerful because each and every individual in the world has the ability to create images in their head almost automatically just by seeing a single word or vice versa, they are able to connect a word to an image. Essentially it doesn’t matter the material or what language it is written in, it results in an individual’s creativity which can possibly provide a new perspective or meaning to the word or image.

Another idea I found interesting that Calvino wrote about is his description of how an iceberg can be used to connect the way in which writers attempt to relay a particular idea or image. The final word or image that the author decides to use can be compared to as the tip of the iceberg, but all of the other thoughts and feelings that went through their head is dug below the surface, “only in a vague sense. Much of the source, like an iceberg, is deep underwater, unseen-and he knows that” (87). It is interesting to think about how many different thoughts run through one’s mind before finally arriving at a single word or image to depict a specific meaning.