《树上的男爵》Tree, the nearest place to the sky

Title: The Baron in the Trees

Author: [IT] Italo Calvino (1923-1985)

Theme: nature, freedom, faith

Plot Summary:

        The Baron in the Trees is a long novel written by the Italian astronomer Italo Calvino, one of his trilogy Our Ancestors. Compared  with One Hundred Years Of Solitude written by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, this novel is more virtual and absurd. An accidental chance resulted in the baron’s odd behavior, which ordinary people didn’t understand. It is living in the tree that he stuck to from twelve years old. Believe it or not, living in the tree and touching the sky were his unshakable faith. Give me liberty or give me death.The lovely baron used his absurd life to tell us that the world is not perfect, but it is worth fighting for.

Quotes:

        1. Only by being distant from the noise of the world, can we see ourselves in the world.

        2. For many years, I lived for some ideals that I could not even explain myself, but I did a good deed and lived in a tree.

Recommendation:

        Living in the tree, what a fantastic idea! Nevertheless, our ‘baron’ did this. And so long a life, he kept it in that way. In the novel, ‘live in the tree’ and ‘live on the ground’ are two opposite concepts. The latter stands for mediocrity, stereotype and aridity. And the former represents ideality, nobility and spirituality. Hence, the baron selected to live in the tree. It means that he wasn’t willing to stoop to compromise when he faced the mediocrity. He was uncompromising to get down from the tree, a behavior beyond others' comprehension, heralding his noble faith. Our author, Italo Calvino tells us the key to finding a life path of one's own in this way.